Col. Critical Mineral

B.C. exploration spending is down 26% and no new critical mineral mine has opened in over a decade. At @MineralsNorth the message was clear: Canada must cut red tape, renew tax credits, and fast-track permitting to lead in the new era. 🇨🇦⛏️ biv.com/news/commentary/opin…

China controls 2/3 of rare earth mining and 90% of refining, creating a national security risk for the U.S. Trump’s EO 14241 + the 45X tax credit aim to fix this. It’s time to unleash American cobalt, lithium & antimony—before it’s too late. @UtilityDive utilitydive.com/news/critica…

India and Chile took a major step forward in strengthening their economic partnership by signing the Terms of Reference (ToR) for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Critical Minerals are an important part of CEPA discussions. tribuneindia.com/news/busine…

Mayor Lefebvre’s 2025 Sudbury address focused on critical minerals called for unity: "Come, let us build together." Sudbury’s vision is bold: grow sustainably, compete globally, and welcome all. northernontariobusiness.com/…

(17/17)The U.S. has the tech and talent. What it lacks is urgency. The moment demands speed, ambition, and national coordination. A real critical minerals strategy = stockpiling, financing, recycling, refining, and innovation. Let’s learn from history and secure America’s future.

(16/17) Recycling can’t replace mining, but it can ease supply shocks. Washington should support a private-sector recycling buildout. R&D is the long game. Lithium from geothermal brine, rare earths from coal waste, sodium-ion batteries — we need to invest hard.

(15/17) Permitting new U.S. refineries is tough: water-intensive, environmentally sensitive, and near Indigenous lands. We need balance. Recycling is key. The DLA already salvages germanium from old weapons. China and the EU mandate battery recycling. We don’t.

(14/17) The @DFCgov (Development Finance Corp) could also be expanded to fund domestic minerals. Reauthorization is coming soon. But mining alone isn’t the solution. Most critical minerals are processed in China. That’s our Achilles' heel.

(13/17) A bipartisan bill, the Critical Materials Future Act, would create price floors, forward contracts, and a revolving fund to stabilize investment. Even without new laws, the @DeptofDefense could use its Strategic Materials Division to deploy these financial tools today.

(12/17) A smart fix? Offer monthly price floors for domestic producers, like the @USDA does for crops. Let them plan long-term. China floods markets to suppress prices. Without hedging tools, U.S. miners can’t compete. We need a Commodity Credit Corp for critical minerals.

(11/17) What the U.S. really needs: Bigger stockpiles, better financing tools, more R&D, and serious recycling infrastructure. As of 2023, the U.S. National Defense Stockpile held just $912M in minerals — less than half of Pentagon needs. We need $13.5B minimum to close the gap.

(10/17) But it’s not enough. Trump has centralized mineral strategy under National Energy Dominance Council and opened more federal land to mining. He’s also looking abroad to Congo, Greenland, and Ukraine to lock in strategic resources. But unilateralism risks alienating allies.

(9/17) These moves led to the first U.S. producer of battery-grade manganese, a rare earth magnet plant, and lithium/graphite production scaling up.

(8/17) Trump issued executive orders to boost domestic mining. Biden launched supply chain reviews and funded critical minerals via the Defense Production Act. @CommerceGov

(7/17) China invested in mines across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It built cheap domestic processing and developed proprietary refining tech. America... outsourced.

(6/17) After the Cold War, the U.S. sold off 99% of its critical minerals stockpile. Today, we’re playing catch-up.

(5/17) Beijing has already used this power. In 2010, it banned rare earth exports to Japan. In 2024, it blocked gallium, germanium, and antimony to the U.S. in retaliation for tariffs.

(4/17) China controls up to 90% of the world’s rare earth and critical mineral processing. If conflict breaks out over Taiwan or in the South China Sea, it could cut off the U.S. overnight.

(3/17) Today, the U.S. is again dangerously dependent. But this time, the adversary is also the world’s dominant supplier: China.

(2/17) When WWII began, America scrambled. FDR had to form a new agency to scour the globe for critical materials — at any cost. The delay cost lives, billions, and time. Sound familiar?