Europe In The Rare Earth Trap: Up To 4 Million German Jobs At Risk As Beijing Tightens

View: Source Rare earth elements have become geopolitical dynamite. According to a new analysis by consultancy McKinsey & Company, up to four million jobs in Germany are on the line if top supplier China imposes a permanent export ban. These critical minerals are indispensable to Germany’s high-tech economy: they’re used in precision sensors, specialized magnets, and control systems essential to engineering, …

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US Cancels $500 Million Cobalt Tender in Critical Minerals Blow

View: Source The US Defense Department canceled a tender to buy cobalt, in a fresh sign of the challenges facing Western countries trying to bolster domestic supplies of the battery metal. The Defense Logistics Agency first sought offers in mid-August for up to 7,500 tons of cobalt over the next five years in a contract worth as much as $500 million. …

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The Slowly Mounting Mineral Shock

View: Source China’s latest squeeze on mineral exports – and Washington’s threat of retaliation – ends any illusion that critical minerals are a niche matter. They are the scaffolding of modern society. A nearly bewildering array of minerals are essential for everything from defense technologies to EV dreams to the great race for “dominance” in artificial intelligence. Neither America, nor our allies, extract and refine enough key minerals. The United States depends on imports for most (in some cases all) key minerals including copper, …

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