Critical mineral value chains made substantial progress this week. The United States inked an agreement to cooperate with resource-rich Uzbekistan, while the raw material fund planned by the German government is ready to launch. In other news, resource giant China published the second batch of export data on Friday—the details in our roundup.
Saskatchewan Facility First to Produce Rare Earth Metals in North America
The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) has successfully produced rare earth metals in North America in its refinery in Saskatoon on a commercial scale. The facility produces metal by smelting individual rare earth oxides using “in-house developed technology,” according to the SRC. It added that the facility is ahead of schedule, and production is ready to be increased from ten tons of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) metal per month to 40 by the end of the year. NdPr is used to produce permanent magnets found in wind turbines, electric vehicle motors, and various electronic devices, for example.
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Media Report: German Raw Materials Fund Ready to Launch
The planned German raw materials fund has repeatedly faced hurdles, but it can now go ahead, according to a report by Handelsblatt. The ministries involved have reached an agreement on the financing. The fund is intended to reduce Germany’s dependence on China by promoting raw material projects both domestically and internationally, with a budget of one billion euros. For comparison, neighboring France has allocated two billion euros for a similar initiative, as has Italy.
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United States and Uzbekistan Ink MoU on Critical Minerals
The United States and Uzbekistan will expand their collaboration on critical minerals. On Monday, U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jonathan Henick and Uzbek First Deputy Minister of Geology Omonullo Nasritdinxodjaev signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Tashkent. Under the MoU, the two nations will intensify cooperation in the critical minerals sector to catalyze investment into Uzbekistan’s industry, setting it up to become a potential major supplier.
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Gallium and Germanium: China Publishes Export Data for August
The Chinese customs authority released the second batch of export data, revealing details on the countries and quantities of gallium and germanium exported in August. In the same month last year, China, the leading producer of both metals, imposed export restrictions, temporarily halting shipments to international customers.
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Critical Minerals Task Force Act Passes U.S. Senate
A bill that sets out the implementation of a task force to strengthen critical minerals supply chains was passed by the United States Senate on Wednesday, with unanimous consent. Bill S. 1871—or the Intergovernmental Critical Minerals Task Force Act—was first introduced by a bipartisan group of Senators in 2023. It is intended to increase cooperation and coordination between different levels of the U.S. government by forming a task force to safeguard the supply of critical minerals.
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