Critical Minerals is a topic tracked in our intelligence system with 5 linked articles.
A Foreign Policy/IEEE Spectrum deep-dive arguing that monazite ore — despite its radioactive thorium burden — is the only credible path to breaking China's ~90% grip on rare-earth oxides and magnets, with detailed capital flows (Energy Fuels' $725M DoW loan, Iluka's AU$1.8B Eneabba refinery, the Trump administration's $277M USA Rare Earth stake) and a cautionary teardown of Canada's flailing SRC monazite plant.
Biomining startup Giraffe Bio has raised a $6.4M seed round to develop bespoke biomolecules that help miners extract more copper as AI data centers and EVs push demand toward a supply crunch.
Fast Metals plans to recover critical minerals by processing aluminum caustic waste, leveraging billions of tons of waste as feedstock.
The Pentagon signals willingness to work with industry as a new executive order requires firms to adjust their critical minerals supply by early 2027, raising feasibility concerns.
Ex-Meta CTO Mike Schroepfer’s Gigascale Capital raises a $250M climate-focused fund to back early-stage founders rebuilding the physical economy via energy, grid infra, and critical minerals.
Aluminum prices have risen about 20%, and recycling startups are using AI to improve recovery of aluminum and other critical minerals to unlock a larger supply.
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