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As geopolitical and economic stakes mount, the urgency to build out secure critical mineral supply chains is increasingly resonating with policymakers around the world.  Acknowledging that “[c]ritical minerals are not just the building blocks of clean technology like solar panels and electric vehicle batteries – they are a key ingredient for creating middle class jobs and growing a strong, globally competitive Canadian economy,”Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson on December 9, 2022 released Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy, backed by up to $3.8 billion in federal funding allocated in Budget 2022 to support mining projects across various stages of production.

While not explicitly naming China, observers see the 58-page strategy document as a “clear attempt to eat into Beijing’s market share” following on the heels of similar strategies launched by the United States and the European Union (…) that explicitly name ‘breaking dependence’ on China as a goal.

Wilkinson told reporters at the launch event that

“[p]art of the critical minerals strategy from an international perspective is about geopolitics. (…) It’s about ensuring that not just Canada but democratic countries around the world have access to the resources they require in a manner that does not make them vulnerable in the same way we saw Germany, for example, become vulnerable to pressures from Russia.”

Only a few weeks ago, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance publicly embraced the concept of “friend-shoring,” the concept in which “democracies must make a conscious effort to build tour supply chains through each other’s economies” in remarks at a Brookings Foundation event in Washington, D.C..

In keeping with the new Critical Minerals Strategy, earlier this week, at the UN Biodiversity conference (COP15) in Montreal, Canada, Wilkinson was joined by representatives of Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to announce the launch of the “Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance to drive the global uptake of environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive and responsible development.”

According to the launch press release, “[m]embers of the Alliance welcome and encourage collaboration with Indigenous communities, non-governmental organizations, industry and other non-state actors, as well as actions taken domestically and globally to advance the objectives of the Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance and call on others to join.”

The United States and Canada share a long special relationship which is “more than metaphorical” as ARPN’s Daniel McGroarty phrased it in a 2018 piece for Investors Business Daily. More recently, in 2020, the Canada-U.S. Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals was announced on 9 January 2020 to

“advance bilateral interest in securing supply chains for the critical minerals needed for strategic manufacturing sectors, including communication technology, aerospace and defense, and clean technology. The Action Plan is guiding cooperation between officials in areas such as industry engagement, innovation, defense supply chains, improving information sharing on mineral resources and potential, and cooperation in multilateral forums.” 

Both countries are also close partners within the context of several multilateral frameworks for allied cooperation such as the National Technology Industrial Base (NTIB), which, originally established to strengthen technology links between the U.S. and Canada in 1993, was expanded in 2016 to include the United Kingdom and Australia.

From a U.S. perspective, Canada’s new Critical Minerals Strategy and the launch of the Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance are positive developments, but as ARPN previously noted in a similar context:

“[T]empting as it may be – particularly in light of the pervasive nature of the ‘paradox of the green revolution’, as Reuters columnist Andy Home called the paradox that ‘public opinion is firmly in favour of decarbonisation but not the mines and smelters needed to get there’ – we must not be complacent and rely too much on friend-shoring.”

The balancing act to reconcile green credentials with the acknowledged need for domestic resource development will not get any easier for the Biden Administration and other policy stakeholders.  “Friend-shoring” is a crucial piece of the resource security puzzle, but — in light of mounting demand and ever higher stakes of continued resource dependency — the only viable path to success in the long run lies in a comprehensive “all-of-the-above” policy approach from mine to manufacturing which encompasses fostering cooperation with allies and scaling up research and development while at the same time building out domestic production and processing capabilities along with recycling and closed-loop technology.

As geopolitical tensions continue to mount, and China tightens its reins on its critical mineral supply chains, U.S. policy makers are stepping up their efforts to secure domestic supply chains.

The latest case in point: Sen. Dan Sullivan’s (R-Alaska) and Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) just-introduced “Critical Mineral Independence Act of 2022,” legislation aimed at reducing the United States’ over-reliance on China for its critical mineral needs by strengthening provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which had previously given a boost to critical mineral mining and processing.

Operating under the premise that “the U.S. cannot afford to allow the critical minerals used by the Department of Defense (DoD) to be mined or processed in adversarial countries, and it must urgently invest and build its capabilities to achieve critical mineral independence in coordination with allies,” the bill would:

• “[d]irect the expansion of critical mineral mining and processing in the U.S. and allied countries to achieve critical mineral supply chain independence for the Department of Defense by 2027;
• [r]equire the director of the Defense Logistics Agency to develop a strategy to expedite critical mineral mining and processing, and then requires the implementation of that strategy;
• [and a]uthorize the use of the underlying $1 billion in the NDAA to execute the procurement strategy.”

In a statement on the introduction of the bill, Sen. Sullivan highlighted the United States’ vast domestic mineral potential, much of which could be unleashed in the Senator’s home state of Alaska. He says:

“We cannot continue to be dependent on China for critical minerals—resources that are crucial to our economy, and which we have in abundance in the U.S., particularly in Alaska like the significant copper and zinc resources in the Ambler Mining District that the Biden administration—remarkably—continues to delay.”  

[To keep up with Alaska’s critical mineral potential and current developments, be sure to follow North of 60 Mining News’s Shane Lasley, whose work ARPN has featured on many occasions.]

Sen. Sullivan adds:

“If we are going to build out and support our domestic clean energy industries and national security initiatives, we need to get serious about a strategy for unleashing America’s national supply chains and processing capabilities. In doing so, we will create thousands of good-paying jobs, protect our national security interests, deny economic support for violators of basic human rights and build out America’s all-of-the-above energy sector.” 

With the mid-term elections now in the rear view mirror and policy makers increasingly realizing the urgency of securing critical mineral resource supply chains to bolster our nation’s national security and economic wellbeing, momentum for mineral resource policy reform is building.  ARPN will track the “Critical Mineral Independence Act of 2022” along with other legislative efforts in the coming months.

“December 6 is National Miners Day… a fitting time to reflect on how much miners provide to allow for our modern way of life. (…)”   You might not recognize how mining plays a role in your daily life. Most people do not see the raw materials produced by mining, from metals and minerals to coal [...]

As the global push towards net zero carbon emissions accelerates, the understanding that critical minerals hold the key to achieving climate goals has grown.   With EV battery technology at the heart of the green energy transition, the “Battery Criticals” (lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and manganese) have entered the spotlight.   While initially the main focus was on the cathode materials [...]

As geopolitical tensions continue to mount and supply chain challenges loom large across many sectors, Beijing is tightening reins on its critical mineral supply chains. According to news reports, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced plans to increase its supervision of China’s lithium battery supply chain, which, according to the ministry, is “severely unbalanced.” [...]

Within days of Canada outlining new investment stipulations for state-owned entities aimed at protecting the country’s critical minerals sector, the Canadian government last week told three Chinese resource companies to divest their interests in Canadian critical mineral firms. Basing the decision on “facts and evidence and on the advice of critical minerals subject matter experts, Canada’s [...]

We’re “on a highway to climate hell.” The picture UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez is painting of current efforts in the climate fight is – expectedly – bleak. As such, it is no surprise that nations have been doubling down on their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the Biden Administration is no exception. Followers of ARPN have [...]

With pressures rising on critical mineral supply chains as nations rush to flesh out environmental initiatives before the COP27 climate change summit kicks off in Sharm El Sheikh next month, the stakes for the United States and its allies to “decouple” from adversary nations — in the new U.S. National Security Strategy, read:  China — may have gotten even [...]

“Solar power, electric cars, grid-scale batteries, heat pumps—the world is crossing into a mass-adoption moment for green technologies,” writes Tom Randall for Bloomberg.  Citing Bloomberg research, he argues that “clean energy has a tipping point, and 87 countries have reached it.”  The mass-adoption of green technologies, as followers of ARPN well know, requires drastically increased amounts of critical [...]

With the coronavirus pandemic and growing geopolitical tensions having shone a light on U.S. over-reliance on foreign sources across our nation’s critical mineral value chains and its implications for our national and economic security, domestic stakeholders have stepped up their efforts to decouple U.S. supply chains from reliance on our adversaries. While for “battery criticals” [...]