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(9) stories found containing 'the enigmatic rare earth elements paradox'


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  • US Pentagon Department of Defense critical minerals policy

    Strategic metals firepower for Pentagon

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    The $740.5 billion National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 passed by Congress last week instructs the Pentagon to secure domestic and allied sources of strategic minerals and metals. "The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the striking vulnerabilities and gaps in our domestic supply chains, and the need to invest in critical mineral manufacturing and processing has taken on a new urgency," said Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who authored two amendments addressing...

  • EV electric vehicle motor drive demand for REE magnets

    EVs drive explosive REE magnet demand

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    Rare earths and battery metals market expert Adamas Intelligence forecasts that demand for the magnet rare earths – neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium – will falter slightly this year due to COVID-19 before rising sharply over the balance of the decade. Electric vehicles, wind power generators, consumer appliances, cordless power tools, speakers and dozens of other modern devices benefit from the unmatched power and durability of rare earth magnets. A lessened demand for...

  • Wheat Ridge Co USA rare earth element processing pilot plant

    USA rare earth separation pilot underway

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    With the commissioning of a pilot plant in Colorado now underway, USA Rare Earth LLC is one step closer to producing rare earth elements on American soil. Based in New York City, USA Rare Earth has set in motion a strategy to establish a completely domestic supply chain for rare earth magnets, which are essential for wind turbines, electric vehicles, smartphones, military hardware, advanced medical devices, and the physical backbone of emerging 5G networks. A key facet of...

  • Rare earth elements periodic table US Department of Energy investment

    DOE funds critical rare earth research

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 10, 2022

    U.S. Department of Energy is funding up to $18 million for basic research aimed at helping to ensure the continued availability of rare earth elements, or effective substitutes, critical to the functioning of the modern U.S. economy. Rare earth elements such as neodymium, praseodymium, lanthanum and others are vital to a host of contemporary technological and industrial applications, ranging from magnets in electric motors and wind turbines, to speaker and other components in...

  • United States Geological Survey USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020 cover

    USGS report informs critical mineral policy

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 2, 2022

    The United States depends on foreign countries for more than 50 percent of its supply of 31 minerals considered critical to the nation's economic wellbeing and national security, including 100 percent import-reliant for 14 of them, according to Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020, a recent U.S. Geological Survey report. The list of mined commodities for which the U.S. is fully reliant on foreign nations for its supply is littered with high-tech minerals and metals needed for rene...

  • American flag at Bokan Mountain Rare Earth REE mine project Ketchikan Alaska

    Alaska REE project draws Pentagon interest

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 2, 2022

    Ucore Rare Metals Inc. wants to provide the Pentagon with an American source of rare earth elements, vital ingredients to a wide array of U.S. military hardware, from helmet mounted radios to laser guided missiles. While essential to national defense, the U.S. currently depends on foreign countries for 100 percent of its supply of rare earths. And more than 80 percent of these critical metals are imported from China, either directly or via secondary countries. As part of a...

  • US Air Force F 35 fighter aircraft flying over Alaska 920 lb rare earth elements

    The enigmatic rare earth elements paradox

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 2, 2022

    American mines produced roughly 26,000 tons of rare earth during 2019, a 44 percent increase over 2018, yet the United States is 100 percent reliant on foreign countries for its supply of these 17 elements vital to our modern high-tech society. This apparent paradox speaks to the complexities of these enigmatic metals. The irony of rare earth elements (REEs) begins with their name, which is at the same time a misnomer and accurate descriptor. "All the REEs except promethium...

  • REE rare earth elements 17 15 lanthanides yttrium scandium USGS Mojave Desert

    Made in North America rare earths return

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Nov 2, 2021

    Roughly 38,000 metric tons of rare earth concentrates were produced from American soil during 2020, yet the United States remains 100% reliant on foreign countries for its supply of these 17 elements critical to our modern high-tech society – an apparent paradox that speaks to the complexities of these enigmatic metals. The irony of rare earth elements (REEs) begins with their name, which is at the same time a misnomer and accurate descriptor. "All the REEs except p...

  • Ucore Rare Metals Bokan Mountain Dotson Ridge REE deposit Alaska

    COVID-19 underscores rare earth exposure

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jun 27, 2020

    Ucore Rare Metals Inc. says the COVID-19 pandemic shines a spotlight on the need for a domestic supply of rare earth elements and other critical minerals and the company continues to make headway toward helping to fill that supply with its mine-to-metal-to-market "M3" strategy. "The current crisis underscores the extremely vulnerable nature of critical materials supply chains in the U.S. globalization and single-source foreign dependencies are not mitigating this risk – t...