Tag Archives: sustainability

#UN calls for fair play in the global race for #CriticalMinerals

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United Nations Panel on Critical Mineral Sourcing featuring six panelists discussing critical minerals: graphite, nickel, cobalt, lithium, and rare earths, with minerals displayed on the table.

UN Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals

On Thursday, the UN Security Council convened to discuss the links between energy, critical minerals, and global security. The discussion highlighted ongoing UN efforts to ensure that the transition to clean energy is both fair and inclusive.

Despite current geopolitical tensions, the global shift from a fossil-fuel-based economy to one powered by clean electricity continues to move forward.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA)—an independent international body outside the UN system—demand for lithium increased by nearly 30 percent in 2024. Demand for nickel, cobalt, graphite, and rare earth elements also rose by roughly 6–8 percent. This rapid growth is largely driven by the expansion of electric vehicles, battery production, and renewable energy technologies, all of which rely heavily on critical minerals.

Across the UN system—from the Secretary-General to multiple agencies and partners—efforts are underway to guide responsible mineral extraction and use. Through policy guidance, global meetings, and research reports, the UN aims to ensure that the benefits of the clean energy transition are shared broadly and support a low-carbon global economy.

Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals

In April 2024, UN Secretary-General António Guterres established the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals to promote a transition that is just, equitable, and environmentally sustainable, while ensuring that countries and communities rich in these resources benefit fully.

Later that year, the panel published its first report, which Guterres described as a practical roadmap for achieving both prosperity and fairness alongside the growth of clean energy.

The report outlines strategies to ensure that the expansion of renewable energy is grounded in principles of justice and equity. It emphasizes sustainable development, respect for communities, environmental protection, and economic opportunities for developing countries with abundant mineral resources.

UN Guidance for Action on Critical Energy Transition Minerals

Released in June 2025, the UN’s guidance on critical energy transition minerals recommends policies to ensure that mineral extraction and use promote human rights, protect ecosystems, and support equitable development. The framework is built around three key principles:

Human rights at the centre. This includes conducting human rights due diligence, performing impact assessments, securing free, prior, and informed consent from affected communities, safeguarding civic space, and establishing effective grievance mechanisms.

Environmental protection and planetary integrity. The guidance calls for strong environmental and social impact assessments, biodiversity conservation, the designation of no-go zones, decarbonisation of mining activities, circular-economy approaches, and progressive mine-site restoration.

Justice and equity throughout the value chain. The framework stresses meaningful community participation, gender equality, the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples, and fair distribution of economic benefits.

A major development opportunity: UN trade agency

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) notes that surging demand for critical minerals is reshaping global economic and geopolitical dynamics. As a result, resource-rich developing countries are becoming increasingly central to emerging clean-energy supply chains.

UNCTAD describes the energy transition as a significant development opportunity for these countries. By shifting from exporting raw minerals to processing and adding value domestically, they can greatly increase their economic gains. For example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, local cobalt processing helped raise export value from $167 million to $6 billion in 2022.

Environmental concerns: UN environment agency

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warns that the rapid expansion of mineral production also carries serious environmental and social risks. UNEP calls for governance frameworks that cover the entire mineral value chain—not just mining sites—and for stronger international cooperation, transparent oversight, and collaboration among governments, industry, and communities.

Mining and mineral processing can lead to high greenhouse-gas emissions, biodiversity loss, pollution, and human rights violations, including impacts on Indigenous communities. In addition, supply shortages and tight markets can cause price volatility, heighten geopolitical tensions, and increase pressure to open mines in environmentally sensitive regions.

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

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North Americans and Europeans need reliable processes to refine both light and heavy rare earth metals.

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.

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.

Process Development:

“Two different rare earth elements may be fractions of an angstrom different in diameter — that means it’s very difficult to separate using physical means. The processes that are used right now … can be 100 steps,” Chrisey said, also noting that the procedure can be very expensive and environmentally hazardous due to the chemicals used to separate and purify the metals.

U.S. Begins Forging Rare Earth Supply Chain

Molycorp was struggling to stay solvent. Those new innovative technologies? They didn’t generate significant revenue or work as designed. By 2013, the company’s revenues were in free fall.

Molycorp’s most profitable assets being transferred to Chinese-linked Neo Materials, where he formerly served as CEO. Molycorp’s final remaining husk declared bankruptcy in 2014. Unsurprisingly, the majority of Neo Materials’ revenue-producing operations are now in China. To make matters worse, the Mountain Pass mine was purchased out of bankruptcy by a consortium that included a Chinese-owned firm.

Mountain Pass was now sending U.S.-mined rare earth concentrate to China for processing. The dream of a one-stop American rare earths solution was over, and the private sector had little appetite for reviving it.

Crucial innovation is also needed to break China’s stranglehold on the sector without sacrificing environmental quality, industry analysts said, with concerns over current processes’ toxic waste impeding projects.

The collapse of American rare earth mining — and lessons learned

Technical complexities, partnership strains and pollution concerns are hampering companies’ ability to wrest market share away from China, which according to the International Energy Agency controls 87% of global rare earths refining capacity.

Late last year, U.S.-based MP said it was commissioning refining equipment near its California mine as part of an intricate calibration process that has so far not succeeded, leaving the company reliant on China for refining and thus nearly all of its revenue. 

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/world-battles-loosen-chinas-grip-vital-rare-earths-clean-energy-transition-2023-08-02/

Rare Earth Reserve:

1.China – Rare earths reserves: 44 million metric tons

2. Brazil – Rare earths reserves: 21 million metric tons

3. India – Rare earths reserves: 6.9 million metric tons

4. Australia – Rare earths reserves: 5.7 million metric tons

5. Russia – Rare earths reserves: 3.8 million metric tons

6. Vietnam – Rare earths reserves: 3.5 million metric tons

7. United States – Rare earths reserves: 1.9 million metric tons

8. Greenland – Rare earths reserves: 1.5 million metric tons

https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/critical-metals-investing/rare-earth-investing/rare-earth-reserves-country/

The town of Mountain Pass, California, is home to the largest rare-earth element mine in the U.S. Its story began in the 1940s, when prospectors went searching for uranium.

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151085/mountain-pass-rare-earth-mine

 The U.S. contains potential sources for many of them, and powerful voices in politics and business insist that the country must exploit them. But despite skyrocketing demand for the energy-critical elements, would-be domestic producers just can’t compete with global forces. This then is a story of comprehensive failure — but not the obvious one. Molycorp’s impending demise reflects failure by politicians and the media to understand how weak China’s grip on the metals market really is, and failure by Wall Street to understand the most basic dynamics of supply and demand, and failure by Silicon Valley to distinguish between hype and hard numbers.

Why rare-earth mining in the West is a bust – High Country News

Price Control:

China’s refining expertise has allowed the country to engineer rare earths prices at different stages in the processing chains to its advantage, including low prices for finished products, to inhibit foreign competition.

Beijing for years has allowed imports of lightly processed rock known as rare earths concentrate for refining. The strategy helps ensure prices that incentivize other countries to dig new mines but not build processing plants.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/world-battles-loosen-chinas-grip-vital-rare-earths-clean-energy-transition-2023-08-02/

China plans to prohibit non-state companies from mining rare earths, further tightening its control over a strategic sector that has emerged as a battleground in its trade war with the US. The government said only large state-owned groups can mine, smelt or separate the minerals and proposed banning private firms from the activities, according to draft rules issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-19/china-to-tighten-grip-on-rare-earth-mining-for-non-state-firms