-based mining and processing, offering a cleaner, more transparent alternative to China’s pollution-heavy rare earth industry. A stronger domestic rare earths sector is a win for national security and the environment.

“He’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on March 30. “And if he does that, he’s got some problems—big, big problems.”

Critical Minerals Soil containing various rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, China, in a file photo.

At this stage, Australia is already the world’s largest producer of lithium, the third-largest producer of cobalt and fourth largest producer of rare earths.

The passage of the Space Act into law is a milestone for the space-age gold rush, where a number of companies are racing toward the trillions of dollars worth of platinum, gold, and other rare-earth minerals buried in asteroids.

We’re approaching the second anniversary of a seminal report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that documented how just starting an “energy transition” will require the global supply of minerals—rare earth metals, nickel, copper, cobalt, lithium

Ambassador Samantha Power has said the sanctions would limit and in some cases ban exports of coal, iron gold titanium and rare earth minerals from North Korea and would prohibit countries from supplying aviation fuel, including rocket fuel, to the country

Rare earths are 17 elements on the periodic table that are vital in many industries, including batteries, defense, and green technologies.

The joint declaration by Canada and Germany says the two countries will focus coordination on lithium, rare earth elements, copper, tungsten, gallium, germanium, and nickel.

It has previously invested $200 million in Arafura Rare Earths to support magnet production in the Northern Territory and is expected to continue targeting high-value, high-risk industrial projects.

Rare-Earth Controls Add Pressure The EU warning follows two rounds of Chinese rare-earth export controls that sharpened concerns over supply-chain exposure.

China is currently responsible for 60 percent of rare earth elements, according to the IEA.

“We have the potential to become a reliable source of other critical minerals, including rare earth elements.”

Since China controls over two-thirds of the global production of rare earth elements crucial to modern technologies, a cutoff of those supplies will significantly harm other economies.

China may be preserving its domestic rare earths and shifting pollution-intensive processing offshore, according to Lifton. “They're concerned about the massive pollution they've had processing rare earths for 25 years,” he said.

So the idea that now we would abandon rare earth minerals is, again, all constant with that. Why are we doing these things? Did the United States go to impose gender studies throughout central Asia?

Last March, the Minerals Security Partnership Principals’ meeting concluded, where countries discussed their collaboration on 23 projects, including cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, graphite, lithium, manganese, nickel, and rare earth elements.

Rare earth minerals are abundant on asteroids throughout the solar system, including the six platinum group metals, and the value of minerals buried inside a single asteroid could figure in the hundreds of billions.

Sanderson, a board member with Australia-based American Rare Earths, which is developing several mining projects in Wyoming and Arizona, said slashing permitting timelines and environmental reviews is not merely an economic issue but a matter of national

The visit will include the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Australia's assistance in the U.S. mission to return to the moon and a joint plan on rare earth materials and other critical minerals.

“The United States has a lot of rare earth, but to actually extract these kinds of minerals from the rocks requires a great deal of water, processing, and refining. Better late than never, but it takes time, there’s a learning curve,” he said.

Minerals abound, too: gold, palladium, and critical rare earths totaling 658 million metric tons across 29 types, as per Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in February.

The United States and its allies are also at a growing disadvantage, the report states, because Beijing controls the bulk of the global supply of critical and strategic minerals, including rare earth elements.

It is also the world's fourth-largest exporter of rare earths, mined copper, and nickel, and is a significant producer of aluminium.

Spalding: Not as a fact, but you can see, you know, as soon as they met, all of a sudden the flow of rare earth magnets started to flow to the United States. Mr. Jekielek: And these rare earth minerals are in everything. Mr.

Rare earth elements, such as lithium and titanium, are abundant on the island—including 31 critical minerals of the roughly 50 identified by the Department of Energy.

Many African countries contain vast deposits of the rare earth and precious metals and minerals needed to manufacture alternative energy products such as wind turbines and solar batteries, computers, cell phones, and weapons systems.

Xiao is among China's richest individuals, with sprawling investments across several sectors, including banking, property, information technology, and rare-earth minerals. He was worth $5.8 billion as of 2016, according to the Hurun Report.

Many African countries contain vast deposits of the rare earth and precious metals and minerals needed to manufacture clean energy products, such as wind turbines, solar batteries, computers, cell phones, and weapons systems.

Geologist Thomas Varming shows findings of rare minerals and precious metals on a survey map at the University of Greenland during an interview with AFP in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 5, 2025.