Free Republic

President Donald Trump signed several executive orders (EOs) on nuclear energy proliferation and an order removing political considerations from public-sector science, as conservatives claimed the latter was scandalized in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump also signed restoring "gold standard science" as the cornerstone of federal research. A senior White House official said on Friday there has been a decline in "disruptive research" and investments in biomedical research, along with "serious cases" of fraud and misconduct and the inability to reproduce scientific methods for the purpose of restoring public trust. The official also blamed policy responses to the COVID-19...

Six farm murders have taken place in the Two weeks since 90.000 leftist radicals sang “Kill the Boer” in Johannesburg. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa blamed white South Africans for the killing spree. An AfriForum neighborhood watch apprehended four farm attackers outside Pretoria. ... On Tuesday, August 8, the local neighborhood watch of South African civil defense organization AfriForum responded to a farm attack alert in Brits, North West Province, 40 miles west of the capital Pretoria. Local civil defense volunteers were alerted of a vehicle heading east toward Pretoria and established a presence on all roads heading to the...

Donald Trump used videos of a Marxist firebrand politician to highlight the alleged persecution of white farmers in South Africa as the country’s president sat beside him. The US president dimmed the lights at an Oval Office meeting to play clips of Julius Malema, known for his anti-white rhetoric, who was this month blocked from visiting Britain. Mr Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party won just under 10 per cent of the vote at last year’s general election with a platform feeding on the disillusionment of many young black voters who have not seen their lives improve, despite the abolition...

There is a high probability that the small battery in your smartphone contains lithium from Chilean deposits, Indonesian nickel, as well as cobalt mined in Congolese mines controlled by the Chinese and employing local children. Critical minerals and rare earth metals have today become the central point of geopolitical rivalry between powers, because whoever controls critical minerals controls the future. "You can't produce clean energy without dirty extractive industry." These words from the director of advanced magnet lab perfectly capture the paradox of our times. On one hand we talk about decarbonization and green transformation' on the other we need...

A groundbreaking discovery in South America has positioned a major copper project among the world’s top resources. Lundin Mining and BHP’s joint venture uncovers rich deposits of copper, gold, and silver. Bingham copper mine, captured during the day. Credit; Shutterstock ************************************************************************ A major discovery in South America has thrust the Filo del Sol project into the spotlight. The Vicuña joint venture, formed by Lundin Mining and BHP, recently announced what is believed to be the largest greenfield copper find in the past three decades. This new find significantly boosts the project’s position, placing it among the world’s top ten copper...

SAO PAULO (CNS) — A Catholic prelature in Brazil's Amazon has decreed that its parishes will not accept donations from any person or company that displaces minorities or damages the earth. Bishop José Ionilton Lisboa de Oliveira of Itacoatiara has prohibited parishes, pastoral communities, groups and movements linked to the prelature -- similar to a diocese — from receiving financial resources from those he says "damage the Amazon." "We decree, for an indefinite period, that in parishes, communities, pastorals, groups and movements of the Prelature of Itacoatiara, we will not receive financial resources, in currency or other goods, from politicians,...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:Section 1. Background. The United States has a core national security and economic interest in maintaining leadership in deep sea science and technology and seabed mineral resources. The United States faces unprecedented economic and national security challenges in securing reliable supplies of critical minerals independent of foreign adversary control. Vast offshore seabed areas hold critical minerals and energy resources. These resources are key to strengthening our economy, securing our energy future, and reducing dependence on foreign suppliers...

Accelerates permitting procedures to develop American Energy Dominance... In response to President Donald J. Trump’s declaration of a National Energy Emergency, the U.S. Department of the Interior will implement emergency permitting procedures to accelerate the development of domestic energy resources and critical minerals. These measures are designed to expedite the review and approval, if appropriate, of projects related to the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, or generation of energy within the United States. The new permitting procedures will take a multi-year process down to just 28 days at most...

Beijing instructed South Korea to halt rare material products such as transformers, EVs, aerospace and medical equipment.. Beijing has asked South Korean companies to cease exporting products containing Chinese-originated heavy rare earth metals to U.S. defense firms, warning that Seoul could face sanctions. China’s Ministry of Commerce sent official notices to at least two South Korean companies recently, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Tuesday, citing sources in the South Korean transformer industry. The outlet said the letters did not specify what type of penalties South Korean companies could face if the industry continues to export equipment to the U.S....

President Donald Trump's tariffs on China have raised questions about the issue of rare earth minerals and their processing, but Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Sunday that part of the dilemma lies in the "war on mining" that was waged under the administrations of former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden."If you go back to the Obama/Biden administrations, we are in a war on mining in this country for anything, not just rare earth minerals," Burgum told "Fox News Sunday." "It's not just 'drill, baby, drill,' but it's 'map, baby, map.' We've got these materials in our country, so [it's...

FULL TITLE: 'Something was off': Survivor says US troops were stalled by a village elder before they were ambushed by 50 terrorists in Niger for hours following a near 24 hour patrol operation The four American special forces killed fighting in Niger were ambushed by 50 ISIS terrorists after they were stalled by a village elder, a survivor of the attack has revealed. The group of 12 American forces had accompanied 30 Nigerien forces to an area about 85 kilometers north of the capital Niamey on a routine reconnaissance mission on October 3, when a dramatic new order came through...

A significant rare earth elements deposit has been found in Kazakhstan's Karagandy, with potential reserves of 20 million tonnes. Further exploration is required. On the eve of the EU-Central Asian Summit in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan announced the discovery of a large deposit of rare earth elements. The find was made in Karagandy, the central region of Kazakhstan. Now dubbed "New Kazakhstan," the deposit is said to have almost 1 million tonnes of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium and yttrium, elements used as components in devices such as smartphones, digital cameras and computer hard disks. “Four prospective areas have been identified within the site...

A vast, ancient crater in the western United States may be home to one of the most significant mineral discoveries of the century. Published in the journal Science Advances, researchers have identified a geological formation beneath this site that could dramatically reshape the global landscape for clean energy technology. A Supervolcano’s Legacy Becomes a Resource Powerhouse The McDermitt Caldera, measuring 45 by 35 kilometers, was formed 16.4 million years ago following a catastrophic volcanic eruption. Over time, a lake developed inside the caldera, collecting thick layers of volcanic ash and mineral-rich sediments. These conditions gave rise to lithium-bearing clay minerals,...

At least 5 people have been killed and around 50 injured on July 25, 2022, after hundreds of protesters attacked a United Nations headquarters in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, demanding that the mission leaves the country for failing to protect the population. The protest started after President Felix Tshisekedi’s party and civil society organizations called for the demonstration in Goma after the president of the Senate, Modeste Bahati, called on the UN’s MONUSCO mission to leave Congo in mid-July. The mission is present in the country for more than 20 years. It is the largest peacekeeping mission...

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, has reached out directly to President Donald J. Trump with a historic proposal: help defeat a brutal rebel force terrorizing his nation, and in return, America will gain direct access to one of the world’s richest untapped troves of critical minerals—worth an estimated $24 trillion. According to a letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal, President Tshisekedi offered Trump exclusive mining opportunities through the newly launched U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund, a Trump-led initiative aimed at reshaping global investment through pro-American partnerships. “Your election has ushered in the golden age...

A major lithium deposit discovered near the Portuguese border in Castilla Leon could power Spain’s energy future. Found within the Conchas Project by Berkeley Energy, the 31 square kilometre site has been hailed financially as a highly significant resource that, if mined efficiently, could meet Spain’s lithium needs, reducing the country’s reliance on imports. Currently, most of the lithium Spanish battery manufacturers use comes from South America. The project, which is still in feasibility studies, promises significant economic growth for the region but faces hurdles. Environmental groups warn that extraction could harm water resources and biodiversity, and they are calling...

La Brújula Verde reports that the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities completed a two-year excavation and preservation project of an ancient mining camp at Jabal Sukari near the Red Sea. Archaeologists were under pressure to complete the project as the site is currently endangered by modern mining activities. The Egyptian team uncovered a vast gold processing complex that dates back 3,000 years, as well as a settlement inhabited by those who worked at the mine. The mining facility included specialized factories for extracting the gold from quartz veins, which has provided new information about ancient methods of obtaining and...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly told Fox News on March 4 that there are no plans to sign a mineral resources deal with Ukraine following Donald Trump’s speech to Congress. His statement comes after earlier reports suggesting Trump intended to announce the agreement during his upcoming address. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Feb. 28 visit to the White House was originally intended to finalize the long-debated agreement on jointly developing Ukraine’s mineral resources. The meeting instead turned into a public clash, with Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance berating Zelensky. The Ukrainian president later left the White House without signing...

...Is the U.S. about to come into a windfall? We spoke to Laura Lewis, a university distinguished professor of chemical and mechanical engineering at Northeastern, who studies critical minerals and their applications. Her comments have been edited for brevity and clarity... ...What about rare earths? Does Ukraine have them? The evidence for Ukraine having rare earths at all is derived from reports that are at least 50 years old that were conducted by Russia. There really is no significant evidence that Ukraine has them. If they do, and they say that they're going to now develop this resource, it would...

We have a lot of stupid people the United States governments. ItÂ’s not their fault. The creators of our Constitution designed a system that should rarely entangle itself in highly profitable transactions that involve innovative products or strategies. As a result, our economy historically bids the most driven and intelligent away from government jobs. Government, then, finds a governing formula that works, and sticks to it, often no matter what. China, as every American senses, differs. There, the government bears no shame in announcing that it is the sole source of all beneficial economic activity. In this way, the...