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  • Computer grapic of charger being plugged into EV on a photo of wind turbines.

    DOE puts $75M into domestic minerals

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    U.S. Department of Energy is funding a Critical Materials Supply Chain Research Facility support a resilient and secure domestic supply chain. The Department of Energy is funding a Critical Materials Supply Chain Research Facility that will help support a secure domestic supply of minerals and materials critical to economic prosperity, national security, and the green energy transition in the U.S. This week, the DOE's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)...

  • An EV being charged with solar panels and wind turbines in the distance.

    Energy minerals pullback worries IEA

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    International Energy Agency says significant investments are still needed for critical minerals supply to keep pace with clean energy demand. While encouraged by the billions of dollars that has been invested in developing new supplies of the minerals and metals critical to the energy transition, the International Energy Agency (IEA) cautions that the current well-supplied market may not be a good guide for the future of critical minerals. "The world's appetite for...

  • Map showing mines, mineral exploration projects, and refineries in Canada.

    Canada expands critical minerals list

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    Adds silicon metal, high-purity iron ore, and phosphorous to 31 materials already on the list. Toward the goal of positioning itself as the "global supplier of choice" for the minerals and metals essential to modern technologies, especially the enormous quantities of raw materials being demanded by a world transitioning to clean energy, Canada has assembled an updated and expanded list of minerals critical to the northern nation. "By updating Canada's Critical Minerals List, w...

  • Shaking hands with sleeves representing Australian and Indian flags.

    Australia, India critical minerals collab

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Jul 9, 2024

    Countries combine interests in security, defense, and the growing need for raw materials and processing for the oncoming energy transition. Australia is expanding its cooperation with India on critical minerals, batteries, and electric vehicles, batteries. Critical minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium, nickel, and rare earth elements are essential components in today's rapidly growing clean energy technologies, from adapting power grids to powering EVs. Both countries have... Full story

  • Closeup of chunks of uranium concentrate or yellowcake.

    Russian import ban creates nuclear shift

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated May 30, 2024

    New legislation heralds anticipated domestic nuclear energy transformation. With the signing into law of bipartisan legislation that effectively bans the import of uranium products from Russia, the Biden administration has signaled a monumental shift for America's civil nuclear energy sector. Signed by President Biden on May 14, the bipartisan Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act has finally been enacted into law. "This bill limits the importation of uranium from Russia....

  • A man surveys a tidal habitat in Australian wilderness.

    AU targets critical minerals in hunt

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated May 24, 2024

    Latest budget's resource search focuses on battery metals and rare earth elements. Over the coming decade, Australia is prepared to spend A$566 million (US$373 million) to map out deposits of minerals critical to high-tech manufacturing and the green energy transition. "The critical minerals space is one of the reasons why there is so much attention from global and domestic investors, but we need to make sure we can attract and deploy that," Australia Treasurer Jim Chalmers...

  • A smartphone displaying the EXIM website homepage.

    NioCorp takes step toward $800M U.S. loan

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 15, 2024

    Critical minerals company receives preliminary term sheet for mine financing from EXIM. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has extended an offer to loan NioCorp Developments Ltd. $800 million to help fund the development of Elk Creek, a critical minerals project in Nebraska that would provide a domestic source of niobium, titanium, scandium, and rare earths. "Our goal is to make North America less dependent on foreign suppliers for the critical minerals we...

  • The outside of the UN building located in Geneva, Switzerland.

    UN establishes responsible minerals panel

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated May 8, 2024

    "The objective of the panel ... is to build trust and certainty towards harnessing the potential of these minerals to be utilized to unlock shared prosperity, leaving no one and no place behind." With the growing demand for minerals critical to renewable energy technologies, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has utilized the organization's convening power to unite governments and stakeholders along the entire mineral value chain. The goal: to establish global...

  • A broken hourglass surrounded by pennies and glittering dirt

    Mineral demand surges as mines struggle

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated May 8, 2024

    Despite rising EV sales, miners are unable to finance projects for battery metals. Amidst a green tech boom, fierce global competition is pushing down company margins, and a surprising number of mining industry leaders, like Albemarle, First Quantum Minerals, Glencore, and BHP, are cutting budgets, lowering dividends, and laying off workers. In the U.S., where the Biden administration is pushing to develop a domestic mineral supply but has halted many projects that would meet...

  • Dignitaries shake hands after signing an international agreement.

    Saskatchewan critical mineral partnerships

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 25, 2024

    Canadian province signs strategic minerals partnership with France; Saskatchewan Research Council secures rare earths feedstock for Saskatoon processing plant. Saskatchewan's strategy to become a North American hub for the minerals and metals critical to clean energy and other future-leaning technologies was bolstered by two agreements signed on Monday. The first agreement was a letter of intent signed with France to explore, develop, and cooperate on new strategic mineral...

  • Union Jack flag flying in front of an old building.

    UK critical minerals policy still vulnerable

    K. Warner|Updated Apr 22, 2024

    Dods’ “Vital but Vulnerable: UK Critical Minerals Policy” report cautions that more needs to be done. Dods Political Intelligence, an advisory service, has published a report to provide context and evaluation of current critical mineral policies in the United Kingdom. These are increasingly crucial for contemporary defense manufacturing, which acts as a deterrent against conflict. Meanwhile, global economies in a rush to transition to green industries are going to colle... Full story

  • Two men in safety gear collect water samples from a stream.

    US offers $1.8B loan for antimony mine

    Shane Lasley|Updated Apr 9, 2024

    Perpetua Resources receives Stibnite Gold Mine debt financing letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has extended an offer to loan Perpetua Resources Corp. $1.8 billion to fund the development of a mine at Stibnite Gold, which would round out an all-of-government effort to establish the historic project in Idaho as a future domestic source of antimony critical to America's economic and national...

  • Dozens of plumes of emissions in an industrial district.

    DOE funding makes decarbonization history

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 2, 2024

    Largest industrial decarbonization investment ever in US history; will see $6 billion across 33 projects throughout the nation. Stoking the non-emissive fires of industry once again, the U.S. Department of Energy has leveraged another significant share of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to inject upwards of $6 billion into 33 projects across more than 20 states to decarbonize energy-intensive industries, reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions, and invigorate job...

  • Mary and Gary Freeman posing for a picture on their excavation site.

    A bit deeper into Maine lithium motherlode

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 12, 2024

    New rules would allow the testing needed to build an open-pit mine over the largest hard rock lithium deposit in the U.S. In a unanimous vote, the Board of Environmental Protection has amended Maine's prohibitive mining rules to allow for open-pit excavation of certain clean energy metals. The provisional amendment, still under final consideration, is the refinement of a state law adopted last July intended to restrict mining and processing resources containing polluting sulfi...

  • Fully equipped army soldier enters area with smoke and fire at night.

    Pentagon prioritizes critical minerals

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 8, 2024

    Reshoring mineral supply chains lost to globalization is a key part of DOD National Defense Industrial Strategy The urgency to onshore critical mineral supply chains in the United States has begun to shift away from a need to secure reliable sources of the minerals and metals needed to support the nation's economy and clean energy ambitions toward the need for these same mined commodities to defend American ideals and interests at home and abroad. "Establishing a fully...

  • Puzzle pieces of Chinese and U.S. flags over a globe.

    Critical minerals cold war heats up

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 6, 2024

    Massive geothermal lithium reserves give U.S. leverage while superpowers employ protectionist measures around supply chains. There's a new international race, not into space or to establish military superiority, but to secure critical minerals in a worldwide resource grab for the feedstocks that will fuel a global green energy transition. While we're all on the same side – or, in this case, the same planet – the superpowers have been at odds with how to achieve net-zero car...

  • An ore hauling ship being loaded at an industrial facility at night.

    US remains reliant on mineral imports

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 16, 2024

    Despite investing billions of dollars, US continues to rely heavily on China and others for its supply of critical minerals. The 2024 edition of U.S. Geological Survey's annual Mineral Commodity Summaries shows the United States has made little headway in breaking its reliance on China and other overseas nations for the minerals and metals critical to the nation's clean energy ambitions, economic well-being, and defense. "Our mineral import dependence continues to be a gaping...

  • South Dakota map with lithium pellets, compass, and pick

    South Dakota's lithium tax inches closer

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News|Updated Feb 5, 2024

    In what may be a watershed moment for U.S. state laws regarding critical mineral mining, South Dakota Rep. Kirk Chaffee has taken a second swing at taxing lithium, and this time it may stick. Last year, a similar effort to classify lithium as an energy mineral passed the state House but was rejected in the Senate. The current bill, for which Chaffee is the main sponsor, classifies South Dakota's future lithium as a precious metal and imposes a 10% tax on mining profits, with...

  • David Turk testifies during a Senate committee hearing.

    Senators grill Turk on mine investments

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 31, 2024

    Sens. Murkowski, Manchin contend administration is misinterpreting Congress intent when it comes to funding domestic mining projects. While the U.S. Department of Energy is investing billions of taxpayer dollars into establishing robust battery material processing and battery manufacturing capacity in the United States, the federal agency has done little to support domestic mines that would feed critical minerals into domestic electric vehicle supply chains. Sen. Lisa Murkowsk...

  • The U.S. Department of Homeland Security seal on an American flag backdrop.

    Department of homeland mineral security

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Jan 1, 2024

    Agency founded to fight terrorism views mining and critical minerals as vital to economic, national security of the homeland. For most Americans, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security conjures up images of an intelligence agency borne from the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon that employs TSA airport screenings, border checkpoints, and internet monitoring to protect Americans from terrorist threats, both foreign and domestic. And these airport, border,... Full story

  • A geologist uses a hammer to break off rocks to sample for critical minerals.

    USGS invests millions in critical minerals

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 16, 2023

    In 2023 alone, the federal geological survey invested $51M into Earth MRI scans of 35 states as part of a nationwide critical minerals search. From rare earths in Northern Maine to lithium in Southern California and titanium in Florida to 29 critical minerals in Alaska, the United States Geological Survey is investing heavily in strengthening domestic supply chains for the 50 minerals and metals critical to every sector of the American economy. This nationwide search for...

  • President Joe Biden at a GM auto factory in Michigan.

    DOE redefines foreign entity of concern

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Dec 1, 2023

    Reinterpretation of FEOC widens pool of potential critical mineral sources eligible for federal tax credits, funds. The Biden administration needs help understanding the meaning of "foreign entity of concern" (FEOC) as this term relates to investing billions of taxpayer dollars into bolstering the supply chains for materials critical to electric vehicles and renewable energy. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act allotted billions of dollars for... Full story

  • Closeup of RapidSX rare earth separation columns filled with colorful liquids.

    Ottawa backs RapidSX rare earths plant

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 29, 2023

    Ucore is awarded C$4.3 million to produce magnet REEs for EVs and other high-tech uses at its demo plant in Ontario. To support the commercialization of a technology poised to help break North America's dependence on China for rare earths critical to the clean energy and technology sectors, the Canadian government has awarded Ucore Rare Metals Inc. C$4.28 million (US$3.1 million) to demonstrate the capabilities of its RapidSX rare earths separation platform. "We would like to...

  • Infographic showing all the minerals and metals in an electric vehicle battery.

    China adds graphite to export restrictions

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Nov 10, 2023

    Following gallium, germanium curbs, China announces plan to restrict its exports of critical lithium-ion battery material on Dec 1. Three months into its restrictions on exports of the critical computer chipmaking metals gallium and germanium, China announced that it will also be limiting global shipments of graphite, the largest single ingredient in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. On Oct. 20, China's Ministry of Commerce posted notices that the exports of nine...

  • Closeup of EV plugged into charging station.

    IEA critical minerals strategy emerges

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Oct 11, 2023

    Delegates agree on six actions to strengthen and diversify critical energy mineral supply chains. The rapid transition away from the fossil fuels that powered the world through the 20th century and toward lower-carbon sources such as wind and solar is creating enormous new demands for critical minerals and metals like cobalt, copper, lithium, and nickel. This interdependency was highlighted during the first-ever International Energy Agency Critical Minerals and Clean Energy...

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