I read Jit’s recent article, On the Materials Intensity of Wind Power shortly before learning about yet another WEET conference, to take place on 8th June 2023, with the title “Next steps for critical minerals in the UK”. From this I learned (and I suppose we should be relieved to learn it, given the whole net zero agenda) that there is a Policy Lead, Critical Minerals, at BEIS; there is a UK Critical Minerals Association; and a UK Critical Minerals Strategy. I am less reassured by the fact that net zero and opposition to fossil fuels continue, and the government continues to push much that is counter-factual:
A new cohort of critical minerals are becoming even more important as we seek to bolster our energy security and domestic industrial resilience – in light of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine – and as we move away from volatile, expensive fossil fuels.
Hubris
Running through this we find the same hubris that leads so many people in the UK to demand that “we” (the UK) “tackle” climate change (as if we could). It appears that the UK is going to “tackle” international critical minerals markets:
Through this strategy, the UK will:
accelerate growth of the UK’s domestic capabilities
collaborate with international partners
enhance international markets to make them more responsive, transparent and responsible
It must be a pretty amazing strategy if we in the UK can achieve that third point on our own, but then again, we apparently think we can unilaterally tackle “the climate crisis”.
Dependence on China
There is more detail of the strategy in a pdf document, which runs to 48 pages, including glossy end-pieces, index, etc. This does recognise some awkward truths:
The world in 2040 is expected to need four times as many critical minerals for clean energy technologies as it does today.
However, critical mineral supply chains are complex and opaque, the market is volatile and distorted, and China is the dominant player. This creates a situation where UK jobs and industries rely on minerals vulnerable to market shocks, geopolitical events and logistical disruptions, at a time when global demand for these minerals is rising faster than ever.
It is vital that we make our supply chains more resilient and more diverse to support British industries of the future, deliver on our energy transition and protect our national security.
It is rather depressing to see that although there is a recognition that China is the dominant player in this crucial area, there is no recognition that the transition to renewable energy, and the obsession with net zero, therefore causes us problems. Although we need critical minerals for lots of other things, it really isn’t very clever to make us more dependent on them than necessary, especially in the light of China’s dominance in this area.
And that, it seems, is the plan:
Countries’ climate change ambitions are changing the way we produce, distribute and store energy. Clean energy technologies – such as electric cars, wind turbines, photovoltaics, hydrogen production and nuclear reactors – will need to be deployed quickly. The UK currently relies on complex and delicate global supply chains for its rapidly growing demand for critical minerals to fuel its net zero future . Seven of the government’s Ten Point Plan targets for a green industrial revolution assume a stable supply of critical minerals. Global demand for electric vehicle battery minerals (lithium, graphite, cobalt, nickel) is projected to increase by between 6 and 13 times by 2040 under stated policies, which exceeds the rate at which new primary and secondary sources are currently being developed. The UK’s automotive and electric vehicle battery ecosystem, as an example, could grow by 100,000 jobs by 2040 but depends on the development of a UK battery manufacturing capability. Our intention to build a new generation of gigafactories will only happen in the UK if there is a resilient supply of battery minerals.
Despite this, the document is clearly written, and there is a plan, including the creation of “an enabling environment for companies to develop critical mineral capabilities in UK, including exploration, extraction, refining, materials manufacturing, recovery and recycling”. It is worth a read.
Other developments
There is a Critical Minerals Expert Committee, which first met on 2nd December 2021, and which has at least twenty external members, with some pretty impressive-looking expertise. In addition, there is a UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, launched in July 2022 and run by the British Geological Survey, with support (presumably financial) from the BEIS.
At least Paul Lusty, the Intelligence Centre’s Director, recognises the problem:
The UK has announced world-leading targets to decarbonise the economy, which include plans to build an electric vehicle supply chain and transform the energy system using offshore wind and clean hydrogen. Building these technologies and the associated infrastructure will require substantial quantities of critical minerals. The UK’s current critical mineral needs are met almost entirely from overseas, through complex and dynamic international supply chains that often have poor end-to-end visibility. The Centre will help the Government and industry understand future UK critical minerals demand, and potential chain supply vulnerabilities.
Irony
The notes with the email relating to the WEET conference on critical minerals make a rather oblique reference to the Indonesia-UK memorandum of understanding, which was signed in October 2022, and (so the notes tell me) was “intended to boost investment in sectors the UK excels in, including through access to critical minerals”.
This is intriguing, since the memorandum includes not a single reference to critical minerals. The recitals to the agreement are borderline hilarious, since they purport to acknowledge “Indonesia’s climate leadership…as set out in Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).” The last time I looked at Indonesia’s NDC, I noted this:
Their INDC is surprisingly light on detail, for a country with approximately 260 million inhabitants (the 4th most populous country on the planet) and with rather large problems from burning forests (ironically much of which is to clear land for biofuels growth)…
…Their INDC even admits that “Most emissions (63%) are the result of land use change and peat and forest fires, with combustion of forest fuels contributing approximately 19% of total emissions.”
All of which makes the virtuous noises in Indonesia’s INDC a little hard to stomach. They offer an unconditional 29% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030, and up to 41% with international support, but this is against a Business as Usual scenario. The problem with this is the rate at which their GHG emissions are increasing. They tell us that GHG emissions were 1,400 MtCO2eq in 2000, had risen to 1,800 in 2005, and the BaU scenario will see them double by 2030 from their 2000 figure, to 2,800. So even the conditional offer would only take them back to 2005 levels, and the unconditional offer would see their emissions rise.
Their INDC runs to only 8 pages plus a 3 page annex. It is extremely light on hard information. They would like international financial assistance, but they don’t say how much. They devote one small paragraph to steps to clamp down on land use change, despite the hugely significant importance of this topic in the context of their GHG emissions.
To say I’m unimpressed would be an understatement.
In the relatively short time since I wrote that, Indonesia’s population is thought to have increased to 276.3 million people, which offers up an indication of the scale of the problem.
The Memorandum of Understanding appears to be based around the idea that the UK will help Indonesia with the creation and maintenance of forestry and other land use (FOLU) CO2 “sinks”. In return (presumably, as it has been left unwritten) is the hope that Indonesia will supply the UK with critical minerals. It seems to be well placed to supply many of them. It’s more than a little ironic that the UK’s net zero plans seem to be dependent, at least in part, on a country with the tenth highest annual CO2 emissions currently and few meaningful plans to reduce them.
Green Lithium
It appears that green lithium is a thing. Teesside is to be the site of “the UK’s first large-scale merchant lithium refinery, providing battery grade materials for use in the electric vehicle, renewable energy and consumer technology supply chains”. This stuff always costs the taxpayer, but in the context of net zero expenditure, this is small change:
The UK Government has backed Green Lithium with a grant of over £600,000 through the Automotive Transformation Fund.
The plan is to reduce the CO2 emissions associated with processing lithium. The idea that this is “green” might be a little optimistic, according to Green Car Congress in October 2020:
With demand for lithium set to increase over the next decade… CO2 emissions from lithium production are set to triple by 2025 versus current levels and to grow by a factor of six by 2030, with the vast majority of this coming from mineral concentrate production, shipping and refining.
Reducing emissions associated with refining lithium is all well and good, but there are still mining and transport to consider. And as the Guardian headline from June 2021 reminds us “The rush to ‘go electric’ comes with a hidden cost: destructive lithium mining”.
Odds and ends
As seems to be the case with all WEET conferences discussing Net zero issues, there is a section about support for industry (which I assume can be translated as meaning more taxpayer support) and “tackling barriers”. Despite the constant cost to the taxpayer and the barriers to be tackled, the net zero juggernaut rolls on and on relentlessly.
Conclusion
It’s difficult to know what to make of all this. Many people are worried about the potentially environmentally destructive aspects of mining critical minerals, whether there are even enough of them to satisfy the international “green” agenda, and the emissions associated with extracting, transporting and refining them. The Chinese dominance of this area is a matter for concern, with real worries about supply chains. After all, if we in the UK cannot access sufficient minerals to satisfy net zero plans, then net zero plans (and jobs) must be in jeopardy. On the plus side, the government does seem to have woken up to some of these problems, but apparently not enough to wonder whether these issues cast any doubt on the net zero agenda.
Climate Scepticism 
The dictatorship of the climatocracy….
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Hi Mark – Merry Xmas Mate
your post header pic tells a story as well (can’t tell where it’s from).
just look how windy the way trucks (Diesel I presume) need to go just to get to the bottom/top.
no wonder it’s expensive to mine like this.
ps – Alan has been quite lately, is he OK?
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Mark notes well enough that the issue of critical mineral supply is obliquely acknowledged but with no sensible pathway for any resolution.
As I noted in the earlier discussion on this, and even if Michaux’ paper is disregarded (which those of us involved in attempting to thread the needle do not), the lack of practical discussion says that resolution is not actually taken seriously. To paraphrase, perhaps summarise, “elite” thinking: the proles can wait.
Australia has enormous numbers of deposits for some of the materials required for NZ. On any reasonable attempt at estimating potential NZ demand, we regard these deposits as completely inadequate in any case. A group of academics has put up a large scale proposal for “renewable energy hubs” across the northern half of the continent. Three of these, actually, each with a geographic area about twice the size of the UK. Immediately, the green contingents of the MSM attacked it for potential destruction of habitats (not for the wholly impractical nature of the proposals) and the various indigenous groups have instantly claimed ownership of the land with all that may entail for deciding on land use. For comparison, the current land use for mining in Australia totals 0.1% of the geographical areas outside the cities and towns – and this is under constant attack.
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dfhunter, the picture I used was simply a generic one – sometimes it can be a bit of an effort to find one that does exactly what I’m looking for and which is copyright-free. However, a quick internet search for pictures of critical minerals will quickly produce many pictures of massive environmentally damaging mines. Even the Guardian, in the article I linked to near the end of the above piece, admits this:
Needless to say, the answer, so far as climate alarmists are concerned, is “yes”.
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When it comes to rare earths and other obscure elements, it pays to look at what a blogger, whose politics might differ from yours, says, simply because of practical experience as a scandium trader. Anything the mass media says about obscure minerals is simply wrong, inaccurate or misleading, and that probably extends to oil, steel and coal as well. For example
https://www.timworstall.com/2022/12/mr-duncan-smith-to-the-white-telephone-please-white-telephone-for-mr-duncan-smith/
How much do the proponents of EVs with lithium batteries know about the sources of lithium and the extraction processes? Also rare earth minerals are not rare in the sense of being hard to find or locate : they are rare in the sense of being strange. They all occur together and it takes energy costly and environmentally hostile techniques to pull them apart…
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Interesting – thanks for drawing attention to that. Would Tim Worstall approve or decry the UK government’s strategy, I wonder?
Of course, the UK has plenty of coal and gas. We could just use that for energy…
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Man in a Barrel,
“Anything the mass media says about obscure minerals is simply wrong, inaccurate or misleading, ..”
Tesla has been using batteries that look like they are about the size of AA batteries. They have new ones that look similar to D batteries. I’m finding all kinds of conflicting stuff about whether they have any cobalt in them.
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TW is agnostic about global warming but, if you think it is worth bothering about, you should just tax CO2 emissions. In his view, any government strategy other than that will either fail or exacerbate the problem. Putting words into his mouth of course….
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Mark I doubt very much if an opencast excavation like that which you highlight your article would be used to extract rare earths. Opencasts are for extracting materials like copper present uniformly in very small amounts. Rare earths are much more likely to be concentrated in parts of an ore, so mining technologies for selective removal are most likely to be used, leaving the dross behind.
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Alan,
Normally I would defer to you on such issues, but this time I ‘m not sure. Search the internet for images of lithium or cadmium mines, for example, and you will find plenty of similar pictures. Of course they may be making the same (incorrect?) assumptions as me and also be using incorrect stock photos. However, I don’t think so. Take a look at the image used with this article:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/02/a-visit-to-the-only-american-mine-for-rare-earth-metals/253372/
Nevertheless, welcome back!
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Hi Mark,
bit O/T & old news, but relevant to your “Dependence on China” –
from your Atlantic link above, dated 2012.
I googled “Molycorp” & latest article found – https://www.mining.com/molycorp-shuts-down-mountain-pass-rare-earth-plant/
“Cecilia Jamasmie | August 26, 2015 | 3:00 am Battery Metals China Europe Rare Earth
Molycorp, the U.S.’s only miner and processor of rare earths, said it would transition the facility to a “care and maintenance” mode, adding it plans to continue serving its rare earth customers via its production facilities in Estonia and China.”
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Mark. There is something odd about the molycorp article you supplied, Firstly only Molycorp supplied any photograph of an opencast mine. The majority were taken by Atlantic’s authors and do no show any surface workings. Second, most photographs of working opencasts show pristinely sharp quarry edges, they have to, the roadways provide the only access to the quarry floor and new material. If a truck skidded of the roadway it would be a disaster, shutting down the mine. Most of the Molycorp’s quarry walls are degraded. Those roadways with trucks on them appear distinctly sharper and still look maintained. They don’t rise to the quarry top.
I suggest Molycorp was originally mining something else originally and subsequently switched to rare earths. It has essentially abandoned its old opencast mine and only uses part of it for access.
All speculation of course, but to me it makes sense.
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Alan, Good to see you back: all the best for a speedy recovery!
From a bit of background reading, this Mountain Pass mine has a chequered past with a variety of owners, bankruptcy and environmental breaches.
Further to your point, a comment on one of the articles I read makes me wonder if they have switched from mining fresh ore to re-processing tailings from earlier operations. The mine has been open a long time – over 70 years aiui – so there will have been some changes in the minerals sought and, I guess, in the extraction performance.
Also, would I be right in saying that most rare earths are recovered as by-/co-products of mining for copper and/or nickel?
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Here is a very interesting article, just published, on Mountain Pass and the demise of molycorp. The mine is currently owned and run by an outfit called MP Materials.
I don’t know how old the photograph accompanying the article is but according to the text the mine is still active.
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Oops…I forgot the link:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rare-earth-mining-renewable-energy-future?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=latest-newsletter-v2&utm_source=Latest_Headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest_Headlines
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“Huge rare earth metals discovery in Arctic Sweden”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64253708
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Alan, Mike and Paul, thanks for your ongoing input. However, the picture accompanying the piece about Molycorp was only intended as an example – one of many I selected at random after a quick internet search.
As for mining rare earth minerals generally, this might (or might not!) be of interest:
“How Rare-Earth Mining Has Devastated China’s Environment”
https://earth.org/rare-earth-mining-has-devastated-chinas-environment/
I will grant that, for instance, Getty Images of rare earth mines, although environmentally awful, are by and large perhaps not so dramatic as the stock photo I used:
https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/photos/rare-earth-mining
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Mikehig. I know very little about the geology of rare earths, other than they substitute in minor amounts for other common earth metals like calcium or magnesium in common minerals like feldspars. They are usually well dispersed. Wikipedia has a good article.
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“Revealed: how US transition to electric cars threatens environmental havoc
By 2050 electric vehicles could require huge amounts of lithium for their batteries, causing damaging expansions of mining”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/24/us-electric-vehicles-lithium-consequences-research
The answer, it seems, is not to stop going down the EV route; rather we have to use cars less – a lot less.
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Mark; it’s not that we need to use cars less, it’s that we need to have fewer cars! That’s the only way to reduce the demand for virgin material.
Of course there are many hypothetical scenarios where we will cease to own cars and will just summon an automated cab when we want to go somewhere. Yeah, right.
The problem with this article is that it ignores human ingenuity and technical progress. We have a long track record of developing/finding alternatives when a key material becomes scarce. Indeed one of the concerns for EV owners is that better battery technology will emerge, undermining the residual values of their “old tech” vehicles.
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“The green revolution is fuelling environmental destruction”
Rare earths, cobalt, lithium, etc. Interesting read.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/the-green-revolution-is-fuelling-environmental-destruction/ar-AA16zk3V
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Jit, from your link –
“Paul Atherley, the company’s chairman, who is also chairing a scheme to establish lithium refining in Teesside, says Pensana’s feedstock will come from a mine in Longonjo, western Angola. He is also seeking to source lithium from Australia for his other company.
“What we’re arguing is that Australia, and South America and Africa should be doing what they are good at, which is mining and the extraction phase. And the processing should be done in Europe, in UK chemical parks hooked up to offshore wind, so we create these independent and sustainable supply chains, independent of China, so we can be absolutely sure about how it’s mined and how it’s processed.”
contrast the above link topic to – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-56023895
“Cumbria coal mine: Will it threaten the UK’s climate targets? Published 8 December 2022”
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Meanwhile, in Germany, irony is alive and well:
“Tremor fears lay down hurdles for Germany’s lithium mining plans
Berlin is keen to source more critical raw materials at home — but is meeting with opposition from locals.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/germanys-lithium-extraction-earthquake-mining/
I note that the F word is verboten – fracking doesn’t receive a single mention in the article.
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“The Green Economy’s Heart of Darkness” – a commentary on “Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives”.
https://compactmag.com/article/the-green-economy-s-heart-of-darkness
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Mark; I’ve just read your previous post about Lithium mining in Germany. The methodology sounds very similar to that used in geothermal projects, in which case fracking will be employed to open up flow paths.The locals have some reason to be concerned about tremors. Europe’s largest tremor associated with drilling/fracking occurred near Basle some years ago and caused a geothermal project to be shut down.
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This is from the Geological Survey of Finland:
“Assessment of the Extra Capacity Required of Alternative Energy Electrical Power Systems to Completely Replace Fossil Fuels ”
Click to access 42_2021.pdf
Rather chilling, but not particularly surprising.
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An updated email has arrived pushing the WEET conference on 8th June. Regarding recent developments, I learn this:
“UK and Canada sign agreement to boost green tech supply chains”
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-canada-sign-agreement-to-boost-green-tech-supply-chains
It sounds good, but it’s just a press release, with the usual verbiage, and I don’t see much of substance behind it.
Ditto this:
“UK and Saudi Arabia pledge to deliver closer co-operation on critical minerals”
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-saudi-arabia-pledge-to-deliver-closer-co-operation-on-critical-minerals
And the government is throwing some money at recycling:
“Government invests £15m in rare earth minerals research
Tonnes of rare earth elements – used for EVs and wind turbines – could soon be recycled as a result of government-backed research”
https://www.energylivenews.com/2023/02/28/government-invests-15-in-rare-earth-minerals-research/
Both Labour and Tories seem to believe (hope?) that throwing some taxpayer money at the problem will persuade private investors to solve the problem for them. I remain unconvinced.
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Scots sites on ‘green mines’ list”
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-scotsman/20230418/281513640449726
More of Scotland’s beauty to be sacrificed on the net zero altar, then.
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“Europe’s green dilemma: Mining key minerals without destroying nature
Conservationists are spooked by Brussels’ plans to ramp up mining of critical raw materials, but advocates say it’s needed to hit the bloc’s green goals.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/europes-green-dilemma-mining-key-minerals-without-destroying-nature/
Green groups are worried? Finally? Oh, the irony.
Overlap again – I could just as easily have posted that here:
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“Australia warned of ‘over-mining’ risk in race to secure minerals needed for clean energy
Research says mining boom to support renewable energy risks ‘significant social and environmental damage’”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/04/australia-warned-of-over-mining-risk-in-race-to-secure-minerals-needed-for-clean-energy
That’s another one that could just as well have been posted as a comment under “Saving The Planet By Trashing It”.
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Green groups are worried? But . . . . . they weren’t worried when China was polluting its natural landscapes and ground and surface waters were they? They weren’t bothered by Africans being exploited by Chinese companies to mine for rare earths. So it’s OK to trash far off places and for Asian people to exploit poor African people to provide the materials needed for Greens here in Europe to virtue signal their squeaky clean intent on saving the planet from an imaginary Thermageddon, but when it comes to spoiling nature reserves on their own doorstep, they get worried.
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“UK to gain first lithium mine in Cornwall in boost to electric car industry
British Lithium in joint venture with French mining company Imerys, aiming to extract 20,000 tonnes”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/29/uk-british-lithium-mine-cornwall-boost-electric-car-industry
The new venture is 80% French-owned (Imerys) and 20% British (British Lithium).
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“Lithium firm secures initial £53m from investors”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjezvydnrezo
TechMet Limited is registered in Ireland:
https://www.techmet.com/contact/
Nothing wrong with that, of course, but is it for tax reasons? While the UK taxpayer, via the Infrastructure Bank makes an investment. Let’s hope that, for once, it’s a taxpayer investment that yields results.
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“China buys half of the lithium mines on the market”
https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/china-buys-half-of-the-lithium-mines-on-the-market-20230825-p5dzhc
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“Europe is ‘miles behind’ in race for raw materials used in electric car batteries
EU and UK carmakers have secured just 16% of lithium, cobalt and nickel needed to hit 2030 targets, says study”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/04/europe-miles-behind-race-raw-materials-electric-car-batteries-lithium-cobalt-nickel
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“China blocks exports of rare earth technology after MPs warn Beijing is ‘weaponising’ supplies
Move follows Western efforts to restrict the country’s access to microchip technology”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/12/21/china-blocks-exports-rare-earth-technology-beijing/
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“Blinded, sexually assaulted, silenced: the war over lithium, Argentina’s ‘white gold’”
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/jan/11/lithium-war-over-argentina-white-gold-jujuy
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Kathryn Porter has posted a series of excellent articles on her website, Watt Logic, about the key materials required for the “energy transition”. They make grim reading.
The issues include: looming shortages; rising costs; major environmental impacts; human rights violations; Chinese domination of supplies; etc..
This is the one on Rare Earths; the others are listed on the website:
Imho, this shows that very little of the “transition” is achievable and only at exorbitant cost. Sadly those driving our economies have no understanding of where they are taking us.
We live in interesting times…..
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Mikehig,
Thanks for that. I am sure most people visiting Cliscep will be aware of the Watt Logic site, but for any who don’t know it, I highly recommend it.
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I have been sent a link to this book:
“The Rare Earths Era: Strategic Metals Dependency & World Order (Paperback – February 15, 2024)
by Juan Manuel Chomon”:
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“African leaders call for equity over minerals used for clean energy
‘Crucial’ UN resolution attempts to avoid repeat of injustices produced by Africa’s fossil fuel sector”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/28/african-leaders-call-for-equity-over-minerals-used-for-clean-energy
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An interesting read:
“Tensions grow as China ramps up global mining for green tech”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-68896707
A few interesting snippets:
It was just 10 years ago that a Chinese company bought the country’s first stake in an extraction project within the “lithium triangle” of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, which holds most of the world’s lithium reserves.
Many further Chinese investments in local mining operations have followed, according to mining publications, and corporate, government and media reports. The BBC calculates that based on their shareholdings, Chinese companies now control an estimated 33% of the lithium at projects currently producing the mineral or those under construction...
...The BBC Global China Unit has identified at least 62 mining projects across the world, in which Chinese companies have a stake, that are designed to extract either lithium or one of three other minerals key to green technologies – cobalt, nickel and manganese.
All are used to make lithium-ion batteries – used in electric vehicles – which, along with solar panels, are now high industrial priorities for China. Some projects are among the largest producers of these minerals in the world.
China has long been a leader in refining lithium and cobalt, with a share of global supply reaching 72% and 68% respectively in 2022, according to the Chatham House think tank.
Its capacity to refine these and other critical minerals has helped the country reach a point where it made more than half of the electric vehicles sold worldwide in 2023, has 60% of the global manufacturing capacity for wind turbines, and controls at least 80% of each stage in the solar panel supply chain...
…But it’s not only China that will need to mine and process minerals needed for the green economy. The UN says that if the world is to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, their use must increase six-fold by 2040...
…As Chinese companies have increased their overseas mining operations, allegations of problems caused by these projects have steadily risen.
The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, an NGO, says such troubles are “not unique to Chinese mining” but last year it published a report listing 102 allegations made against Chinese companies involved in extracting critical minerals, ranging from violations of the rights of local communities to damage to ecosystems and unsafe working conditions...
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“Battle lines redrawn as Argentina’s lithium mines ramp up to meet electric car demand
Mining companies accused of colonial ‘divide and rule’ tactics in their pursuit of the precious metal that lies under the country’s salt flats”
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/jun/25/battle-lines-redrawn-as-argentinas-lithium-mines-ramp-up-to-meet-electric-car-demand
A long and interesting article, with a moving final paragraph:
Flores asks the international community to consider its priorities. “Our message to all the people with electric cars is that it is not right to ruin a region and destroy communities for a thing that you want to buy, even if it is good for the environment,” he says. “Lithium is like a needle to extract the blood of our mother – and our mother will die. In 50 years, there will be nothing here.”
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Mark: I’m getting the impression that the Guardian may be moving slowly towards climate realism (as is the FT – see my post just now on the COP29 thread). Do you agree?
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Robin,
I’m afraid I’m not convinced. I can see that you chose your words carefully (“moving slowly“), but I think the pace is glacial. I do give the Guardian credit for allowing sensible journalists such as Simon Jenkins and others to produce articles and publish them in the Guardian that cast doubt on the net zero agenda, but such articles are few (even if slowly growing) in number, and are absolutely overwhelmed by the continuing tsunami of exaggeration and scaremongering about the climate that appears in the Guardian relentlessly every single day.
It’s possible that it’s preparing to beat a strategic retreat when net zero, if pushed harder by a new Labour government, demonstrably causes much financial and other pain to the poorest in society. However, that would be a much more difficult task than it is for the Tories to start quietly distancing themselves from the worst excesses of net zero, given that the Guardian (with much justification) prides itself on being the one organisation above all others which has created a “climate crisis” “consensus”.
Baby steps, maybe, but nothing more than that. If the Guardian rows back on the nonsense, then we really will have won!
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I fear you’re right Mark. Look no further than this display of hopeless ignorance by Fiona Harvey in the Guardian on Monday:
Labour wants to make UK a clean energy superpower. Will this help those stuck in fuel poverty?
Experts say Starmer can honour pledge to move to net zero and cut bills – if plan embraces onshore renewables and focuses on poorest
Anyone who believes that is not, I suggest, an expert.
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“Precious rare earth metals belong to the state, China declares
Beijing’s hold on the coveted resources has long been seen as a threat to Western clean power and tech supply chains.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/precious-rare-earth-metals-belong-to-the-state-china-declares/
The Chinese government has introduced a slew of new measures designed to tighten its grip on lucrative natural resources used in everything from electric cars to wind turbines.
In a list released by the country’s State Council on Saturday, Beijing declared that rare earth metals are the property of the state and warned “no organization or person may encroach on or destroy rare-earth resources.
“From Oct. 1, when the rules come into force, the government will operate a rare earth traceability database to ensure it can control the extraction, use and export of the metals. China currently produces around 60 percent of the world’s rare earth metals, and is the origin of around 90 percent of refined rare earths on the market.
Beijing has already prohibited exports of rare earth refining and magnet manufacturing technologies. In January, it banned the export of gallium and germanium, both highly sought after by the computer-chip industry.
Fears that China is looking to exert control over the industry, and could disrupt critical technology, automotive and renewable energy supply chains, have sparked a race to shore up supplies from alternative suppliers. Both the U.S. and the EU have launched efforts to procure rare earths at home and abroad, including in Vietnam, Brazil and Australia.…
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Nothing like ensuring national ‘energy security’ by relying upon ‘home grown clean energy’ from windmills made of steel which we can no longer manufacture ourselves plus windmills and Chinese manufactured solar panels using rare earth materials controlled by China. Whilst we simultaneously destroy investment in North Sea gas and oil exploration. Nothing at all like energy security in fact. But it’s just incompetence; a cock up, not a conspiracy.
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“‘Blood minerals’: EU accused of fueling conflict with Rwanda deal
Facing criticism it is stoking a humanitarian crisis, Brussels seeks to clarify the aims behind its minerals pact with Kigali.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-rwanda-minerals-agreement-coltan-ore-mining-conflict-smuggling-rubaya-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-paul-kagame/
Europe’s hunger for minerals for its electric cars and microchips is sparking accusations that it is inflaming conflict in eastern Congo, one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises that has killed 6 million people over recent decades.
The outrage was provoked by a strategic minerals deal that the European Commission struck on Feb. 19 with Rwanda, which borders the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For the EU — caught in a race with China for the resource riches of Central Africa — the agreement is an opportunity to gain access to the ingredients it needs for its “green and clean energy objectives.”
The EU’s critics hit back that the pact will create a smokescreen to smuggle “blood minerals” out of eastern Congo — not least because Rwanda is accused of playing a decisive role in the war on the other side of the border with its support for an insurgent rebel group called M23.
President Félix Tshisekedi of Congo, whose forces are fighting the M23 militia, denounced the EU-Rwanda deal within days as “a provocation in very bad taste.”
Since the deal was inked, the Rwanda-linked M23 fighters have extended their hold over eastern Congo’s mineral resources. In late April — just as French President Emmanuel Macron implored Rwanda to stop supporting M23 — the rebels seized Rubaya, a mining hotspot near the border in eastern Congo.
An M23 spokesman was quick to deny coveting the area’s rich reserves of coltan ore — a source of ingredients used to make smartphones and cars.
But it’s those abundant mineral resources and their smuggling that often help to finance armed groups in eastern Congo, fueling a spiral of violence and human rights abuses in a decades-long conflict that, in addition to the millions killed, has displaced 7 million more.…
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“Thousands protest against lithium mining in Serbia”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cged9qgwrvyo
Thousands of people in Serbia have protested in Belgrade against plans to mine one of Europe’s largest deposits of lithium – a crucial raw material for electric car batteries.
Activists say the mine would cause irreversible environmental destruction to Serbia’s Jadar Valley, where the deposit is located….
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The Guardian has it too (let’s face it, they and the BBC seem to source their articles from the same places, being in lockstep most of the time):
“Thousands of Serbians protest in Belgrade against lithium mine
Controversial mining project is a political fault line in Balkan country over fears about environmental impacts”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/10/thousands-of-serbians-protest-in-belgrade-against-lithium-mine
Thousands hit the streets in Serbia’s capital Belgrade Saturday to protest against the rebooting of a controversial lithium mine set to serve as a vital source to power Europe’s green energy transition.
Before the rally, two leading protest figures said they were briefly detained by security officials who warned that any moves to block roads during the protest would be viewed as illegal.
Thousands chanted “Rio Tinto get out of Serbia” and “You won’t dig” as they rallied in downtown Belgrade before setting off on a march through the city.
Protesters later entered Belgrade’s main railway station where demonstrators blocked tracks, halting traffic.
Serbia has vast lithium deposits near the western city of Loznica, where a mining project being developed by the Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto has been a perennial political fault line in the Balkan country in recent years over its potential environmental impacts.
The deposits were discovered in 2004, but weeks of mass protests forced the government to halt the project in 2022….
...Lithium is a strategically valuable metal needed for electric vehicle batteries, making it key for helping the automotive industry shift to greener production.
The project, however, has continued to be unpopular with many in Serbia due to concerns the mine would pollute water sources and endanger public health....
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“Australia’s lithium mining boom hit by sagging prices”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8mvmmpmvro
Often called “white gold” and the key component in rechargeable batteries, the metal lithium is so light that it floats on water, but its price has sunk like a stone over the past year.
Due to a combination of falling global sales of electric vehicles, and a world oversupply, external of lithium ore, the cost of the main lithium compound has fallen, external by more than three quarters since June 2023.
This decline has had a particularly hard impact on Australia, because it is the world’s largest producer of lithium ore, accounting for 52% of the global total, external last year.
Australia also has the second-largest reserves, external of the mineral after Chile, with the vast majority in Western Australia, and a smaller amount in the Northern Territory.
The sharp decline in lithium prices has led to mine shutdowns. Adelaide-based Core Lithium announced back in January that due to “weak market conditions” it was suspending mining, external at its Finniss site near Darwin, with the loss of 150 jobs.
Then in August, US firm Albemarle said it would be scaling back production at its Kemerton lithium processing plant, located some 170km (100 miles) south of Perth. This is expected to lead to more than 300 redundancies., external
Arcadium Lithium followed suit this month, announcing that it would be mothballing, external its Mt Cattlin mine in Western Australia, blaming low prices...
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I think this is called shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted:
“UK must be less dependent on China for critical minerals, says thinktank
Exclusive: Labour Together urges government to ‘de-risk’ supply chains by working with other countries”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/dec/24/uk-less-dependent-china-critical-minerals-thinktank
...The UK government has said it will produce a new strategy on critical minerals in the spring. Labour Together said this should be closely informed by the government’s industrial strategy, also due in the spring, to determine which critical minerals and stages of the supply chain the UK will be most reliant on in the future.
Critical minerals are essential for the green transition. Data suggests China extracts about 70% of the world’s rare earth metal ore, dominates the processing and refining of it and uses it to manufacture 90% of the global supply of neodymium magnets, the magnet most commonly used in wind turbines….
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Mark – almost the 1st line/quote from your link by Eleni Courea Political correspondent – “The report said China’s dominance in critical mineral supply chains created “vulnerability” and the UK was at greater risk of being singled out after Brexit.”
The rest is just cut & paste almost & toward the end –
““Diversification is, rightly, likely to be at the heart of Labour’s new strategy. But the UK’s strategy also needs to be realistic – we can’t ignore quite how dominant China is at every step of these supply chains. Even if it wanted to, the UK is never going to be able to cut China out entirely, and that means we’re going to need some considered engagement.”
“But the UK’s strategy also needs to be realistic” – well that would be a good new year resolution for Labour.
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ps – should have added the link given in the article – The UK’s Role in Advancing Responsible Transition Minerals Supply Chains | Royal United Services Institute
Can’t be bothered to dig deeper into it, but 1st look –
“Supporters: 2022 – 2023
£200,000 to £499,999AthenaLab
The British Army
European Climate Foundation
The Exilarch’s Foundation
Google
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar
Torchlight Group Ltd
£1,000,000 and above U.S. Department of State
Drake Foundation
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
European Commission”
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Good sleuthing, dfh. The full list if donors to RUSI is massive, and includes many of the usual suspects, as well as the more obvious donors to something that used to be known as the Royal United Services Institute.
I should be very interested in a list of donations made by the governments (in all their guises) of developed nations to charities, institutes, lobbying organisations and all the rest, along with the justification for this use of taxpayers’ money at a time of apparent black holes.
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“China has halted rare earth exports, can Australia step up?”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c86je4vyg36o
…Rare earths are a group of 17 elements – named “rare” because they are notoriously difficult to extract and refine.
Rare earths, like samarium and terbium, are critical to the production of technologies set to shape the world in the coming decades – including electric vehicles and highly advanced weapons systems.
Albanese’s proposed reserve includes rare earths as well as other critical minerals of which Australia is a top producer – like lithium and cobalt.
Both China and Australia have rare earth reserves. But 90% of rare earth refining – which makes them usable in technology – takes place in China, giving the country significant control over supply.
And that has spooked Western governments….
But not, it seems, the hapless UK government, who double down on a net zero energy policy that is at least in part dependent on such things; they seem to think we have less to fear from China than we do from the so-called fossil fuel dictators. I wonder when reality will dawn?
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“UK urged not to exploit poor countries in rush for critical minerals
Civil society groups call on government to address risk of neocolonial exploitation in its supply chain strategy”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/may/15/uk-urged-not-to-exploit-poor-countries-in-rush-for-critical-minerals
The risk of neocolonial exploitation in the global rush for critical minerals must be addressed by the government as it formulates its official supply chain strategy, say civil society campaigners.
They have said the scrabble for access is being greenwashed as wealthier economies around the world attempt to line up a host of minerals that are essential to the manufacture of hi-tech products, including cobalt, lithium and nickel.
While the importance of such minerals to the green transition is often touted, with many crucial to the manufacture of turbines, solar panels and other low carbon energy sources, campaigners point out that much of the demand comes from the arms and consumer tech industries.
“To have a chance at success, the green transition cannot be built on the exploitation of poorer countries by unaccountable corporations,” said Cleodie Rickard, the policy manager at Global Justice Now….
Well, quite, but it will be, won’t it. In short, under the “green transition”, we’re all going to suffer.
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“campaigners point out that much of the demand comes from the arms and consumer tech industries.” – with no link given for this statement.
Notice coking coal was not mentioned in the article. Maybe not a “critical mineral” so I’ll give them a bye on that.
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“Demand for copper to dramatically outstrip supply within decade
International Energy Agency says it is ‘time to sound alarm’ over future shortages of metal needed for low-carbon transition”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/21/copper-supply-demand-analysis-international-energy-agency
Demand for copper, needed for the transition to a low-carbon world, will outstrip supply within the next decade, according to the global energy watchdog.
Supplies of the metal, a key component of every form of electrical energy system at present, will fall 30% short of the amount required by 2035 if nothing is done, analysis by the International Energy Agency predicts.
Fatih Birol, the executive director of the IEA, said: “This will be a major challenge. It’s time to sound the alarm.”
He said developed countries should aim to do more of the refining of copper and other key metals needed for industry, and form partnerships with developing countries to do so.
Critical minerals that are necessary for manufacturing solar panels and wind turbines, and transforming the global energy system, are overwhelmingly being refined in China, though they are mined in many locations, including Africa, Australia and Latin America.
China processes more than 70% on average of the world’s top 20 minerals needed in the energy industry, according to IEA data. Elements such as cobalt, gallium, lithium and manganese are used in the production of batteries and electrical components needed for renewable energy generation.
This stranglehold is increasing…
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“The world wants China’s rare earth elements – what is life like in the city that produces them?”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/26/china-rare-earths-baotou-life-metallic-elements
...Baotou’s rich reserves of natural resources have been good for the economy. The city’s GDP per capita is 165,000 yuan (£17,000), compared with the national average of 95,700 yuan, although locals grumble about an economic slowdown, which is affecting the whole country. According to state media, last year the industry generated more than 100bn yuan for the city for the first time. But the industry also has an environmental impact.
Toxic, often radioactive byproducts of rare earths processing are dumped into man-made ditches known as “tailings ponds”. One of the most notorious tailings ponds in the area is the Weikuang tailings dam, owned by the state-owned Baogang Group. For many years it was the world’s biggest dumping ground for rare earths waste products. It was not properly lined and there were fears about its toxic contents seeping into the groundwater and towards the nearby Yellow River, a major source of drinking water for northern China. According to the Ministry for Ecology and Environment, a clean-up project of one of the Yellow River’s tributaries in Baotou resulted in levels of ammonia nitrogen, a rare earths processing byproduct, decreasing by 87% between 2020 and 2024.
In the 2000s and 2010s, investigations into the villages around Baotou revealed orthopaedic problems, birth defects and an “epidemic” of cancer. Because microscopic rare earth elements can cross the blood-brain barrier and deposit in the brain, exposure has been linked to a number of neurological problems such as motor and sensory disabilities, and they can also affect the neurological development of foetuses in pregnant women.
A study published in 2020 found that children in Baotou were particularly likely to be exposed to rare earth elements through road dust, something that the researchers described as a “serious risk”. Another study found that the daily intake of airborne rare earths elements in mining areas was up to 6.7mg, well above the 4.2 mg level that is considered to be relatively safe.
“Large-scale extraction quite often proceeds at the expense of the health and well-being of surrounding communities, pretty much regardless of the context,” says Julie Klinger, an associate professor at the University Delaware who specialises in rare earths.
Although the technologies to process rare earths in less environmentally harmful ways exist in theory, they are rarely used because of cost.
“I doubt they could maintain their production costs if they took such steps,” says Craig Hart, a lecturer at John Hopkins University who focuses on rare earths.
Environmentalists note that part of the reason that China has been able to dominate global supplies of rare earths at competitive prices is because, as well as being rich in natural resources, it has also been willing to let poor, rural people bear the brunt of the toxic, dirty work….
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“EU may as well be ‘province of China’ due to reliance on imports, says industrialist
Stefan Scherer, boss of AMG Lithium, says Europe must become more self-sufficient in critical raw materials and new technologies”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/02/eu-may-as-well-be-province-of-china-due-to-reliance-on-imports-says-industrialist
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“Silver and Copper Will Derail Net Zero Fantasy Growing gaps between supply and demand mean the cost of Net Zero is going to soar”
https://davidturver.substack.com/p/silver-copper-will-derail-net-zero-fantasy
The way Britain and other countries are going about implementing Net Zero means we are relying heavily on technologies such as wind, solar and batteries for storage and electric vehicles. However, these technologies are highly mineral intensive requiring lots of metals such as copper, cobalt, silver, lithium and rare earth metals.
However, the outlook for demand for some of these metals far exceeds estimates of supply meaning prices are set to rise so far they are likely to derail the whole project….
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“China tightens export rules for crucial rare earths”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgzl0nwvd7o
China has tightened its rules on the export of rare earths – the elements that are crucial to the manufacture of many high-tech products.
New regulations announced by the country’s Ministry of Commerce “to safeguard national security” formalise existing rules on processing technology and unauthorised overseas cooperation.
China is also likely to block exports to foreign arms manufacturers and some semiconductor firms.…
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“Major UK rare earths refinery scrapped in favour of US”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czxnv7y03nno
Plans for a groundbreaking rare earths refinery in East Yorkshire have been abandoned, after the company behind the project decided to seek investment in the United States instead.
Pensana has spent the past seven years developing a rare earths mine in Angola. The $268m (£185m) project, one of the largest of its kind in the world, will begin delivering raw materials in 2027.
The company had planned to build a refinery at the Saltend Chemicals Plant near Hull, which would have processed the raw materials into metals used to create powerful magnets.
These magnets would then be used in high-tech applications such as motors for electric vehicles, wind turbines and robotics.
The project would have given the UK a strategic foothold in the rare earths industry, which is currently dominated by China.
However, as first reported by Sky News, the plan has now been dropped....
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Has someone in government just woken up?
“UK launches critical minerals strategy to reduce dependency on China
Standoff between China and EU over supply of chips for car industry underlines value of sector requiring huge financial investment”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/23/uk-launches-critical-minerals-strategy-to-reduce-dependency-on-china
…The strategy follows a six-week standoff between China and the EU over the supply of chips used in the car industry, underlining how Beijing is willing to use trade in critical materials for political purposes.
The UK and the US are now battling to reduce their dependence on China, but the production of rare earths and critical minerals can take years and hundreds of millions of pounds in investment.…
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Mark, Heads have been stuck firmly in the sand on this issue for many years. Trump did try to get things moving in his first presidency but inertia ruled (things may be moving faster in the US this time around). Aside from the sourcing of raw materials, there is also the reliance on Taiwan for a big portion of the chip manufacturing business. Does anyone think that would survive a Chinese invasion attempt?
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