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Critical minerals for green energy may become scarce, new report warns

May 5, 2021
It's not just a mining issue. China leads in processing and purifying the minerals, but the United States lags in that industrial sector.
The world’s need for lithium for batteries may surge 75-fold in the next three decades.
David McNew/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. is trying to reclaim its rare-earth mantle

Apr 30, 2021
The U.S. is in a quiet race driven by national and economic security to reestablish a domestic supply chain for rare earth elements.
The U.S. used to be a leader in mining and refining rare-earth elements into finished products. Above, a geologist points to monazite, which contains rare-earth minerals, in a South African mine.
Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images