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West Can’t Let Russia, China Dominate Vital Minerals – JWN

Western nations must not allow production of critical minerals and metals to be concentrated in countries “that can’t be trusted,” Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said


A Canadian minister warned that the West cannot allow China and Russia to dominate production of critical minerals.
Global demand for rare earths is rising given their use in electric vehicles and many other modern commodities. Sina-AFP image of a mine in rare earths mine in China.

 

Western nations must not allow production of critical minerals and metals – such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and copper – to be concentrated in countries “that can’t be trusted,” Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson was quoted as saying this week, according to a report by The Canadian Press, published by JWN.

Wilkinson said demand for critical minerals was exploding because of their use in smartphones, laptops, wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles, and it was important not to be dependent on countries “that do not always share our perspectives on global affairs,” adding that China and Russia were “the number 1 and number 2 producers and processors of many of these minerals.”

Read the full report: JWN.

 

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Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard is an Australian journalist based in Thailand since 1999. He worked for News Ltd papers in Sydney, Perth, London and Melbourne before travelling through SE Asia in the late 90s. He was a senior editor at The Nation for 17+ years.