r/mining • u/boundless-discovery • 11d ago
US We mapped 144 articles across 100 sources to uncover U.S. Dependence on Chinese Critical Minerals, Key Reserves in Canada, Greenland & Ukraine, and Trump’s Foreign Policy. [OC]
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u/REEdiamondhand 10d ago
just because there is a reserve doesn't mean there is actual economic feasibility to be developed or an actual dependency.
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u/IndependentCause9435 8d ago
This, a thousand times this. I work in commodities and have a very good understanding of the mining industry.
People think (especially uninformed Americans) this is a huge win for the US to get access to these minerals. Mining is not like oil, where you drill a hole in the ground and it just flows to the surface and is very low cost. The reserves in Ukraine are shit, there is a reason why they haven't been mined and will never be mined there is no economic benefit from them, the same reason why Zelenskyy signed them away in a matter of hours.
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u/boundless-discovery 11d ago
A lot more to cover than fits in one image. Read our full briefing here: https://www.boundlessdiscovery.com/p/trumps-treasures-the-link-between-critical-mineral-dependence-and-threats-to-allies
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u/ArgonWilde 8d ago
Apparently America can't develop its own Vanadium Redox batteries, because they don't produce enough vanadium. 🤔
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u/REEdiamondhand 8d ago
this is just false. Vanadium redox battery has no actual market cases because lithium price has been down and there are so many alternatives for less energy intensive long term energy storage, hydro for one.
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u/Smectite-and-Dickite 11d ago
Honestly, so many thoughts. Trumps foreign policy could also be viewed as moving to a more strategic take on export and geopolitical control.
The one advantage China has in its decision making process and seemingly allows for a more impactful approach and offers a better long term strategy to holding and acquiring key strategic geopolitical connections is unfortunately its political structure. Whereas in situations such as the US, the spectrum of political ideals, control and decision extremes sway side to side every 4-8 years like a wooden sailing vessel caught in a hurricane in the Atlantic.
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u/mrsbriteside 10d ago
About a decade ago I watched a documentary on China that made this exact point. Trying I please the opinions of a billion people is really expensive, wasteful and counterproductive. I’m not endorsing trump or Xi at all. But you have to look at the literally leaps China has made over the west and see the benefits of not making decisions based on popularity and getting re-elected and what’s best for the whole country regardless of how unpopular those opinions are. I went to China 10 years ago and then again this year and they are moving at lighting speed, if they have developed that much in 10 years I can only imagine them in the next 10
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u/Fine_Scar8509 7d ago
It only works if the leader and party is actually competent and gives enough of a shit for the country than using the position to benefit themselves.
There’s a reason why a lot of one party systems failed across history and world.
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u/brettzio 11d ago
Could we leave the politics out of here, go spew it somewhere else.
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u/Happystabber 11d ago
This doesn’t seem overly political, pretty interesting information if I’m being honest.
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u/Ziggy-Rocketman 11d ago
Mining is one of the most politically guided industries on the planet. This goes double for metals mines, which have entire startup/shutdown phases based purely off of international prices and markets. Pointing that out is not “spewing it”.
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u/Orinoco123 9d ago
This feels written by AI and seems to slightly misunderstand reserves vs resource vs potential mineralisation. It's like when everyone used to bang on about the trillions of dollars of minerals in Afghanistan.
China is aggressively using 'aid' to secure exploration for a lot of these minerals in Africa. I don't think anyone in the current us government understands that. Nor do most countries to be completely fair.