minerals

A geologist and geophysicist at Talon examine high-grade nickel core samples from the company’s exploration operations in Minnesota. (Image by Talon Metals.)

Who and How Can Help Indonesia Clean Up Its Minerals Act

By Julia Poliscanova, Senior Director for Emobility and Supply Chains at T&E, and Tommy Pratama, Executive Director for Traction Energy Asia Indonesia is big when it comes to the new race to secure minerals and cleantech. With some of the world’s largest reserves of metals like nickel and cobalt, the country is fuelling … [continued]

ChatGPT generated panoramic image of a warehouse filled with labeled barrels of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements, with shipping containers branded “LIT,” “REMX,” and “BATT” lined up for export

Grunge Meets Grid: How Pearl Jam’s Carbon Price Led Me to Battery ETFs

The world is electrifying at an accelerating pace, and while solar panels and wind turbines grab most of the headlines, the real power behind the transition lies buried in rocks and embedded in chemistry. Batteries and the critical minerals that go into them are the plumbing of the clean energy … [continued]

ChatGPT generated panoramic image of a cracked American flag made of silicon wafers, fiber optic cables, and EV batteries—all splintering at the rare earth seams

China Just Turned Off U.S. Supplies Of Minerals Critical For Defense & Cleantech

In April 2025, while most of the world was clutching pearls over trade war tit-for-tat tariffs, China calmly walked over to the supply chain and yanked out a handful of critical bolts. The bolts are made of dysprosium, terbium, tungsten, indium and yttrium—the elements that don’t make headlines but without … [continued]

Bismuth. Image in Public Domain. Photographer: Scott Horvath, Bureau Social Media Lead, USGS.

The U.S. Geological Survey Invests Millions to Map Critical-Mineral Resources in Alaska

The U.S. Geological Survey will invest more than $5.8 million to map critical-mineral resources in Alaska in partnership with the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys. This partnership is a key step in securing a reliable and sustainable supply of the critical minerals that are essential to everything from … [continued]

DeepGreen CEO Gerard Barron Opens Up About DeepGreen’s Open Letter to BMW & Other Brands

Recently, DeepGreen penned an open letter to BMW, Volvo, Google, and other brands about the importance of seafloor minerals and approached extraction cautiously with an exacting commitment to science-based impact analysis and environmental protection. I also interviewed DeepGreen’s CEO, Gerard Barron, via email last year. Yesterday, I had the pleasure … [continued]

DeepGreen To Combine With Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: SOAC)

In mid-2020, we interviewed DeepGreen Metals CEO Gerard Barron. Last week, DeepGreen announced that that it has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: SOAC). DeepGreen collects nodules that literally fit in the palm of your hand from the seafloor. Its plan is to extract … [continued]

Digging Into Yahua Lithium & Its 5 Year Lithium Agreement With Tesla

As we previously reported, Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group made an announcement at the end of December that its subsidiary, Yahua Lithium, signed a 5-year lithium supply agreement with Tesla. The contract’s value is reported to be a range of $630-880 million. Yahual Lithium will provide battery-grade lithium hydroxide to Tesla from 2021 through 2025. Here’s a bit more information and commentary on that deal.