Free Republic

30 years of war settled. America gets rare earths extraction deal out of it. Congo and Rwanda kiss and make up. Trump gets credit. Biden blew the conflict off. President Donald Trump on Friday welcomed representatives from Rwanda and the Congo to the White House after he announced the U.S. secured a "wonderful" treaty between the two countries. Trump said he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were able to broker a deal for "one of the worst wars anyone’s ever seen," describing the treaty as a "tremendous breakthrough," while Rubio called it "an important moment" after 30 years of...

As U.S. tariffs tighten the screws on China’s export machine, Beijing is striking back with strategic precision. Export restrictions on rare earths are now Beijing’s latest move to break down European trade barriers and push back against escalating pressure from Washington.In today’s global trade standoff, the gloves are off. The U.S. is wielding its market clout -- 25% of global consumption originates from the American domestic market. Anyone in the export business must deal with the United States. China, meanwhile, holds an current monopoly on rare earths -- and is making it clear it will not hesitate to weaponize that...

U.S. intelligence chiefs ordered agencies to tighten surveillance on Greenland, the first tangible step toward President Donald Trump’s oft-stated goal of bringing the Arctic island under American control, sources leaked to The Wall Street Journal. The directive instructed the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Security Administration (NSA) and the CIA to identify Greenlandic and Danish figures who might back U.S. objectives and to gauge public sentiment toward American resource extraction, the outlet reported Tuesday. Its emergence triggered immediate pushback from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who accused unnamed officials of leaking in order to thwart the administration. “The Wall...

Rare earth elements are crucial to our modern existence, as well as our advanced defense systems. China, America’s primary supplier of these metals, has restricted exports of rare earths into the U.S. in retaliation for the president’s tariffs on Chinese exports into the country. There’s no reason to panic, though. There’s a way to work around the problem, and it doesn’t require a minerals deal with Ukraine. Rare earth elements are needed to make our cellphones, computer hard drives, flat-screen monitors and televisions, as well as life-saving medical equipment. They are in fact “indispensable metals in electronics manufacturing.” Without them,...

As China imposes export controls on rare earth elements, the U.S. would be unable to fill a potential shortfall, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies — and this could threaten Washington’s military capabilities. Amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s escalating tariffs on China, Beijing earlier this month imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements and magnets used in defense, energy and automotive technologies. The new restrictions — which encompass the medium and heavy rare earth elements samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium — will require Chinese companies to secure special licenses to export the resources....

China has halted exports of seven critical rare earth elements to the United States, a move that threatens to disrupt supply chains across key American industries, including automotive, semiconductor, and aerospace sectors. China’s Ministry of Commerce recently added seven rare earth elements—including dysprosium, terbium, and lutetium—to its restricted export list. These elements are essential for manufacturing high-performance magnets used in electric vehicles, advanced weaponry, and consumer electronics. NY Times reported:

...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...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pored over a once-classified map of vast deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals during an interview with Reuters on Friday, part of a push to appeal to Donald Trump's penchant for a deal. The U.S. president, whose administration is pressing for a rapid end to Ukraine's war with Russia, said on Monday he wanted Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort. "If we are talking about a deal, then let's do a deal, we are only for it," Zelenskiy said, emphasising Ukraine's...

-snip- Ukraine is one of the largest rare earth mineral suppliers in the world, and has the largest titanium reserves in Europe. The country also boasts deposits of lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite, and nickel, per the World Economic Forum. Russian forces have already taken parts of Eastern Ukraine that had historically provided the rest of the country with key minerals, notably much of the coal-supplying Donbas region. But other parts of Ukraine, including the Dnieper River basin that runs through the center of the country and the Carpathian Mountains in the West, have massive supply...

President Donald Trump on Monday indicated that he wants to reach an agreement with Ukraine to gain access to the country’s rare earth materials as a condition for continuing U.S. support for its war against Russia. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump complained that the U.S. had sent more in military and economic assistance to Ukraine than its European partners, adding, “We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth and other things.” Trump suggested that he’s received word from the Ukrainian government that they’d be...

Washington -- The United States will impose tariffs on the countries that "harm" America, President Donald Trump has said, as he named China, India and Brazil as high-tariff countries. “We're going to put tariffs on outside countries and outside people that really mean harm to us. Well, they mean us harm, but they basically want to make their country good,” Trump told House Republicans at a Florida retreat on Monday, the first after he became the president for the second term last week. “Look at what others do. China is a tremendous tariff maker, and India and Brazil and so...

BEIJING, Dec 3 (Reuters) - China has banned exports to the U.S. of some goods containing critical minerals while tightening exports on others, after U.S. curbs a day earlier on the Chinese chip industry. Following is background on export controls and other steps that analysts say Chinese authorities might take to safeguard China and its companies' interests. DUAL-USE On Dec. 3 China banned exports to the U.S. of items related to gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials, the latest escalation of trade tensions between the countries ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking office. China had already on Dec. 1 enforced...

As the energy transition continues, tapping into the reserves of critical minerals and securing their supply chains is crucial. For this graphic, Visual Capitalist partnered with Appian Capital Advisory to provide visual context to the top countries for reserves, production, and processing of minerals that are vital to the energy transition.The analysis uses data from the USGS and the IEA across four minerals: lithium, cobalt, natural graphite, and rare earths. Which Countries Hold the Most Critical Minerals Reserves?South America dominates the reserves for lithium, with nearly half of all known reserves located in Chile (34%) and Argentina (13%). Australia, with...

Mining firm Rare Earths Norway says it has discovered Europe’s largest proven deposit of highly prized rare earth elements, potentially reflecting a watershed moment for both the Nordic country and the broader region. One of the few deposits not owned or controlled by China, the discovery of continental Europe’s largest rare earths deposit is considered a welcome boost in Europe’s bid to break China’s rare earths dominance. Demand for rare earths and critical minerals is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years as the clean energy transition picks up pace. Rare Earths Norway said in a June 6 statement...

Ramaco Resources in northeast Wyoming plans to update its rare earths deposit find Wednesday, pushing the estimate on tonnage underground to over 1.5 million tons, and the value to more than $37 billion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ramaco's coal mine in northern Wyoming is revealing potential to be a huge rare earths deposit. The company has assets all over the country, like this mine in the Eastern U.S. (Courtesy Ramaco) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ramaco Resources Inc. in northeast Wyoming plans to update its rare earths deposit find in the Cowboy State on Wednesday, pushing the estimate on tonnage underground to more than 1.5 million tons,...

The CK Gold Project is on a fast track to complete state permitting and start mining land near Curt Gowdy State Park for what it believes is 1 million ounces of Wyoming gold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Technicians with Buckley Powder Co., a Cheyenne-based explosives service company that blasts rock in quarries, helped perform seismic tests on land near Curt Gowdy State Park that U.S. Gold Corp. wants to mine for gold and copper. The technicians just loaded a 50-foot hole with explosives and are preparing for a test they performed in 2022. (Courtesy U.S. Gold Corp.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mining expert George Bee was...

There is excellent news for the American industry, economy, and international trade sectors. The discovery of colossal rare earth deposits in Wyoming could essentially restructure the global supply chain of these crucial elements in the near future. A discovery of 2.34 billion metric tons of rare earth elements (REEs) in a mine outside of Sheridan, Wyoming, has generated great excitement across industries stateside. For one, the reserves are estimated to be bigger than China’s current reserves, implying that this single find could end America’s reliance on Chinese exports if exploited judiciously.

There’s a modern-day gold rush happening in the attempt to dig green-energy rare earth minerals out of the ground. Some believe Wyoming could be America’s answer to China’s lock on the market. And one of a handful of Wyoming companies in the rush may have hit the mother lode. American Rare Earths Inc. has its sights on thousands of acres of land near Wheatland, Wyoming. The company disclosed in a technical report on Wednesday that it found 64% more rare earth minerals than it had originally envisioned in a March 2023 assessment of the land. The newly disclosed figure of...

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....

Grab your popcorn, because there’s a full-speed, head-on collision between the left’s competing interests coming, and it’s fixing to be gory. From an item that appeared in The Wall Street Journal at the end of September:Located underneath a distant, swampy expanse of spruce forests and meandering rivers in Northern Ontario that is cut off from major roads, the Ring of Fire is seen by industry and government officials as one of the world’s most important untapped sources of nickel, copper and cobalt—metals essential for making the batteries that power electric vehicles.But the precious commodities are buried under a vast ecosystem...