A new study from the Colorado School of Mines has found that the United States could meet much of its demand for critical minerals by recovering materials currently discarded in mining waste. Published this week in Science, the analysis shows that nearly all critical minerals used in clean energy technologies, electronics, and defense applications are already present in ore processed at US mines. However, the majority of these materials end up in tailings and other waste streams rather than being refined for use. The analysis highlights cobalt and germanium as prime examples. Recovering less than 10% of the cobalt already…
Author: TJ S
By Gracelin Baskaran and Meredith Schwartz for the Center For Strategic & International Studies On April 4, China’s Ministry of Commerce imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements (REEs) and magnets used in the defense, energy, and automotive sectors in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff increases on Chinese products. The new restrictions apply to 7 of 17 REEs—samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium—and requires companies to secure special export licenses to export the minerals and magnets. Q1: To what extent will the most recent export restrictions on rare earths impact U.S. sourcing of these critical…
Rare earth elements have been the primary target of critical minerals trade tensions between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which processes 91% of all rare earth elements globally. In response to significant new tariffs from the Trump administration, in April 2025, the PRC instated new export controls on seven rare earth elements, which resulted in a significant decrease in exports as companies had to apply for new licenses and wait for approval.1 Luckily, the list of materials did not include neodymium and praseodymium (collectively known as NdPr), which are key to the manufacture of permanent magnets used in…
Comey was hit with two federal counts this week, but the grand jury also rejected one count as the DOJ sought to argue Comey had lied when he claimed not to recall a CIA referral about the Clinton Plan intelligence. The grand jury that indicted ex-FBI Director James Comey for lying to Congress rejected one count brought by the Justice Department, allowing the ex-bureau chief to dodge a false statement charge over his claim that he did not recall a CIA referral memo on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign plan to tie Donald Trump to Russia. Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023…
Longtime deputy to Robert Mueller and key Trump-Russia investigator Andrew Weissmann is in the crosshairs of federal prosecutors By Matt Taibbi for Racket News For years, Andrew Weissmann was one of the most visible and vociferous critics of Donald Trump, as a former deputy to Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller and MSNBC legal analyst who wrote a book wondering if the president “paid bribes to foreign officials,” or had “Russian business deals in the works” when he ran for president. Now Weissmann is facing hard questions of his own, about eerily similar themes. In a pair of letters obtained by Racket,…