• CRITICAL MINERALSManaging the Dark Side of the Critical Minerals Rush

    By John Coyne and Raelene Lockhorst

    As the world scrambles to meet the demands of a clean energy transition, it’s tempting to focus on the environmental, social and human security costs of mining. But focusing solely on these negative externalities obscures a hard reality: without mining, there is no energy transition.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSA Unique Method of Rare-Earth Recycling Can Strengthen the Raw Material Independence of Europe and America

    Researchers have developed a new method of separating the rare earth elements, or lanthanides, which are widely used in the electronic, medical, automotive, and defense industries.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSNth Cycle Is Bringing Critical Metals Refining to the U.S.

    By Zach Winn

    Much like Middle Eastern oil production in the 1970s, China today dominates the global refinement of critical metals that serve as the foundation of the United States economy. The U.S. needs another technological breakthrough to secure domestic supplies of metals like lithium, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements, which are needed for everything from batteries to jet engines and electric motors. Nth Cycle thinks it has a solution.

  • RARE EARTHChina and Rare-Earth Elements: Is Trump Blinking on Tariffs?

    By Ajey Lele

    On 2 April 2025, President Trump announced a significant shift in the US trade policy, imposing tariffs on multiple countries, with special emphasis on China. In response, on 4 April 2025, China placed export restrictions on REEs, which are also known as rare metals.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSNevada Lithium Mining Expands with Estimated $87B Project

    By Liam Hibbert, The Center Square

    Amidst widespread speculation and local pushback, northern Nevada has taken another step toward realizing its lithium potential with an estimated $87 billion Elko County mine.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSWhat Rare Earth Elements Are and Why They Matter

    By Mike Silver

    Rare 17 earth elements are critical to many industries—used in electric motors, medical imaging and diagnostics, oil and gas refining, and computer and phone screens. These elements have become a hot political issue, says an Earth Sciences professor.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSU.S. Senate Committee Advances Kelly's Critical Minerals Bill

    By Zachery Schmidt, The Center Square

    A bill seeking to improve America’s mineral supply chain is heading to the U.S. Senate floor. The Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025, introduced by Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, would remove disparities between separate critical materials lists from the Department of Energy and Department of Interior. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the bill last week.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSHow the U.S. Can Mine Its Own Critical Minerals − without Digging New Holes

    By Yuanzhi Tang and Scott McWhorter

    Critical materials are the tiny building blocks powering modern life, yet the U.S. depends heavily on imports for most critical materials. Could the U.S. mine and process more critical minerals at home?

  • DEEP SEA MININGDeep Sea Mining is the New Front in Pacific Competition

    Recent developments reflect the rise of renewed great-power resource rivalry and the race for critical minerals, which underpin digital infrastructure and green energy.

  • DEEP SEA MININGExploring New Frontiers in Mineral Extraction

    By Anne Wilson

    The minerals found in the deep ocean are used to manufacture products like the lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles, cell phones, or solar cells. In some cases, the estimated resources of critical mineral deposits in parts of the abyssal ocean exceed global land-based reserves severalfold. Professor Thomas Peacock’s research aims to better understand the impact of deep-sea mining.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSA Guide to the 4 Minerals Shaping the World’s Energy Future

    By Jake Bittle

    Ending our dependence on fossil fuels and adopting this new, greener technology requires a whole lot of metal. Especially important are rare earth elements and lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper. Just as the 20th century was defined by the geography of oil, the 21st century could be defined by the new geography of metal.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSThe Potential Impact of Seabed Mining on Critical Mineral Supply Chains and Global Geopolitics

    The potential emergence of a seabed mining industry has important ramifications for the diversification of critical mineral supply chains, revenues for developing nations with substantial terrestrial mining sectors, and global geopolitics.

  • RARE EARTH ELEMENTSSqueezing More Out of Used Nuclear Fuel and Rare Earth Materials

    Rotating packed bed contactor technology may be safe, scalable solution that helps the U.S. expand the potential of nuclear energy. The impact of the research may extend beyond nuclear fuel recycling to applications in other metal recovery processes such as rare earth recovery.

  • CRITICAL MINERLSTo Avoid a Ukraine-Style Quid Pro Quo, Australia Needs to Work with the U.S. on Critical Minerals

    By Raelene Lockhorst and John Coyne

    With Donald Trump back in the White House, Washington is operating under a hard-nosed, transactional framework in which immediate returns rather than shared values measure alliances. For Australia, this signals a need to rethink its approach to the US relationship. A key step would be to work with the United States in the extraction and processing of Australian critical minerals.

  • CRITICAL MINERALSWhy a U.S. Minerals Deal with Ukraine Won’t Deter Russian Aggression

    By Patrick E. Shea

    Research suggests that investments follow alliances. But markets do not care about agreements alone. They respond to other signals too, like explicit statements of support. These statements of support also help to reassure allies and deter rivals. Unless Trump changes how he operates on the international stage, the economics of the mineral deal will not help Ukraine’s security situation.