Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals – Page 23

Tennessee Refinery Could Break Chinese Chokehold on Two Critical Minerals – by Natalie Liu (Voice of Amercia – August 15, 2023)

August 16, 2023

https://www.voanews.com/

A solution to potential shortages of two critical minerals used in making semiconductors and advanced military equipment — exports of which were restricted by China this month — may be lying in some waste storage ponds in central Tennessee.

Owners of a zinc processing facility in the southern U.S. state say they are developing a plan to extract the two minerals — gallium and germanium — from the ponds where for years the company has deposited the residue from its refining of zinc from five mines located in central and eastern Tennessee.

One year on, how America’s Inflation Reduction Act has changed Canada – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – August 16, 2023)

August 16, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Look back at the impact of a bill that sent shock waves through the world’s supply-chains

The United States a year ago passed a 730-page piece of legislation that almost single-handedly paved the way for some of the world’s biggest manufacturing companies to change their supply-chain systems.

Signed into law on Aug. 16 by President Joe Biden, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), contrary to its title, wasn’t just about bringing down inflation, which was at its peak a year ago. Instead, it promised more than US$300-billion worth of tax credits, grants and loans to fund clean-energy projects and address issues linked to energy security and health care.

Opinion: Australia is on the frontline in battle for rare earths – by Jennifer Hewett (Australian Financial Review – August 15, 2023)

August 15, 2023

https://www.afr.com/

Australia is in the race to develop alternative supplies to China’s dominance of the supply and processing of rare earths that are critical to the global economy and to national security. But the West is far behind. How quickly can this be done?

Rare earths aren’t actually that rare. Nor are the 17 rare earth elements in the periodic table worth much in isolation, with some of purely nominal value. Current estimates of the global market value for rare earths are somewhere between $US8 billion-$US10 billion ($12.4 billion-$15.5 billion).

Yet some of these rare earths are necessary for the production of everything from cell phones to advanced robots, electric vehicles to wind turbines, to a myriad of defence applications.

B.C. miners push province to aggressively support critical mineral exploration – by Chad Pawson (CBC News British Columbia – August 13, 2023)

August 14, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

Industry advocates hoping for big investment in 2024 budget. Critics raise alarms about a free-for-all

Miners in B.C. searching for deposits of minerals deemed critical for low-carbon technologies say they’ve never been more excited for the sector but require extended provincial support to realize their dreams.

Companies say they want to take advantage of the need for critical minerals — 31 materials in demand for batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels — by having B.C. become an important producer of some of the materials but also a role model in the industry for environmental standards and engagement with First Nations.

A year after the IRA, industrial policy has gone global. Now what? – by David L. Goldwyn and Andrea Clabough (Atlantic Council – August 7,2023)

August 8, 2023

Atlantic Council – Shaping the global future together

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) may prove to be one of the most transformative pieces of economic legislation in US history. The vast waves of investment coming to US shores throughout the last year bear out this possibility. One recent analysis estimated that between August 2022 and January 2023, over 100,000 clean energy jobs were created in the United States as a result of almost $90 billion invested in dozens of clean energy projects.

The domestic impacts of the IRA are undeniable. It is less certain what it means for the global energy transition. One year later, much work remains ahead to maximize the potential of the IRA. While US policymakers should consider the IRA’s long-term future and extend many of its provisions past 2032, officials must prioritize opportunities to align with like-minded allies overseas.

Quest for rare earth elements and critical minerals in Central Appalachia gets new boost – by Matt Busse (Cardinal News – August 7, 2023)

August 8, 2023

Home – new

A project that aims to identify Central Appalachian sources of rare earth elements and critical minerals has received $500,000 in federal funding to continue for another six months.

The 17 rare earth elements — so called not because they’re uncommon, per se, but because they typically occur in such low concentrations that easily extracted deposits are rare — include scandium, yttrium and a group of 15 elements collectively called the lanthanides. The 50 critical minerals identified as such by the U.S. Geological Survey are considered essential to the economy and have no viable substitutes; they include aluminum, cobalt, graphite, lithium, nickel and nearly all of the rare earth elements.

The new commodity superpowers – by Leslie Hook, Harry Dempsey and Ciara Nugent in Buenos Aires (Financial Times – August 7, 2023)

August 8, 2023

https://www.ft.com/

In the first part of a series, countries that produce the metals central to the energy transition want to rewrite the rules of mineral extraction

The red-brown landscape of Tenke-Fungurume, one of the world’s largest copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is covered by tens of thousands of dusty sacks. The bags stacked up by the roadside and piled next to buildings contain a stash of cobalt hydroxide powder equivalent to almost a tenth of the world’s annual consumption — and worth about half a billion dollars.

The haphazard stockpiles of this bright green powder, a key ingredient in electric car batteries, point to how the DRC, the world’s largest producer of cobalt, is starting to flex its muscles when it comes to the metals needed for the energy transition.

The Race for Resources: China and Russia Are Beating the West in Africa – by Heiner Hoffmann, Maximilian Popp and Fritz Schaap (Spiegel International – August 2, 2023)

August 3, 2023

https://www.spiegel.de/

This week, leaders from 17 African countries will be guests of Vladimir Putin. Alongside Russia, all the major powers are vying for influence and raw materials on the continent. The conditions are increasingly dictated by the Africans themselves, with the West often coming away empty-handed.

African leaders don’t often travel by train. But in mid-June, four heads of government from Africa boarded a train in Poland headed for Ukraine. In a group photo, the travelers look a bit lost in the imposing compartment, with only the leader of the mission, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, offering a contented smile.

The delegation traveling with Ramaphosa wanted to achieve what many large and middle powers had thus far failed to accomplish: to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. The Africans met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and later with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Manitoba open for business with new critical minerals strategy, premier says (CBC News Manitoba – July 25, 2023)

July 27, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/

Six-pillar strategy includes a focus on Indigenous involvement

The province is open for business in the critical mineral sector, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson said Tuesday. Manitoba’s critical minerals strategy, unveiled during a news conference, outlines ways to get new mines open faster, expand the industries associated with mining, attract new investment, advance Indigenous involvement and create jobs across the province.

“Manitoba is like the Costco of critical minerals — if you need it, we have it,” said Stefanson. “Gold, diamonds, nickel, lithium, potash, and the list goes on.” Manitoba is home to 29 of 31 minerals on Canada’s 2021 critical minerals list. These include lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements, which are the six minerals recognized as having the greatest opportunity for economic growth, a news release from the province said.

China’s Threat to Ban Critical Minerals Exports Is a Bluff – by Agathe Demarais (Foreign Policy – July 27, 2023)

July 27, 2023

Home

Embargoes have unintended consequences—and would hurt China more than the West.

Weaponizing commodities is in fashion. In September 2022, Russia cut off gas flows to Europe in a bid to weaken European economies after its invasion of Ukraine. Almost one year later, in July 2023, the Chinese government announced that exports of gallium and germanium, two niche metals used in technology manufacturing, would henceforth require licenses.

These metals share two features. First, they form part of a group of around 30 raw materials that are crucial for the green energy transition, digital hardware, and defense production. Second, as is the case for many critical raw materials, China holds a dominant position for the mining and processing of gallium and germanium, giving Beijing leverage over Western economies.

Pentagon Seeks Supply of Chip-Mineral Gallium After China Curbs Exports – by Tony Capaccio (Bloomberg News – July 26, 2023)

July 27, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The Pentagon plans to issue a first-time contract to US or Canadian companies by year-end to recover gallium, a mineral used in semiconductors and military radar systems, after China curbed exports this month.

China announced the restrictions on gallium and another mineral, germanium, in a move seen as part of the country’s tit-for-tat trade war on technology with the US and Europe. The two metals are crucial to the semiconductor, telecommunications and renewable energy industries. The curbs prompted US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to voice her concern during a recent visit to Beijing.

OPINION: NWT is rich in critical minerals, but its economy faces neglect and inadequacy – by Caroline Cochrane (Globe and Mail – July 27, 2023)

July 27, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Caroline Cochrane is Premier of the Northwest Territories.

We stand at a critical juncture for the Northwest Territories. Throughout our history, the NWT has thrived on abundant mining activities, boasting a wealth of zinc, gold, diamonds and countless other valuable resources, including oil and gas. We are blessed with a land of immense potential, including being home to 23 of the 31 critical minerals essential for the green economy.

This should be cause for celebration, but instead, we are once again on the outside looking in. The race to supply allied economies with these vital minerals is under way, and unless Canada acts swiftly to invest in transportation corridors, telecommunications infrastructure and cleaner, more affordable energy in the North, the NWT and our people risk being left behind.

The Little Known Metals Giant that Rules a Global Market – by Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – July 25, 2023)

July 27, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — When China’s Vital Materials Co. bought up a $600 million stockpile of obscure critical minerals in early 2020, it barely raised an eyebrow outside the niche world of minor metals.

Spin forward a few years, and the influence of a company some people in the industry have still barely heard of is a timely illustration of the scale of the challenge to loosen China’s grip on what have become key raw materials.

OPINION: How our green transition and hunger for battery metals devastate Africa and the Congo – by Siddharth Kara (Globe and Mail – July 22, 2023)

July 24, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Siddharth Kara is associate professor of human trafficking and modern slavery at Nottingham University and the author of Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives.

During one of my trips to the Congo, I met Jolie in her small home of cracked brick walls and rusted roofing in the cobalt-mining town of Kolwezi. Although Jolie had invited me to her home that day to discuss her story, the moment I arrived it felt as if she regretted my presence. She did not wish to speak at length.

To prevent Jolie and everyone else I’ve interviewed from being identified and targeted for reprisal, I have used pseudonyms for them and am withholding the dates on which we met. This is also to protect my continuing research, which delves into the often unseen, yet heavy cost that the Global South pays for the First World’s ideals and conveniences.

Critical minerals processing, manufacture, recycling to be focus of $1.5 billion in federal innovation funding – by Mehanaz Yakub (Electric Autonomy – July 19, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://electricautonomy.ca/

Last fall, the government said it would use $1.5 billion from the Strategic Innovation Fund to accelerate investment in critical minerals projects. Last week, it unveiled its criteria for eligibility.

The federal government has revealed what types of projects are eligible for the $1.5 billion from the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) earmarked in the 2022 federal budget to accelerate investments in critical minerals projects.