New Chinese export restrictions on rare earths underline the need for a more flexible EU policy
On August 15, 2024, China's Ministry of Commerce announced that export controls on antimony would come into effect from September 15. This is the latest in a series of export restrictions by China, which dominates the world's rare earth mining and processing. Antimony is used in the production of flame retardants, lead-acid batteries and as an alloy for […]
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The current uranium supply situation: A comprehensive overview
The current situation of uranium supply: A comprehensive overview Uranium is an essential element for global energy production, especially for nuclear power, which currently covers about 10% of the world's electricity needs. With the growing interest in clean energy and the reduction of CO2 emissions, nuclear energy is playing an increasingly important role. The supply of uranium is therefore […]
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Rare earths: EU relies on uneconomical mines
Rare earths: EU relies on uneconomic mines In its rush to become independent of China for critical raw materials, the EU agreed on a raw materials regulation in record time. Securing the sought-after materials should be achieved through raw material partnerships with third countries, more circular economy and the own extraction of critical raw materials within the EU. Domestic mining should therefore [...]
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Scandium: From Soviet Secrets to China's Monopoly
Scandium: From Soviet secret to Chinese monopoly Because of the potentially high demand for climate technologies such as the hydrogen industry, the West is trying to produce its own production of the expensive rare earth metal. The aerospace and automotive industries could benefit from a safe and cheap supply of scandium. A week ago the second trilogue meeting on Critical Raw Materials took place in Brussels […]
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Rare earths: China is firmly in the saddle, despite the Pentagon investing millions
Rare earths: China is firmly in the saddle, despite millions in investments by the Pentagon China is closely guarding its dominant position in rare earths and the production of permanent magnets, which are relevant for climate technologies and the military. An Asia expert warns that China is exerting influence on western industry, which hardly exists, through hidden ties. Mike Pompeo traveled […]
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Blockchain technology - the future is already today
Blockchain technology - the future is already today In the last five years, the blockchain has become as well known as the internet. Blythe Masters, CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, said, “Blockchain technology should be taken just as seriously as the development of the Internet in the early XNUMXs. It's like an email to send money ”. [...]
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New bioeconomy funding program
New funding program bioeconomy - biorefineries for the extraction of raw materials from waste and wastewater: “Bio-Ab-Cycling” As part of the new ERDF funding program “Bioeconomy”, the Ministry of the Environment supports the construction and implementation of modular “biorefineries” with environmental technologies and bio-intelligent solutions scientific support. In the biorefineries ("Bio"), waste or wastewater ("Ab") should be used as raw material sources and the [...]
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USA on the long road to independence from China
The US is having a hard time breaking its dependence on Chinese rare earths The US Department of Defense has just promised to finance two rare earth separation facilities on US soil. It's a small step towards the Trump administration's stated goal of breaking the country's reliance on Chinese supplies of critical minerals. But the direct [...]
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Extraction of rare earths from mine water
Scientists find an efficient way of extracting rare earths from acidic mine water. Penn State University researchers developed a two-step treatment process for acid mine drainage that enabled them to extract higher concentrations of rare earth elements with lower amounts of chemicals than before. In an article published in the Chemical Engineering Journal, the [...]
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Could Covid-19 trigger a mining revolution?
Could Covid-19 start a mining revolution? At the height of the global economic and social disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic in early April, GlobalData's analysis showed that more than 1.600 mines had been temporarily shut down worldwide. While companies are still hesitant about the extent to which this has affected production, [...]
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