OUR PICKS: CRITICAL MATERIALSChina’s Rare Earth Trade Monopoly | Bolstering U.S. Battery Production | Growing Interest in Greenland’s Critical Minerals, and more

DOE Backs U.S. Battery Materials Production with $107M Loan  (Jeff St. John, Canary Media)
China dominates the global supply of graphite for batteries. DOE’s first vehicle tech loan in a decade will help Syrah Technologies make it in Louisiana.

Supply of Critical Minerals Amid the Russia-Ukraine Crisis and Possible Sanctions  (Robert [“RJ”] Johnston, Columbia, SIPA)
The US and EU governments are looking closely at further sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine that go beyond energy markets to directly target other sectors of the Russian natural resources and manufacturing complex. Even without direct sanctions, Russian production and exports across a wide range of commodities such as wheat, fertilizer, gold, uranium, lumber, pulp and paper, coal, aluminum, and palladium are at risk because of self-sanctioning divestment by non-Russian firms and sanctions affecting access to international banking and insurance markets, among other factors.
In particular, markets and policy makers are focused on the effect of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on major industrial base metals like aluminum and nickel, as well as strategic minerals like palladium, scandium, and titanium. All five are on the 2022 US Critical Minerals List. Nickel and cobalt stand out because they are two of the four strategic minerals for lithium-ion battery production, along with lithium and graphite.

EV Parts Maker Schaeffler Signs First of a Kind European Rare Earth Deal  (Eric Onstad, Reuters)
German auto parts supplier Schaeffler (SHA_p.DE) has signed a raw materials deal to ensure the supply of rare earth magnets from Europe for its burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) motor business, an executive told Reuters.
It is the first reported agreement by a European auto sector supplier or automaker to source rare earths within the region.
The European Union is spearheading a drive to boost domestic production of rare earths and super strong magnets used in EVs and wind turbines to cut dependence on top supplier China.

Boron Joins the Rare Earths Club  (Borates Today)
The Boron market is set to grow as the energy sector continues to advance. Demand for boron is expected to rise with increased demand from new and emerging sectors such as electric vehicles, high-efficiency wind turbines, and advanced solar panels. Boron is not strictly a rare earth mineral but studies argue it should be included in this valuable set.

Exploring the Growing Interest in Greenland’s Critical Minerals  (Innovation Newsnetwork)
Greenland has been long known for its rich mineral endowment but, in the quest to secure critical minerals, its reputation has attracted new attention.

China Using Rare Earth Trade Monopoly as Weapon against Competitors  (Africa Brief)
This shift has prompted a leading think tank to declare Beijing’s economic coercion campaign against Canberra a failure.

How a Ton of iPhones has 300 times More Gold Than a Ton of Gold Ore: Precious Metals, Aluminum and Copper… What Really Lurks Behind the Screen of Your Device (John Naish, Daily Mail)
One million mobile phones could deliver nearly 16 tons of copper wiring, 15kg of palladium (used in the devices’ electrical circuits), and a range of rare earth elements that are difficult to mine and refine.Indeed, the highly intensive industrial processes involved in mining and refining a smartphone’s raw materials mean that, on average, making a single smartphone uses up an estimated 3,190 gallons of water, according to watercalculator.org — enough to fill a commercial tanker.
The iPhone’s rare-earth elements have Scrabble-winning names such as yttrium, lanthanum, terbium, neodymium, gadolinium and praseodymium.
Many of these materials can be found in China, the country that accounts for 42 per cent of annual iPhone production worldwide.