Project Vault puts Latin America’s critical minerals sector under renewed US spotlight
REEs, consisting of 17 elements and 15 silvery-white metals, are vital for magnets used in EVs, phones and missiles. Credit: Rebel Red Runner/Shutterstock.com. ANALYSISPublished: Tuesday, May 26, 2026 The Trump administration’s US$12 billion (bn) Project Vault initiative is poised to reshape global critical minerals trade flows and could intensify US engagement with Latin America’s mining […]
USCM, Columbia Target Red Mud Metals
A two-year Columbia-led program will study how red mud could become a domestic source of gallium, scandium, titanium, and rare earth elements. By Special Report 12:39PM, May 14, 2026 Two-year research deal seeks U.S. supply from refining waste Adding a university-led research effort to its broader push to secure domestic supplies of high-priority tech metals, […]
Rare-earth push stalls: US permitting delays undercut bid to curb China’s grip on critical minerals
The export of rare-earth technologies has become the new object of big-power relations. In the US, bringing a new mine online, including development and planning, can take an average of 29 years, making it one of the longest lead times globally. NYT By Special Report 12:39PM, May 14, 2026 In the global race for critical […]
Bayan enters ‘mine to magnet’ value chain in MoU with rare earths leader US Critical Materials
A strategic and technical tie-up could make BMM a vital link in the rare earths value chain. Pic: Getty Images By Special Report 12:39PM, May 14, 2026 Special Report: A domestic “mine-to-magnet” rare earth supply chain capability is a step closer for the United States and Bayan Mining and Minerals with an MoU signed with US […]
The Rising Need for Red Mud that Contain Gallium and Scandium Motivates the Use of Existing Red Mud as a Resource
Date: 14 May 2026 Source: AL Circle Edited By: Debanjali Sengupta Dr Greeshma Gadikota, Professor at Columbia University, has explained in this interview the growing importance of advanced recovery technologies for extracting critical metals such as gallium and scandium from red mud. She noted new technologies that are more energy and material-efficient are needed for […]
The Pentagon Has Less Than 8 Months to Break China’s Rare Earth Grip
https://www.youtube.com/embed/56ylFp1Ot8Y?si=FKdNOuoLzKo8Iu9dMichael ScottThu, May 14, 2026 at 8:00 AM GMT+8 11 min read China moved this week to take tighter control of its rare earths producers amid an escalating tit-for-tat battle with Washington over everything from tariffs and semiconductor warfare to pressure over Iran and Hormuz. At the same time, an ominous Pentagon deadline looms large, with the entire […]
Rare Earths, Trade Wars, and the Clock Washington Cannot Stop
May 14, 2026 (Illustration by Ahmad Juliyanto; Vecteezy) Highlights U.S. rare earth strategy accelerates with unprecedented industrial policy, but the real bottleneck isn’t mining—it’s midstream chemical separation, metallization, and magnet manufacturing where China dominates. Heavy rare earth processing for defense and EV applications requires decades of specialized workforce development and hazardous chemistry expertise the West […]
Why America’s best fighter jets are being made with deadweight
China has a near monopoly on metal critical to modern warfare. (Illustration by Michelle Kondrich/The Washington Post; iStock) By Morgan Bazilian and Jahara Matisek Morgan Bazilian is the director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines, where Lt. Col. Jahara Matisek, an Air Force command pilot, is a senior fellow. Imagine […]
EXCLUSIVE: Nvidia’s Biggest Risk Could Be A Mineral Nobody Has Heard Of
Nvidia’s Biggest Risk Could Be A Mineral Nobody Has Heard Of April 14, 2026 9:18 AM2 min readby Surbhi Jain Benzinga Staff Writer The AI trade has been priced like a silicon story. It may be a materials story instead. “AI uses more minerals than most people realize,” Harvey Kaye, Executive Chairman of U.S. Critical Materials, told Benzinga. Among them […]
Pentagon’s US Gallium Strategy Targets 2026 Production Independence
By Muflih Hidayat on February 11, 2026 Strategic Supply Network Reshaping America’s Critical Mineral Independence Defense contractors and technology manufacturers face unprecedented vulnerability in their semiconductor supply chains through dependence on a single mineral that most Americans have never heard of. Gallium, a silvery metal that melts at body temperature, has quietly become the linchpin of […]