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U.S. Plans to Spend Big on Critical Minerals; Choosing Where Isn’t Easy

Western governments face challenges as they ramp up efforts to counter China’s dominance in rare earths

Wall Street Journal - June 20, 2021

As the U.S. and its allies chase China in procuring critical minerals essential for modern technologies, they face a major hurdle: a lack of companies and projects with an established record.

The U.S. has pumped millions of dollars into researching how to extract rare-earth minerals from abandoned coal fields, an approach some say won’t work. The Pentagon has invested in a U.S.-based rare-earth magnets manufacturer that sources many of its products from China.

The U.S. and other Western governments are rushing to secure domestic supplies of materials including rare earths, lithium and boron, which are essential for growing technologies such as electric vehicles, satellites and wind turbines. They also want to develop the capability to process them.

The Senate this month approved a bipartisan, $250 billion bill to boost government spending on technology research and development to catch up with China, including funds for digging up and processing critical minerals at home and with allied nations.



Read more at:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-plans-to-spend-big-on-critical-minerals-choosing-where-isnt-easy-11624186800?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=1

Sorry if the link is not available to you. A similar article by the same author is on Page 1 of the Monday June 21, 2021 print edition.