Countries Form New NATO-Like 'Mineral Security' Alliance to Ensure EV Supplies (yahoo.com) 53
"A metallic NATO is starting to take shape," writes the senior metals columnist at Reuters, "though no-one is calling it that just yet."
The Minerals Security Partnership is in theory open to all countries that are committed to "responsible critical mineral supply chains to support economic prosperity and climate objectives". But the coalition assembled by the United States is one of like-minded countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany with an Asian axis in the form of Japan and South Korea. [Also the European Commission, as well as Finland and Sweden.]
It is defined as much as anything by who is not on the invite list — China and Russia.
China's dominance of key enabling minerals such as lithium and rare earths is the single biggest reason why Western countries are looking to build their own supply chains. Russia, a major producer of nickel, aluminium and platinum group metals, is now also a highly problematic trading partner as its war in Ukraine that the Kremlin calls a "special military operation" grinds on. A previously highly globalised minerals supply network looks set to split into politically polarised spheres of influence, a tectonic realignment with far-reaching implications. The United States and Europe have realised that they can't build out purely domestic supply chains quickly enough to meet demand from the electric vehicle transition....
The process was already well underway before the U.S. State Department announced the formation of the Minerals Security Partnership on June 14. U.S. and Canadian officials have been working closely as Canada fleshes out a promised C$3.8 billion ($3.02 billion) package to boost production of lithium, copper and other strategic minerals. European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic has just been in Norway to seal "a strategic partnership" on battery technologies and critical raw materials.
The article points out America's Department of Defense is already investing $120 million in a new plant for heavy rare earths separation — and has chosen an Australian company as its partner.
Shortly thereafter the Defense Department noted an online disinformation campaign against its new partner (according to U.S.-based cybersecurity firm Mandiant), disinformation which Reuters describes as "a pro-China propaganda campaign" using fake social media accounts to try to stir up opposition.
It is defined as much as anything by who is not on the invite list — China and Russia.
China's dominance of key enabling minerals such as lithium and rare earths is the single biggest reason why Western countries are looking to build their own supply chains. Russia, a major producer of nickel, aluminium and platinum group metals, is now also a highly problematic trading partner as its war in Ukraine that the Kremlin calls a "special military operation" grinds on. A previously highly globalised minerals supply network looks set to split into politically polarised spheres of influence, a tectonic realignment with far-reaching implications. The United States and Europe have realised that they can't build out purely domestic supply chains quickly enough to meet demand from the electric vehicle transition....
The process was already well underway before the U.S. State Department announced the formation of the Minerals Security Partnership on June 14. U.S. and Canadian officials have been working closely as Canada fleshes out a promised C$3.8 billion ($3.02 billion) package to boost production of lithium, copper and other strategic minerals. European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic has just been in Norway to seal "a strategic partnership" on battery technologies and critical raw materials.
The article points out America's Department of Defense is already investing $120 million in a new plant for heavy rare earths separation — and has chosen an Australian company as its partner.
Shortly thereafter the Defense Department noted an online disinformation campaign against its new partner (according to U.S.-based cybersecurity firm Mandiant), disinformation which Reuters describes as "a pro-China propaganda campaign" using fake social media accounts to try to stir up opposition.
Good (Score:1)
We've got to get those African children back to work in the mines.
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Africa was conspicuously not on the list.
Because nobody asked their opinion. They'll either go along or we'll sent the Belgians in to straighten things out.</sarcasm>
Re: Good (Score:2)
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Who said the African children would be mining in Africa?
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Japan and South Korea make about half the EV batteries. LG pouch cells are used by Jaguar, Audi, Porsche, Ford, and GM. Next-generation battery technologies are being developed by U.S. companies such as Ionic Materials, QuantumScape, Sila Nanotechnologies, Sion Power, and Sionic Energy.
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Re: Good (Score:2)
OG TriLat (Score:2)
How is this "NATO-like" in any way? (Score:3)
Are they committing to defending each other's mines?
If anything, this is more like the EEA or NAFTA.
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Nah just looks like someone with an awareness of History and the current structure of power in the west.
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"The liberal democracies are finally resisting! QUICK, CALL THEM FASCISTS!"
Re: How is this "NATO-like" in any way? (Score:2)
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Well, for the tiktok educated crowd, being shallow is a way of life. NATO, WHO, WWF, ABCD are all the same, some organisations out there that do stuff, right?
Ironic at all? (Score:2, Flamebait)
"But the coalition assembled by the United States is one of like-minded countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany with an Asian axis in the form of Japan and South Korea".
So the Golden Billion are grasping desperately for minerals to maintain their God-given right to own everything and kill anyone who demurs.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
So the Golden Billion are grasping desperately for minerals to maintain their God-given right to own everything and kill anyone who demurs.
It's like Sergey Kara-Murza is now posting on Slashdot!
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KKKomrade !!
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anonymous coward = sock puppet?
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Yep, the Western Oligarchs are forming an alliance to ensure that resources they need to continue to enrich themselves will remain under their control.
I love that the media have spread the word Oligarch far and wide in their propagandising against Russia - it's now a term the average person can recognise when we can point them to the western ones and their activities.
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As are, for instance, Russian democracy and Western oligarch. Russian democracy, while limited, works well. Western oligarchs are richer, more powerful, and far more numerous than Russian oligarchs.
This + battery passports = control (Score:3)
This plus battery passports, means control is coming.
Predictions: Some fire from a bad battery kills a family or something sensational. We revoke battery passports since that is now a thing being discussed. Now we can properly guide consumers to the right (American friendly) battery makers who are now free to raise prices because battert passports stop competition.
Then we can all make sure to get costs per mile back up to gasoline levels once we baited and siwtched everyone over to Electric. Grids will fail and raise prices to households to cover expansion that was only needed for EVs. To keep house electric costs down a special metered service just for charging EVs will come out. Using that cheaper electricity for any other purpose will be considered evasion of taxes like using dyed oils were for diesels.
End result, same cost per mile as gas, movement controlled better by just blacking out the grid around protests, foreign batteries or anything undercutting expensive ones banned by battery passports, and super expensive household electric that fails more often from EV load.
lose lose lose.
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That is utter nonsense.
Re: This + battery passports = control (Score:1)
Even worse, youâ(TM)d need the demand of 10 years of the current global market just to electrify a small country like the Netherlands. Not just lithium, but cobalt and other heavy metals are also in very short supply. You could get electric vehicles, if they run on hydrogen and you convert with pure electricity (no catalyzers) from nuclear power.
NATO like (Score:3)
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Economic policy has implications as deep as military policy. Russia needs foreign money.
pointless (Score:3, Insightful)
Despite propaganda in the west designed to make us feel "sanctions are working" and "Russia is now a Pariah" the truth is most the world doesn't care if Russia is in a war in Europe. Most than half the human race is in Asia, and Russia is building out business there. Even U.S. trading partners like India laugh at the idea they shouldn't have started buying a million barrels a day from Russia, their PM said Europe is still buying 2 million a day because they have need, we have need too.
Russia is already rebounding from the sanctions, building new business relationships for goods and for selling food minerals and fuel, and in ironic twist the sanctions mean they're selling at double the price for a lot of that.
Sanctions won't stop Russia, some really advanced weapons used in Ukraine would stop Russia. Biden is too cowardly to give such.
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uh huh, tell me how this is bad, Biden. Maybe you should just walk, don't bike, and go get some ice cream.
https://www.reuters.com/busine... [reuters.com]
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"most the world doesn't care if Russia is in a war in Europe", you know this how?
Multiple industries in Russia are crippled now that Western companies have withdrawn and the supply of semiconductors and replacement parts is halted. Urals crude is trading at a steep discount. That's why India is buying it.
"The EU intends to stop buying supplies of Russian crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year. It has already decided to implement a full ban on Russian coal"
NATO-like (Score:1)
Tell me you know nothing about NATO without saying you know nothing about NATO
OPEC-like, you mean (Score:3)
Although without Chile and Bolivia in the club it won't be very effective at controlling lithium supplies.
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please stop just throwing words around (Score:3)
"NATO" is not synonymous with "club" nor "organization".
NATO is a collective security military organization specifically designed to ensure equipment, doctrine, and standards consistency across its membership, the better to repel a specific hostile state and its allies.
Full stop.
That it has self justifyingly spread its role to occasional humanitarian tasks or used its memberships connections to accomplish other goals speaks to mission creep, that's all.
A group of countries collectively working to ensure the reliability of supply isn't even vaguely a NATO analogue. Nor is it a bicycle, stalagmite, or fruit bat. Words have meanings.
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"Words have meanings."
The last time I heard this phrase it was from some autistic asshole on a defense discord. Sorry, chum, but "the Western alliance" as a concept transcends the legal definition of NATO and "NATO" is the de-facto reference for such given its pivotal role as the defining contract of the western alliance during the Cold War, of which this current issue is but an extension of.
As someone who pissed away their college education on learning ~words~ and the meaning of them - please stuff this pe
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Well I guess you're being quite a bicycle right now, so you can shove it up your kayak.
Loosen up the mining regulations (Score:2)
Rare earth elements, as many like to point out, are not actually rare. The exist in considerable abundance actually. A problem for mining these minerals in the USA is that rare earth elements tend to be in ores that are high in thorium and uranium, and there's a lot of rules in place if anyone digs up thorium and uranium. The law considers naturally occurring thorium a "weapon grade" material. It clearly is not. If it were then why are we not seeing nations like North Korea mining for thorium to make w
Re: Loosen up the mining regulations (Score:1)
Mining those metals is also very toxic. Things like the Erin Brokovich story are happening all over China and Africa today because of our demand for these toxic metals. You canâ(TM)t avoid that, sure the EPA regulations are set unreasonably high, but no American worker would want to work in those mines and no company would want to pay out the damages, which places like China donâ(TM)t have to do.