Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals – Page 27

U.S. IRA lays bare critical mineral supply fault lines, says report – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – August 31, 2023)

September 5, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is reshaping the landscape of metals and minerals demand, triggering a surge in critical minerals activity while structural permitting challenges in the U.S. legal system could thwart the act’s efficacy, new analysis by S&P Global shows.

In its Inflation Reduction Act: Impact on North America metals and minerals market report, released Thursday, market analysts highlight sourcing and production challenges as well as complications in navigating the permitting system.

China zooms in on Latin America, Africa in critical minerals race, says report – by Jackson Chen (Northern Miner – August 30, 2023)

August 31, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

Facing more restrictive foreign investment policies in developed markets, China is expected to continue building its influence over key minerals such as lithium and cobalt across the developing world, according to S&P Global.

In a recent report, the U.S. data analytics firm stated that “China’s reach is quietly growing behind minerals critical to a wide range of products that will shape the future,” with firms from upstream to downstream, from miners to battery makers to electric vehicle manufacturers, all jumping into this race.

Lynas flags higher costs for Kalgoorlie rare earths plant, profit slumps – by Poonam Behura and Melanie Burton (Reuters – August 28, 2023)

August 31, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (LYC.AX) hiked construction cost estimates for its Kalgoorlie rare earths facility by more than a quarter and said it would boost the plant’s production capacity to tap growing demand.

Lynas has sped up construction at Kalgoorlie in Western Australia amid worries that a facility in Malaysia may have to be partly wound down after regulators there raised concerns about radiation levels from the process of cracking and leaching.

Gabon Coup Underscores Country’s Role as Key Manganese Supplier – by Mark Burton and Francois de Beaupuy (Bloomberg News – August 30, 2023)

August 31, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The coup in Gabon risks roiling global supplies of a key industrial metal, as the operator of the world’s largest manganese mine halts production as a precautionary measure.

While African nation is better known as an oil producer, Paris-based miner Eramet SA has been investing heavily in expanding manganese output in recent years.

India’s Modi urges nations with critical minerals to see custodianship as ‘global responsibility’ – by Shivangi Acharya (Reuters – August 27, 2023)

August 28, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there is a risk of a “new model of colonialism” if nations with critical minerals do not regard custodianship as a “global responsibility”, as firms race to secure resources central to energy transition goals.

“We are experiencing this challenge for critical materials, rare earths and others. These things are abundant in some places and not present at all in others, but all of humankind needs them,” Modi said at a Business 20 summit in New Delhi on Sunday.

OBITUARY: Don Bubar remembered as ‘key architect’ of critical minerals narrative – by Blair McBride (Mining.com – August 24, 2023)

August 25, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

As enthusiasm for zero-emission technologies accelerates into the mainstream, Canada has lost one of its earliest and most ardent champions of critical minerals.

Donald Stephen Bubar, founder and longtime president of Avalon Advanced Materials passed away on July 30 at the age of 68 from neurodegenerative diseases. The mining veteran, who worked as a field geologist and with several base and precious metals projects, recognized years before most others the importance of critical minerals for the future economy. And in his decades of involvement with the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), advocated for greater and earlier engagement with Indigenous communities.

A new ‘arms race’ is on among countries for critical minerals – by Surojit Gupta (Times of India – August 25, 2023)

August 25, 2023

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Commodities are part of our everyday lives. From crude and edible oil to minerals and metals. The shift to clean energy and deployment of clean technologies across the world in recent years has put the spotlight on a group of minerals – cobalt, lithium, nickel, graphite, copper, neodymium, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, silicon, zinc, rare earths and others – that are heavily used in these technologies.

The rise of electric cars, wind and solar projects and battery storage systems has also triggered a massive demand for these critical minerals, leading to a race among countries to secure their supplies.

Electric cars and solar cells rely on Chinese minerals. Here’s how to curb the risks. – by Editorial Board (Washington Post – August 25, 2023)

August 25, 2023

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

The U.S. transition to cleaner energy technology is underway, supported by new incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act. Benefits to the planet could be significant. Yet so could the geopolitical risks to the United States.

Moving from fossil fuels to wind and solar power means shifting from reliance on resources the United States produces to reliance on imported ones. And for many of the materials — lithium, nickel, copper, cobalt — the United States’ long-term adversary China is a key producer, processor or both.

Inconvenient truth: Green energy is the colour of Congolese blood – by Gerry Chidiac (Troy Media – August 24, 2023)

August 25, 2023

https://troymedia.com/

The toxic truth behind “green energy” technologies, cobalt, and the exploitation of the Congo

If there’s a hell, it’s a teenage mother with a sick child strapped to her back, breaking rocks and putting them into a sack while she and her baby breathe in toxic dust. If she’s lucky, she’ll make a dollar or two and they will buy something to eat. They will both be dead in less than a year.

This is not a dystopian fantasy. This is the reality for an artisan cobalt miner in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She is the one who gathers the minerals needed so you can recharge your smartphone, your laptop, your headphones, and your shiny electric vehicle.

Electra presses ‘pause’ on Temiskaming refinery construction – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 21, 2023)

August 23, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Processing company calls on government and industry to come to the table with funding

Electra Battery Materials will looking to its industry partners and government funders for help in finishing the construction of its Temiskaming cobalt refinery. Trent Mell, CEO of the fledgling Toronto mineral processing company said it’s going to “pause or slow down” the project until there’s a clearer “capital solution” in place to complete the project.

The cost to finish the cobalt sulfate refinery is $161 million. More than $81 million has been spent to date, as Electra posted in its second quarter results in a conference call late last week.

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.