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#Trump eyes #Pentagon #AI program for trade block’s #CriticalMinerals pricing

Posted on February 25, 2026 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

Control room at The Pentagon analyzing critical minerals pricing and trends with AI, featuring charts on lithium and rare earth element prices, alongside displays of global supply and top producers.

The Trump administration plans to use a Pentagon-created artificial intelligence program to help set reference prices for critical minerals as it works to build a global metals trading zone, three sources with direct knowledge of the effort told Reuters.

Vice President JD Vance earlier this month proposed that the U.S. and more than 50 other countries impose “reference prices for critical minerals at each stage of production” that would be backed by “adjustable tariffs to uphold pricing integrity.”

Those reference prices will be set by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Open Price Exploration for National Security (OPEN) AI metals program, according to the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

The move sheds light on how the administration aims to shape market pricing, even as the AI technology has faced skepticism for whether it can retool how critical minerals are bought and sold.

The OPEN program was launched in 2023 by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) with the goal of calculating what a metal should be priced at when labor, processing and other costs are factored in and when alleged Chinese market manipulation is factored out.

The processes currently available in North American and Europe to refine light and heavy rare earth elements do not meet the economic and environmental standard.

March 24, 2025

Why #Greenland? not #Mountainpass, #California for #RareEarth elements?

Prior to going into mining in unexplored part of the world:

1. We need immediate research and development to improve the existing technologies.

2. Build refineries in the existing mines with infrastructure using developed technologies.

3. Take the price control of the Rare Earth Elements by tariffs or other means until the local refineries optimize the refining processes and operating cost.

We do not want to send the concentrate to another country to do final refining.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-eyes-pentagon-ai-program-trade-blocks-minerals-pricing-sources-say-2026-02-24/

#US – #Indonesia deal threatens #China’s ‘entrenched position’ in #nickel market: analysts

Posted on February 24, 2026 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

China will accelerate investment in alternative nickel supply sources and strengthen its role across the metal’s wider supply chain, analysts said, after the United States finalised a deal with Indonesia recently that will give America unrestricted access to the country’s industrial commodities.

While the US Supreme Court’s tariff ruling could add some uncertainty to US-Indonesia trade, the agreement has the potential to reshape the global supply chain for nickel – a metal used to make stainless steel and some electric vehicle batteries.

“[The US-Indonesia deal] is quite important and China will not like it,” said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for the Asia-Pacific region at Natixis. “China does have leverage through its big stake in Indonesian nickel mines and could try to retaliate by slowing tech transfers or pulling back investment.”

Indonesia has emerged as a decisive player in the nickel market in recent years, accounting for more than 60 per cent of global mine supply for the metal, according to a Goldman Sachs article published last week.

Chinese investment has supported Indonesia’s expansion in nickel processing capacity, reinforcing the nation’s growing influence on the market, the article added.

The recent rally in global nickel prices – which saw the price of the base metal jump more than 30 per cent between mid-December and January – was largely driven by Indonesia’s decision to restrict how much ore could be mined, Goldman Sachs said.

#US Agencies Have Developed #CriticalMinerals Price Floor System

Posted on February 18, 2026 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

An image representing critical minerals with an upward growth graph, rocks, and battery cans, featuring flags of the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, and the EU in the background.

The US has developed a critical minerals price floor system that it’s pitching to allies as the Trump administration and more than 50 countries look to reduce dependence on China for the resources that are deemed critical to national security.

Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg said multiple US agencies have developed the system and are having conversations with allies and partners. It’s the latest update to progress being made by the US and its allies to ringfence Western companies from China’s pressure on those markets.

#Nickel giants #Philippines, #Indonesia form alliance to strengthen regional supply chain

Posted on February 15, 2026 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

Premier nickel industry bodies of the Philippines and Indonesia have entered into a partnership to formalize a regional supply chain corridor, aiming to cement Southeast Asia’s dominance in the global energy transition.

The Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) signed a partnership agreement with the Asosiasi Penambang Nikel Indonesia (APNI), otherwise known as the Indonesia Nickel Miners Association, to outline the shared direction of both countries’ nickel mining industries.

Under the agreement, the PNIA and APNI sought to promote the IndoPhil Nickel Corridor, a unified platform designed to elevate the global significance of Indonesian and Philippine nickel.

The corridor is envisioned to build investment confidence, encourage policy dialogue, and promote responsible mining, especially as mineral resources are becoming the central component to the global energy transition.

“The corridor signals that Philippine and Indonesian nickel is developed with clearer standards and accountability,” PNIA Executive Director Charmaine Olea-Capili.

By bringing together industry leadership from PNIA and APNI, Olea-Capili said the initiative demonstrates that both the Philippines and Indonesia are committed to building a supply chain that other countries can rely on.

The Philippines is the second-largest producer of nickel in the world, trailing Indonesia. Combined, the two countries are estimated to account for around 75 percent of the global supply of the mineral.

Nickel plays a critical role in supporting strategic sectors such as energy, mobility, and infrastructure, as well as the green and digital transitions.

#CNBC: #US plans #CriticalMineral price floors with #Mexico, #EU and #Japan

Posted on February 5, 2026 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

The United States is developing plans with Mexico, the European Union and Japan to implement minimum prices for critical minerals, the U.S. trade representative said Wednesday.

The Trump administration is exploring a partnership with Mexico on critical minerals as part of a scheduled review of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, or USMCA, by July 1.

The U.S. and Mexico will explore ways to implement price floors for critical mineral imports, and will discuss how to implement those minimum prices in agreements with other nations, an official in the trade representative’s office said.

The Trump administration has put critical minerals at the center of its trade and industrial policies in an effort to reduce dependence on China. Beijing dominates the global supply chain and tried to cut off exports of rare earths, a subset of the minerals that are used in everything from munitions to consumer electronics, during trade disputes with the U.S. last year.

#Forbes: #Canada Nears $3 Billion #Uranium Deal With #India, May Be Inked In March

Posted on February 1, 2026 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

Officials signing an agreement related to the NVICTORE-INOV8RS Research Fund, with flags of Canada and India in the foreground and a CANDU nuclear facility in the background.

Canada and India are tantalizingly close to a 10-year multibillion dollar uranium supply deal that will likely be signed at a heads of state meeting in March, according to sources from both sides at the recently concluded India Energy Week, held in Goa, India, last week.

Canada is the world’s second-largest producer of uranium, accounting for 13% to 15% of global output, according to the International Energy Agency, while India is the world’s third-largest consumer of energy.

Given its burgeoning economy, India is on a quest for secure uranium supplies as it expands its nuclear power footprint tenfold to 100 gigawatts by 2047, and both sides are looking to partner on that front.

#Tesla Fires Up #America’s First Major #Lithium Refinery

Posted on January 20, 2026 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

Tesla lithium refinery with American and Canadian flags, featuring industrial structures and lithium ore piles in the foreground.

The Tesla Lithium Refinery just outside of Corpus Christi, Texas, is another step toward the U.S. goal of having domestic refined lithium resources to counter China’s market dominance.

The refinery converts spodumene ore directly into battery-grade lithium hydroxide, in a first-of-its-kind process in North America.

Tesla uses a new technology platform that allows a cleaner, simpler, and cheaper process to obtain battery-grade lithium from the raw material, spodumene ore, says Jason Bevan, Site Manager for Tesla’s Gulf Coast Lithium Refinery.

The U.S. Administration is increasingly looking to have a direct equity involvement in America’s critical minerals supply chain, in the race to close the gap with China.

Direct Administration bets on lithium mining projects were a key theme in the sector last year.

For example, the Department of Energy (DOE) has agreed to provide a $2.26 billion loan to Vancouver-based Lithium Americas Corp. to help it complete a major lithium project in Humboldt County in northern Nevada.

Western #Canada holds potential to become a ‘critical minerals processing behemoth,’ expert says

Posted on June 26, 2025 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

A group of battery metal exploration companies and startups says it has a plan to turbocharge Canada’s critical minerals sector by building out “midstream” mineral processing facilities in Western Canada.

Two reports published by the Battery Metals Association of Canada, which hired analysts at the Transition Accelerator to consult with their members, identified nine critical minerals — copper, graphite, iron, nickel, lithium, phosphate, rare earths and vanadium — and five regions where they see big opportunities for major projects.

For example, British Columbia has at least four producing copper mines, which all ship their copper concentrate overseas, primarily to China, because there are no smelters in Western Canada. Building a copper smelter could encourage copper production and exploration while also creating higher-value products to sell, the reports said.

“If you wanted to put together a critical minerals processing behemoth anywhere in the world, the assets that we have in Alberta to do that are just phenomenal,” Bentley Allan, a professor of political economy at Johns Hopkins University and a principal at Transition Accelerator, said. “It has the chemical processing expertise, the clean power resources, other kinds of machining and precision instruments, which make Alberta a really incredible place to do this.”

#Nigeria to open two #Chinese-backed #Lithium processing plants this year

Posted on May 26, 2025 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng One comment

Note: Canada is a resource-rich country. Canada does not have to go to another continent for critical mineral. Canada needs investment and technology development (refining and recycling). Bring the investment to Canada.

LAGOS, May 26 (Reuters) – Nigeria is set to commission two major lithium processing plants this year, the country’s mining minister announced on Sunday, marking a shift from raw mineral exports towards adding value domestically.

The facilities, largely funded by Chinese investors, could help transform Nigeria’s vast mineral wealth into jobs, technology, and manufacturing growth within the country. Mining Minister Dele Alake said a $600 million lithium processing plant near the Kaduna-Niger border is slated for commissioning this quarter, while a $200 million lithium refinery on the outskirts of Abuja is nearing completion. Two additional processing plants are expected in Nasarawa state, which borders the capital Abuja, before the third quarter of 2025, the minister said. “We are now focused on turning our mineral wealth into domestic economic value – jobs, technology, and manufacturing,” Alake said. Over 80% of the funding for the four facilities has been provided by Chinese firms, including Jiuling Lithium Mining Company and Canmax Technologies, according to separate announcements by governors of the states where the plants are located.

Yes, Canada is considered a resource-rich country. It has abundant natural resources, including:

Energy Resources:
- Oil and Natural Gas: Canada has some of the largest reserves of oil in the world, particularly in the oil sands of Alberta. It is a major exporter of oil and natural gas, especially to the United States.
- Hydroelectric Power: Canada is a leader in hydroelectricity production, with large dams and water resources, especially in provinces like Quebec and British Columbia.
Minerals and Metals:
- Gold, Silver, and Platinum: Canada has significant reserves of precious metals, making it one of the largest producers of gold and other precious metals.
- Nickel, Copper, and Zinc: The country is a leading producer of these metals, which are essential for various industries, including manufacturing and electronics.
- Uranium: Canada is one of the world’s top producers of uranium, used in nuclear power generation.
Forests:
- Canada has vast forest resources, making it one of the largest producers of timber and paper products. The forest industry is especially important in provinces like British Columbia and Quebec.
Agricultural Resources:
- Canada is a major producer of wheat, canola, and other crops. It also has extensive livestock farming, including cattle and poultry.
Freshwater:
- Canada holds around 20% of the world’s freshwater supply, making it an important resource for both domestic use and potential global trade.

These resources contribute significantly to Canada’s economy, especially through exports, and help maintain its position as one of the world’s wealthiest nations in terms of natural wealth

Metals

Impact of #US Tariffs on #Canadian #Nickel Industry

Posted on December 12, 2024 by Nanthakumar Victor Emmanuel, P.Eng Leave a comment

Tariffs will disrupt the long-standing flow of nickel between Canada and the US

Canada is the single largest supplier of nickel metal to the US market, typically delivering between 35–40% of the United States’ annual primary nickel requirements over the past decade according to trade statistics and CRU’s Nickel Service. However, US President-Elect Donald Trump has announced potential 25% tariffs on Canadian imports, threatening to disrupt the flow of nickel across the border.

This will not only have a negative impact on the Canadian nickel industry, which is already struggling with high costs amid a global market in chronic surplus, but also on the US industry that needs a stable and secure source of high-purity nickel in a world that is increasingly dominated by China.

US market has no domestic nickel industry and is fully reliant on imports

In the US, nickel is largely used to make stainless steel followed by uses in foundry, alloying and plating applications – very little nickel is used domestically in battery applications. When it comes to stainless steel, the US has a mature scrap collection and distribution network meeting more than 80% of stainless-steel nickel requirement. The remainder needs to be secured by purchasing ferronickel or high-purity nickel. For all other applications, high-purity nickel is required.

The US has one operating nickel mine located in Michigan, owned by Lundin. This mine produces a concentrate that is exported, given the US has no domestic nickel smelters or refineries with the capability to process nickel-bearing concentrates. However, this mine is anticipated to exhaust its production by the end of 2025, leaving the US with no domestic nickel industry. As a result, the US will be completely reliant on imports to meet its primary nickel requirements.

Depending on the permanence of tariffs, US domestic nickel refining may become an attractive proposition and there is at least one company with plans to build a carbonyl nickel refinery producing high-purity nickel. However, the challenge this plant will have is sourcing intermediate feed.

Tariffs will push Canadian nickel to other markets

Although Canada is home to several large nickel producers, only one has the right surface assets and ore sources to be able to supply the US market from Canada. Vale produces high-purity nickel from its Sudbury and Long Harbor operations. However, its Canadian assets sit in the third and fourth quartile of CRU’s Net Cash Cost Excl. Royalties Industry Costs Curve.

Despite being positioned near the top of the cost curve, Vale’s operations appear to be able to turn a profit at YTD prices. However, when simulating for the impact of tariffs, Vale’s operations come under tremendous pressure.

Read more at: https://www.crugroup.com/en/communities/thought-leadership/2024/impact-of-us-tariffs-on-canadian-nickel-industry/