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Peru has decided to tap its fuel reserves to protect domestic supply and contain the impact of what is already being described as the country’s worst energy crisis in the last 20 years, following a gas pipeline rupture that severely disrupted the national energy system. The measure was announced by Prime Minister Denisse Miralles, as authorities moved to respond to the emergency triggered by the shutdown of a section of pipeline operated by Transportadora de Gas del Perú (TGP) in the Megantoni district. The incident led to restrictions in gas deliveries to industrial users and the power sector, while the...

Long-standing regulations mean the United States may not be able to compete with Chinese critical mineral production despite the recent discovery of 328 years’ worth of lithium stretching across the Appalachian Mountains. In April, the United States Geological Survey estimated 2.33 million metric tons of extractable lithium lay underneath multiple Appalachian states. Red tape and lacking infrastructure could thwart the find’s promised economic potential, analysts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Lithium is a critical resource essential for rechargeable batteries, including those used in electric vehicles, portable electronics such as laptops and phones, and electrical grid storage. Chinese companies presently...

China had a head start on controling rare earths. Trump cut off oil from Iran to China, and uses that as leverage to get access to China rare earths. Israel is pioneering new rare earth extraction technology in the Negev, and working on recycling old electronics and batteries for their rare earth content.

Introduced in House (05/07/2024) Monetary Metals Tax Neutrality Act of 2024 This bill exempts gains or losses from the sale or exchange of certain coins or bullion from recognition for income tax purposes. The exemption applies to gains or losses from the sale or exchange of (1) gold, silver, platinum, or palladium coins minted and issued by the Department of the Treasury; or (2) refined gold or silver bullion, coins, bars, rounds, or ingots that are valued primarily based on their metal content and not their form.

Key Takeaways A Historic Reclassification: The U.S. Department of the Interior officially designated silver as a Critical Mineral for 2025, reclassifying it from a historic precious metal to a strategic asset essential for national defense and economic stability. Hidden High-Tech Dependencies: While often associated with solar panels, the graphic reveals silver's less visible but "irreplaceable" role in Artificial Intelligence (AI) thermal management and the non-flammable batteries required for advanced military munitions. The Supply Chain Response: With the U.S. currently relying on imports for 64% of its silver, this new status triggers federal "fast-track" permitting and tax incentives designed to break...

They’ve hit the mother lode. We may no longer need to rely on foreign batteries to power our electronics. Geologists have announced that the Appalachian Mountains could be hiding a sprawling multi-billion-dollar cache of lithium that could last the US hundreds of years. “This research shows that the Appalachians contain enough lithium to help meet the nation’s growing needs,” declared US Geological Survey Director Ned Mamula in a statement. According to a map by the institution, this East Coast mountain range houses around 2.5 metric tons of this battery precursor, most of which is concentrated in the Carolinas, Maine and...

<p>MERERANI, Tanzania -- In the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, miners with flashlights tied to their heads crawl hundreds of feet beneath the East African plain, searching for a purple-brown crystal that will turn into a blue gem called tanzanite.</p> <p>Many of the rare stones chipped off by the spacemen, as the miners are called, find their way to display cases at Zales, QVC or Tiffany. But it's a long way from these dusty plains to U.S. jewelry stores, and the stones pass through many hands on their journey. Some of those hands, it is increasingly clear, belong to active supporters of Osama bin Laden.</p>

- Ahmed Khalifan Ghailani, a/k/a "Foopie," is a diminutive Tanzanian with an Uzbeki wife, six children and a deep hatred of America and Western culture in general. A devout Muslim who plays a mean game of soccer but never learned to drive a car, Ghailani is also believed to be a key al Qaeda player who U.S. agents think is involved in a percolating terror plot aimed at disrupting America's upcoming elections. He had a $25 million price on his head as the FBI's No. 7 most-wanted terrorist - the same amount as the bounty for the capture of Osama...

1. Introduction In recent decades, distortions resulting from pervasive non-market policies and practices have left critical minerals supply chains of market-oriented economies vulnerable to a myriad of disruptions, including economic coercion. Correcting these vulnerabilities is imperative, as critical minerals are strategic assets integral to modern and innovative industrial economies, and diverse, resilient, and market-based supply chains are essential for our economic and national security. To this end, the United States and the United Mexican States (“Mexico”) (collectively, “the Participants”) seek to develop a new paradigm for preferential trade in critical minerals supported by price floors and other measures, and have...

https://x.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/2029621652427096264 KanekoaTheGreat@KanekoaTheGreat·5h🚨NEW: Venezuela’s acting president just thanked Donald Trump — the same president whose administration removed Nicolás Maduro two months ago — and offered cooperation on energy, mining, and critical minerals.Delcy Rodríguez said it standing next to U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum during a joint press conference in Caracas.Two months ago: Maduro captured.Today: the interim government thanking the architect of that removal and opening the door to U.S. access on gold, rare earths, and oil.While the world focuses on Iranian missiles and U.S. airstrikes, the Trump administration is quietly rewriting resource maps across the Global South.Venezuela holds the largest proven...

Iran is pursuing a nuclear agreement with the U.S. that delivers economic benefits for both sides, an Iranian diplomat was reported as saying on Sunday, days before a second round of talks between Tehran and Washington. Iran and the U.S. renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program and avert a new military confrontation. The U.S. has dispatched a second aircraft carrier to the region and is preparing for the possibility of a sustained military campaign if the talks do not succeed, U.S. officials have told Reuters. “For the sake of an agreement’s durability,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vance says the Trump administration is starting a trading bloc for critical minerals with price floors and financing.....

President Donald Trump has kicked off $12 billion project to stockpile critical minerals used by the defense and technology sectors as a hedge against Chinese dominance of the strategically important industry in what the White House will call “Project Vault.” The public-private effort — first reported by Bloomberg — would use $1.67 billion in private seed funds and combine that cash with another $10 billion from the U.S. government’s Export-Import Bank for the purchase and storage of critical minerals and rare earths such as gallium and cobalt, a key ingredient in rechargeable batteries as well as modern jet engines used...

Japanese researchers have reportedly succeeded in mining mud thought to contain rare earth elements from a seabed some 5,700 meters underwater. The exploration vessel Chikyu, operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC, has been conducting a test excavation of the mud since January. The seabed is within Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Pacific, roughly 150 kilometers southeast of the Japanese island of Minamitorishima. The test was held under a project led by Japan's Cabinet Office. Officials say the retrieval of mud began last Friday, and work to haul it onto the vessel took place...

In 2009, Russia’s state nuclear agency, Rosatom, began acquiring a Canadian company called Uranium One. It started small—17%—then kept buying. By 2010, Rosatom wanted control. The prize wasn’t just uranium. It was access: to Kazakh deposits, American mines, and strategic reserves buried beneath a 35,000-acre ranch in Wyoming.The deal needed approval from CFIUS, a powerful U.S. committee tasked with blocking foreign threats to national security. On the panel sat the State Department, then led by Secretary Hillary Clinton.That spring, as the uranium deal quietly advanced toward Washington, Salida’s charitable arm—the Salida Capital Foundation—received $3.3 million. It was an anonymous donation.Within...

Wyoming’s first hard rock mine in a century is all but shovel ready and may be sitting on a pile of gold much larger than what’s so far been showcased for investors. The CK Gold project, 20 miles west of Cheyenne past Curt Gowdy State Park, also could be worth a lot more than previously estimated because of an explosion in the value of gold. It’s more than doubled since about a year ago. Chairman of the U.S. Gold Corp. board, Luke Norman, told investors this past week that the company now believes its project is sitting on top of...

Venturing into the icy seas around Greenland can be unforgiving and unpredictable. Steffen Andersen, a seasoned skipper preparing his six-man trawler for a fishing trip along the craggy coast, was in the mood to complain. He had recently hired a 16-year-old local to work with him, but he grumbled that the towering Danish-owned factory ships docked along the nearby quayside more often hired immigrants. “Those who use Filipinos, they are the Danes,’’ he said. Greenland is increasingly reliant on migrant labour to keep seafood factories, restaurants and its fishing fleet running — critical for an economy overwhelmingly dependent on fisheries...

SUPPORTING AMERICAN INDUSTRY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Proclamation pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Act) ordering the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative to jointly negotiate agreements with trading partners to address the threatened impairment of national security with respect to imports of processed critical minerals and their derivative products (PCMDPs) from any country.In negotiating, the Administration will, working with our allies, promote the adoption of price floors for trade in PCMDPs.The Secretary of Commerce will inform the President of any circumstances that might indicate the need for further action...

Rosales accuses "Fat Fish" of the Government Opposition candidate Manuel Rosales attributed the events which occurred in La Paragua1 to "the fat fish of the government, who have a big business in [the sale of] gasoline, contraband gold, and diamonds." In a visit to Trujillo, where he carried out a campaign visit, Rosales condemned the acts. "It is one of the most clear manifestations of how an authoritarian government stimulates criminal acts and insecurity in Venezuela. The deed in La Paragua is the action of a few spineless military men, who are not the majority, who felt themselves handsome...

Venezuela and Bolivia are supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program, according to a secret Israeli government report obtained Monday by The Associated Press. The two South American countries are known to have close ties with Iran, but this is the first allegation that they are involved in the development of Iran's nuclear program, considered a strategic threat by Israel.