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The Ambler Access Road project would open up mining opportunities in Alaska that would supply critical minerals used in solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicle batteries. The Biden administration is expected to deny approval of the road, increasing our reliance on China. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Biden administration is expected this week to deny approval of an Alaskan road that would provide access to potential mining opportunities in a very remote region of the state. The Ambler Access Road project is a proposed 211-mile gravel road that would connect a mining district in west-central Alaska to the Dalton Highway that runs...

Incredible map shows the places on the moon where we might find ‘infinite energy’ or trillions in minerals by 2030. A new space race is warming up after half a century, with Russia, China and America racing to put robots, human astronauts and even lunar trains on the moon. The prize is enormous, with resources ranging from ‘rare earth’ minerals used in electronics to Helium-3, a potential energy source which could power a nuclear fusion revolution offering infinite clean energy. Morgan Stanley has previously suggested that the global space industry could be worth $1 trillion annually by 2040 - and...

Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) led a letter to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler and Director Haoxiang Zhu, seeking information on a proposed rule change to permit the listing of Natural Asset Companies (NACs) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

A 71-year-old investor who bought an old Wyoming coal mine sight-unseen for $2million has learned that it may contain $37 billion worth of 'rare earth' minerals. Randall Atkins, the CEO of Ramaco Rescources, bought the Brook Mine in Sheridan 12 years ago - but it wasn't until years later that researchers checked if the ground contained elements that are used for semiconductors, missiles and solar cells. He was shocked to find out that his mine may contain the largest rare-earth deposit in the United States - and the materials may be worth 18,500 times what he paid for the land....

Reducing overall calorie intake may rejuvenate your muscles and activate biological pathways important for good health. Decreasing calories without depriving the body of essential vitamins and minerals, known as calorie restriction, has long been known to delay the progression of age-related diseases in animal models. This study suggests the same biological mechanisms may also apply to humans. Researchers analyzed data from participants in the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE), a study that examined whether moderate calorie restriction conveys the same health benefits seen in animal studies. During a two-year span, the goal for participants...

Geologists have recently discovered two alien minerals unknown to Earth in a meteorite in Somalia. A small, 2.5 ounce (70-gram) fragment of the fifteen thousand kilogram fallen comet known as El Ali revealed the alien ore. Scientists stumbled upon the unknown mineral in the meteorite while sampling a slice. It was only after analyzing the segment in a lab that they realized they had discovered something completely new. Alien minerals in El Ali meteorite Researchers, scientists, and geologists are excited by the revelation, as it might help them understand more about asteroids and how they form as well as the...

A small, quiet Arkansas town home to just 11,100 people is set to become the epicenter of the US 'white gold' boom. Magnolia, a blue-collar town in the state's southern region, was once a locus for oil but is on track to become a major producer of lithium, dubbed 'white gold' because of its soft, silvery-white look and the fact it powers most modern tech - from cellphones to laptops and electric cars. Exxon Mobil is planning to build one of the world’s largest lithium processing facilities near the town, with a capacity to produce 75,000 to 100,000 metric tons...

TOKYO -- China's dominant position in refining and processing raw materials is making the nation a strong competitor in the global fight for mining assets, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday, as governments and companies rush to diversify supply chains for critical minerals and stably meet demand for key clean technologies including renewables and electric vehicle batteries. "As the world's largest metal refining hub, China heavily relies on imports for large volumes of raw materials, often from a small number of sources," the IEA's Critical Minerals Market Review 2023 report said. The world's second-largest economy is the top producer...

By harnessing patterns in mineral associations, a new machine-learning model can predict the locations of minerals on Earth and potentially, other planets. This advancement is of immense value to science and industry, as they continually explore mineral deposits to unravel the planet’s history and to mine resources for practical applications, such as rechargeable batteries. A team led by Shaunna Morrison and Anirudh Prabhu aimed to develop a method for identifying the occurrence of particular minerals, an objective that has traditionally been considered as much an art as it is a science. This process has often been dependent on individual experience...

From August, China is to restrict exports of gallium and germanium, two critical elements for making semiconductor chips. With China dominating the supply of both elements, exporters will now need special licenses to get them out of the country. The move has the potential to harm a range of Western tech manufacturers that use these elements to make their products. The move is reportedly in response to Western restrictions on equipment vital for making semiconductor devices. Above all, the US CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 curtailed exports of high-end microchips and technology to China, potentially affecting Beijing’s capacity for...

Gallium and germanium are silvery-white metals that can be found in a wide variety of electronics, such as semiconductors, smartphones, pressure sensors, transistors and fibre optics, as well as solar panels, camera lenses and space systems. Invoking "national security interests," the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Monday that companies that intend to sell products containing the two targeted materials would need to first obtain an export licence. In practice, this means that if the central government refuses to issue the licence, the company will be outright banned from exporting. The government will treat the merchandise as a "dual-use" item,...

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “strongest-ever” vehicle emissions standards designed to drive mass adoption of electric cars within a decade will increase the United States’ dependence on China, experts warn.“It benefits the Chinese Communist Party because they control the critical minerals supply chain that is going to be necessary to build out the batteries for those electric vehicles,” said Mandy Gunasekara, director of the Center for Energy and Conservation at Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative think tank, in an April 17 interview with The Epoch Times.Gunasekara served as chief of staff in the EPA under former President Donald Trump. She...

Unfortunately, this is not an April Fools’ joke. The U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) announced on April 1 that Chinese-owned firms make 80% of U.S. ports’ cargo cranes. The CCP also controls about 90% of the world’s rare earth processing — and rare earths are essential to all the electronic devices and chips upon which we depend. That’s a lot of control the CCP has over the American economy as it becomes ever more hostile to America. Chinese-owned firms make 80% of cargo cranes at American ports. On Friday, Chairman @RepGallagher and @RepCarlos explored this...

(Reuters) - A kind of rock that often contains diamonds has been found in Antarctica for the first time, hinting at mineral riches in the vast, icy continent where mining is banned.

Incentives and free money from the Inflation Reduction Act has triggered an investment boom to build more electric vehicles...The auto industry has earmarked billions of dollars for EV projects resulting in the Biggest Auto-Factory Building Boom in DecadesThe U.S. auto industry is entering one of its biggest factory-building booms in years, a surge of spending largely driven by the shift to electric vehicles and new federal subsidies aimed at boosting U.S. battery manufacturing. The 11-month total adds to the $37 billion in new auto-factory spending committed in 2021, when a number of new projects were revealed in states such as...

A Harvard professor and author stunned podcast host Joe Rogan by telling him that almost every lithium battery-powered tech device relied on today by the western world is powered by slavery in cobalt mines in the Congo. Siddharth Kara, the author of the book Cobalt Red: How The Blood of The Congo Powers Our Lives, insists there is no such thing as 'clean cobalt' - the term given to describe ethically mined cobalt. Appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast earlier this week, he told the Spotify host that in fact, almost every single device used today that relies on a lithium...

he two brand new minerals were found inside a single 2.5 ounce (70 gram) slice taken from the 16.5 ton (15 metric tons) El Ali meteorite, which crashed to Earth in 2020. Scientists named the minerals elaliite after the meteor and elkinstantonite after Lindy Elkins-Tanton(opens in new tab), the managing director of the Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative... The researchers classified El Ali as an Iron IAB complex meteorite, a type made of meteoric iron flecked with tiny chunks of silicates. While investigating the meteorite slice, details of the new minerals caught the scientists' attention. By comparing the minerals with...

Influential elites are either in denial about the horrifying costs and consequences of Net Zero – witness last Wednesday’s substantial vote against fracking British gas in the House of Commons – or busy scooping up the almost unlimited amounts of money currently on offer for promoting pseudoscience climate scares and investing in impracticable green technologies. Until the lights start to go out and heating fails, they are unlikely to pay much attention to a recent 1,000 page alternative energy investigation undertaken for a Finnish Government agency by Associate Professor Simon Michaux. Referring to the U.K.’s 2050 Net Zero target, Michaux...

While China has been relentlessly pursuing self-reliance when it comes to raw materials -- especially strategic ones such as titanium, tungsten and cobalt, which are used in the defense industry -- the US for the past several decades has been selling off huge chunks of the strategic minerals stockpile to the extent that the National Defense Stockpile is reportedly reaching insolvency. By comparison, China, as of 2020, was the world's third-largest exporter of titanium, while the US was the number one destination for the Chinese titanium exports. It is China's growing influence in Africa, especially through its Belt and Road...

...companies in Europe and the U.S. are furiously building dozens of gigafactories—Elon Musk’s term for massive EV battery factories. The upshot is that every $2 billion gigafactory will, over a decade of operation, purchase some $20 billion of battery minerals and materials. One might reasonably wonder: Purchase from where? And who benefits? ...companies in Europe and the U.S. are furiously building dozens of gigafactories—Elon Musk’s term for massive EV battery factories. The upshot is that every $2 billion gigafactory will, over a decade of operation, purchase some $20 billion of battery minerals and materials. One might reasonably wonder: Purchase from...