A new national survey suggests Canadians broadly support mining the critical minerals needed for renewable energy technology, but want strong environmental safeguards and meaningful public participation before projects move ahead. The first Social Acceptability Barometer for Canada’s Mining Sector, released by Transfert Environnement et Société with research firm Voconiq, surveyed more than 4,800 people across every province and territory. The report arrives shortly after Ottawa announced a five year, two billion dollar Critical Minerals Sovereign Fund in its Nov. 4 federal budget. Seven in ten respondents said minerals such as lithium, nickel, copper and rare earth elements are essential to…
Author: TJ Markle
As the world races to secure the critical minerals needed for the energy transition, military technology, and more, and new mines open across the globe, we need to ensure that mining rules globally protect people and the environment. Mining waste in particular represents one of the most significant harms and risks of mining. Therefore, robust legislation governing mining waste is key to protecting people and the planet. Research by T&E and Earthworks shows that whilst examples of best practice in mining waste legislation exist, such as in Brazil, legislation across the board remains weak. By benchmarking legislation governing mining waste…
As China has cut back on domestic extraction of rare earth minerals, uncontrolled mining in Myanmar has boomed in areas ruled by powerful ethnic armies. New reporting reveals how this activity is damaging water supplies, forests, and the health of workers and communities. In early 2025, Sian traveled deep into the mountains of Shan State, on Myanmar’s eastern border with China, in search of work. He had heard from a friend that Chinese companies were recruiting at new rare-earth mining sites in territory administered by the United Wa State Army, Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed group, and that workers could…
The European Union plans to set up a centralized authority responsible for building and maintaining an inventory of critical minerals to avoid having the United States snatch the world’s critical minerals from “under our noses”, the EU’s executive VP for industrial strategy told the Financial Times. Stéphane Séjourné said that the European Union had become “collateral damage” in the trade war between the United States and China, even though the EU has been rather belligerent in its trade rhetoric to China as well, threatening a range of import curbs including tariffs to punish China for its allegedly unfair practices in the form…
As global leaders land in Johannesburg for the first G20 summit on African soil, hundreds of climate protesters took to the streets to demand leaders give ordinary people more control over the continent’s coveted critical minerals. Several mineral experts and African leaders agree with the protesters: the G20 global leaders summit is an opportunity to call for these minerals like lithium and cobalt to benefit the continent where they are found. “It’s important to have a G20 that includes communities so proper conversations can be had about the development of Africa,” said Lazola Kati, campaign manager of Fossil Ad Ban,…
It’s unclear how much scandium and gallium ElementUSA will contribute to the supply chain, or when The US Department of Defense is asserting its desire to be an integral part of the American rare earths and critical minerals supply chain with a deal to establish a domestic pipeline of gallium and scandium production. The DoD on Thursday announced it had awarded Texas-based ElementUSA $29.9 million to go toward developing a demonstration facility in Louisiana to separate and purify gallium and scandium from industrial waste created by alumina production. Gallium and scandium are used in defense applications including missile defense platforms,…
As global leaders land in Johannesburg for the first G20 summit on African soil, hundreds of climate protesters took to the streets to demand leaders give ordinary people more control over the continent’s coveted critical minerals. Several mineral experts and African leaders agree with the protesters: the G20 global leaders summit is an opportunity to call for these minerals like lithium and cobalt to benefit the continent where they are found. “It’s important to have a G20 that includes communities so proper conversations can be had about the development of Africa,” said Lazola Kati, campaign manager of Fossil Ad Ban, an…
At this year’s United Nations climate negotiations in Belém, Brazil, draft decision text for the first time explicitly addresses the challenges of critical mineral supply chains. While the language may still be revised, it signals rising concern over the sourcing of copper, cobalt, nickel, lithium, and other essential minerals. “This is no longer a peripheral issue,” said Melissa Marengo, Senior Policy Officer, Natural Resource Governance Institute, which focuses on energy transitions in the Global South. While countries committed in 2023 to reduce reliance on oil, gas, and coal, the shift toward renewable energy is driving unprecedented demand for minerals, often…
With names like neodymium and dysprosium, rare-earth elements sound exotic — and their perceived scarcity has only added to the mystique. In reality, rare earths aren’t that rare, but just difficult to extract and refine. Yet they’ve become indispensable to modern life, embedded in everything from our smartphones and electric-vehicle motors to wind turbines and medical imaging machines. And demand is climbing. The real choke point is processing and refining — a complex and environmentally sensitive step that the U.S. has lagged behind in and that China now dominates, controlling nearly 90% of global output. The need for high-torque, compact EV motors…
Germany and China have long had deep economic ties, but those have frayed in recent times over issues ranging from claims of unfair trade practices to protectionism. One particularly thorny issue has been China’s moves to restrict exports of rare earths, crucial to many sectors worldwide from automotive to electronics. But after wrapping up a visit to Beijing and Shanghai, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said he had received a “clear commitment from the Chinese side that there will be reliable access and supply chains for rare earths and critical raw materials, and that the Chinese side stands by this”. “This…