For years, the United States and China have fought a war over technology, trade and capital markets. Tensions between the world's major economies reached a feverish peak during the term of former President Trump, leading to escalating tariffs and trade restrictions.

Demand for platinum is set to total 7.9Moz in 2021, resulting in a market deficit of 60,000oz.

As the transition to clean energy gains momentum, the United States faces the dilemma that it is almost completely subordinate to China in terms of the rare minerals it uses to build clean energy systems.

In the latest round of feuding between the world’s leading economies, China has vowed to retaliate after the United States ordered its consulate in Houston shut within 72 hours. Although the latest move by Washington is being viewed as an attempt by President Trump’s campaign strategists to deflect attention for his failure to deal decisively with the Covid-19 pandemic, it could quickly escalate into another ugly tit-for-tat trade war. As trade and political tensions between Washington and Beijing flare up, the specter of China using rare earth minerals as a ‘nuclear option’ has once again resurfaced.

The transition to electric vehicles and renewable sources of electricity, now gaining serious momentum, is largely about dispensing with fossil fuels. But in order to end our reliance on those substances, we need a growing supply of other materials—things like lithium and rare earth elements. Unlike fossil fuels, however, these materials need not be consumed when we put them to use. In principle, devices can be recycled at end of life to return these precious materials to a closed loop that could eventually minimize the need for mining.

To go big, sometimes you have to start small.

One of the most important mining operations in the world is just an hour's drive from Las Vegas.