Twitter

Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals

Opinion: B.C.’s critical mineral ambitions require focus and clearer policy – by Trish Jacques (Business In Vancouver – April 11, 2025)

https://www.biv.com/

With uncertainty clouding mineral claim processes, the B.C. government must address key issues to restore investor confidence in the critical minerals sector

British Columbia has introduced a framework for government to consult with First Nations before a mineral claim is issued—the very start of the mineral exploration process. The Mineral Claims Consultation Framework meets a deadline set by the B.C. Supreme Court in Gitxaala vs. British Columbia.

While its development took most of the 18 months set by the court, government eventually put forward a plan to consult First Nations for any impacts claim registration may have on their rights. This was a substantial effort, and the Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) is grateful to government for listening to some of its members’ key concerns.

Read more

Exclusive-Trump supporter Prince reaches deal with Congo to help secure mineral wealth – by Jessica Donati and Sonia Rolley (Reuters – April 17, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Prominent Trump supporter Erik Prince has agreed to help Democratic Republic of Congo secure and tax its vast mineral wealth, according to two sources close to the private security executive, a Congolese government official and two diplomats.

The agreement, aimed at reaping more revenue from an industry marred by smuggling and corruption, was reached before Rwanda-backed M23 rebels launched a major offensive in January that has seen them seize eastern Congo’s two largest cities.

Read more

Rare earth stocks rally on signs Trump supports sector – by Matthew Griffin (Bloomberg News – April 17, 2025)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

U.S. stocks linked to rare earth metals and other critical minerals gained this week, getting a boost from signs that the Trump administration will favor a sector that’s become a flashpoint in the trade standoff between the U.S. and China.

Rare-earth magnet player USA Rare Earth Inc. has jumped 68 per cent this week as of 1:49 p.m. on Thursday. TMC The Metals Company Inc., a Vancouver-based company that’s seeking permission from the U.S. to gather critical metals at the bottom of the ocean, is up 55 per cent in the short trading week.

Read more

Trump recognizes that domestic mining is a national security issue – by Sara Vakhshouri (The Hill – April 12, 2025)

https://thehill.com/

President Trump’s executive order to increase domestic critical mineral production has been interpreted as a pro-industry move or a nod to traditional energy sectors. It is both — but more importantly, it is a long overdue national security play.

In the modern geopolitical chess game, America’s mineral vulnerability is not just an economic liability but a strategic one. The order activates the Defense Production Act to boost domestic mining and processing of minerals like lithium, rare earths, nickel, cobalt, copper and uranium.

Read more

China Halts Critical Exports as Trade War Intensifies – by Keith Bradsher (New York Times – April 13, 2025)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Beijing has suspended exports of certain rare earth minerals and magnets that are crucial for the world’s car, semiconductor and aerospace industries.

China has suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, threatening to choke off supplies of components central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world.

Shipments of the magnets, essential for assembling everything from cars and drones to robots and missiles, have been halted at many Chinese ports while the Chinese government drafts a new regulatory system. Once in place, the new system could permanently prevent supplies from reaching certain companies, including American military contractors.

Read more

Just How Badly Does Donald Trump Want Access to Critical Minerals? – by Nicolas Niarchos (New Yorker – April 15, 2025)

https://www.newyorker.com/

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has some of the largest deposits on Earth. Its President wants to sell them—and win a war.

On a recent episode of Fox News’ “Special Report,” the host, Bret Baier, turned his attention to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that doesn’t frequently make headlines in the United States. Using a map of the country, which is two-thirds the size of Western Europe, to educate his viewers, Baier began by outlining the regional conflicts in which the D.R.C. has been engaged, dating back to the refugee crises triggered by the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

He added that “Congo is considered the world’s richest country in terms of natural resources,” containing untapped supplies worth “an estimated twenty-four trillion dollars, with a ‘T.’ ” Those resources include gold, diamonds, and so-called critical metals, such as cobalt and lithium, which are used in rechargeable batteries.

Read more

Gold rush unleashed: The global struggle for control over Central Asia’s mineral wealth – by Zeynep Gizem Özpınar (Daily Sabah – April 10, 2025)

https://www.dailysabah.com/

Central Asia’s mineral wealth sparks global rivalry, shaping the region’s economic and geopolitical future

Central Asia is becoming increasingly critical on the world stage in terms of rare earth elements and strategic minerals. These resources have become indispensable in many sectors, from modern technology to the defence industry, from renewable energy to advanced manufacturing processes.

Since rare earth elements have a wide range of uses, from semiconductors to batteries, from military equipment to wind turbines, countries with these minerals are strategically important. While the competition of global powers in this field is increasing, the riches of Central Asia turn the region into not only an economic centre of attraction but also a geopolitical battleground.

Read more

Why Canada’s long-term fate could hang on unlocking the Arctic — now – by Joe O’Connor (Financial Post – April 9, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Donald Trump has forced a new urgency on the campaign trail and up and down the country to unleash the North’s potential or risk Arctic sovereignty and a northern treasure trove of resources

Brendan Bell knows what it is like to be ignored. It wasn’t so many months ago that the chief executive of West Kitikmeot Resources Corp., an Inuit-owned company proposing to build a road and deepwater ocean port in the Arctic, was spending a chunk of each day waiting for non-Arctic people to return his phone calls to discuss the project.

“This road is not a new idea,” he said. “Roads have a long history in the North.” Do they ever. Yet that history can be summarized as roads — and major infrastructure projects of all types — may get proposed for the Arctic, but they generally don’t get built. No surprise then that Bell had been contending with an utterly non-urgent vibe from other people in relation to the Grays Bay Road and Port Project. That is until recently, when a lot of those same people started calling him back.

Read more

OPINION: A bold Canadian Arctic strategy isn’t just good policy – it’s good business – by Gary Mar and Mark Norman (Globe and Mail – April 9, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Gary Mar is the president and CEO of the Canada West Foundation. Vice-Admiral (Ret’d) Mark Norman is a former vice-chief of the defence staff.

Canada is an Arctic nation. It’s about time it started acting like it. Unlike the Scandinavian countries and Russia, Canada has reluctantly viewed itself in this manner, instead considering the North as a sort of national park where development is frowned upon.

The economic value of the region has been played down, and the need to defend that value was discounted under a rosy view of a peaceful world anchored to the benevolent hegemony of the United States. That all changed with the second inauguration of Donald Trump in January, and his rhetoric that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.

Read more

Column: China primes rare earths weapon as trade war escalates – by Andy Home (Reuters – April 10, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

As U.S. President Donald Trump turns up the tariff heat on China, Beijing is targeting ever more of the United States’ critical material supply chains.

Weird and wonderful metals such as antimony, gallium and germanium have already been sucked into the escalating trade war with China restricting exports and banning sales to the United States. Beijing has just raised the mineral threat another level by adding seven rare earths to its dual-use list of restricted exports.

Read more

Canada poised to fill some of rare earths void as China curbs U.S. exports in retaliation to Trump tariffs – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – April 5, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

China is expanding its export controls on minerals used in strategic industries as part of its retaliation against U.S. tariffs, putting Canada in a position to potentially fill some of the void. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday hit China with additional 34-per-cent tariffs, on top of the 20-per-cent levies he had already imposed. The assault on China is part of Mr. Trump’s global suite of “reciprocal” tariffs targeting countries his administration perceives as treating the U.S. unfairly.

Beijing on Friday fired back, announcing its own tit-for-tat tariffs of 34 per cent on all imports of U.S. goods. But it also announced new controls on the exports of rare-earth minerals, including scandium, samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, and yttrium to the U.S.

Read more

China deploys rare earths as weapon in trade war with Trump (Bloomberg News – April 7, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

China has expanded its use of critical minerals as a trade weapon with curbs on exports of rare earths, threatening to shake-up the global supply of key materials used widely in high-tech manufacturing from electric vehicles to weaponry.

As part of its retaliation to President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs on imported Chinese goods, Beijing said Friday it will tighten controls on exports of seven types of rare earths. The country is by far the world’s biggest supplier of the minerals, which comprise 17 elements in the periodic table.

Read more

The US is negotiating a minerals deal with conflict-hit Congo, a Trump official says – by JEAN-YVES KAMALE and MARK BANCHEREAU (Associated Press – April 3, 2025)

https://apnews.com/

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A Trump administration official said Thursday the United States is in talks with conflict-plagued Congo on developing its mineral resources under a deal the Congolese president has said could help make his country safer.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos, did not provide details of the potential deal following talks with Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa, but he said it could involve “multibillion-dollar investments.”

Read more

Building an integrated critical minerals sector in Canada – by Atkins Réalis (Canadian Mining Journal – April 3, 2025)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

A vital investment to meet growing demand and enhance everyday life

It is no exaggeration to say that we could not survive in a modern society without critical minerals; they are found in hundreds of things we use everyday from cell phones and laptops to tea kettles and toothpaste.

Manufacturing, construction, agriculture, artificial intelligence, and clean technologies are just a few examples of the industries that are dependent on this sector, which is set to have a global market value of US$770 billion by 2040.

Read more

China hits back at US tariffs with rare earth export controls – by Amy Lv, Lewis Jackson and Eric Onstad (Reuters – April 4, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

China placed export restrictions on key rare earth elements on Friday as part of its sweeping response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, potentially squeezing supply to the U.S. and the West of minerals vital to everything from defense to electric cars.

China produces around 90% of the world’s refined rare earths, a group of 17 elements used across the defense, electric vehicle, clean energy and electronics industries. The United States imports most of its rare earths, and most come from China.

Read more