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illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece in Forbes or enjoy below
🗞️ Driving the news: Despite overcoming rigorous environmental regulations, activist lawsuits, and extensive permitting procedures, the biggest prospective U.S. cobalt mine had to halt operations due to a collapse in commodity prices
• This event transpires amid China's supremacy in the supply chains for essential energy minerals, including cobalt and rare earth elements, pivotal for the energy transition
🔭 The context: The U.S. is contending with inflated labor expenses, Wall Street's indifference, and sluggish allocation of subsidies and tax breaks designed to support such projects
• Similarly, the Tanbreez project in Greenland, potentially the globe's largest known rare earth resource, faces funding challenges despite its crucial importance to the renewable energy industry
🌎 Why does it matter for the planet: Developing and maintaining secure and affordable supplies of these energy minerals is vital for the "energy transition" to renewable energy
• The reluctance to back projects like Tanbreez can hamper these efforts
⏭️ What's next: While the U.S. government has expressed commitment to onshoring supplies and supply chains for critical energy minerals, bureaucratic delays have held up progress
• Meanwhile, Tanbreez is restarting fundraising efforts, with the CEO expressing hope for funding from risk-taking investors, such as independent oil and gas executives
💬 One quote: "This mine is one that could basically drive civilization over the next 20, 30, 50 years," (Christopher Messina, CEO of Tanbreez)
📈 One stat: The Tanbreez project's total estimated recoverable resource of 28.2 Mt surpasses the combined resource in the #4 through #8 mines on the list of top 10 rare earth mining projects in the world, as ranked by Mining.com
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