North America
Morning Radar • Oct 25
What matters in mining today
Critical Minerals
US Seabed Mining: The Legal Battle Across Three Jurisdictions
Minerals & Metals
Yttrium at $1,150 a Kilogram: Japan’s Supply Crisis Is Now…
Market Intelligence
Brazil’s Supreme Court Suspends Volta Grande Installation Licence as Indigenous…
The
Assay
Sunday, 25 October 2026
How US Rare Earth Refiners Plan to Beat China’s Know-How
Read the AssayToday's big story: Washington is funding a range of homegrown separation technologies rather than copying Chinese methods. The bet is that innovation closes the gap faster than imitation. The United States does not know how to refine rare earths at scale. China does. That gap is not a matter of scientific ignorance. It is a matter of manufacturing…
Today at a glance
Critical Minerals
US Seabed Mining: The Legal Battle Across Three Jurisdictions
Minerals & Metals
Yttrium at $1,150 a Kilogram: Japan’s Supply Crisis Is Now a US Defense Problem
Market Intelligence
Brazil’s Supreme Court Suspends Volta Grande Installation Licence as Indigenous Settlement Awaits Approval
Digging Deeper
Skillings Video Intelligence
Latest uploads from @SkillingsDiggingDeeper
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The Hidden Link: America’s Yttrium Crisis
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The Scattershot Strategy: America’s Billion Dollar Rare Earth
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The Physics of a Monopoly
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The 134 Mine Equation {global lithium demand}
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The Implementation Gap: Why Mining Billions Take Years
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The Missing Link: America’s Magnet Supply Chain
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The Anatomy of Influence: Canada’s Critical Minerals Clampdown
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The Vault Paradox: Tracing America’s Chinese Copper
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The Critical Minerals War Mini Series — Episode 1
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The Global Hunt for the Mines That Could Challenge China - Episode 3
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CRITICAL MINERALS: THE NEW RESOURCE WAR: Mini Series: EPISODE 2
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The Risk Reward Calculus of Moscow's Mining Boom
2 weeks agoEditor’s choice
Featured analysis
Battery Metals
Lithium Demand Could Require 134 New Mines and $100 Billion by 2050
Global lithium demand will more than triple between now and 2050, requiring the equivalent of 134 new mines and more than $100 billion in investment before any contribution from recycling, according to a forecast…
By mo Editor • 22 October 2026
China Controls 90% of Battery Graphite: Why Your EV Depends on It
The battery in your electric car contains more graphite than any other material by weight. Here is what it is, how it…
21 October 2026
How the US Government Is Financing Its Critical Minerals Industry
The US government has spent the past eighteen months deploying capital into critical minerals at a pace and in a form that…
17 October 2026
Minerals & Metals Watch
More →
Minerals & Metals
US–Australia Critical Minerals Pact: 2 Projects Underway, Billions Still Pending
21 October 2026
Minerals & Metals
Canada’s New Investment Rules Put Critical Minerals Deals Under Tighter Scrutiny
19 October 2026
North America
US Holds Second Round of Undisclosed Talks With Myanmar’s Military-Backed Government on Heavy Rare Earths
17 October 2026
Minerals & Metals
The US Has 13.9 Billion Tonnes of Mine Tailings. Can They Become a Critical Minerals Resource?
15 October 2026
News
US-Australia Critical Minerals Deal Faces a Long Road to 2029
One year ago today, President Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a critical minerals framework at the White House. The agreement promised to build…
More Than a Dozen US Companies Explore Malaysia’s Rare Earth Sector
US Rare Earth Strategy: Can New Financing Rebuild the Supply Chain?
Who Can License Deep-Sea Mining? The US and the ISA Disagree
The United States is advancing its own licensing route for deep-sea minerals, while the International Seabed Authority maintains that mining in international…
USA Rare Earth Breaks Ground on $1.2B South Carolina Magnet Plant After Serra Verde Acquisition
Hardhat & pit intelligence
More → Operations, Equipment & Mining Technology
Severe Chile Winter Storms Halt Copper Output at Los Pelambres, Caserones
By Charles Pitts SANTIAGO : Severe winter storms and unyielding blizzards across Chile have paralyzed key copper operations in the high Andes,…
Silver Mountain Peru Restart Fully Funded a (1)
By Charles Pitts Silver Mountain Resources Inc. (TSX-V: AGMR) has confirmed that its Reliquias silver mine in central Peru remains on track…
Denison Mines Phoenix: for Canada’s first ISR mine
The nuclear renaissance has a massive problem: it is running out of fuel. While policy-makers spend their time debating reactor designs and…
Americas watch
Permitting, tariffs & sovereign partnershipsCritical Minerals
Canada Exploration Tax Reform Could Unlock C$1.6 Billion in Annual Spending, EY Estimates
An EY-Parthenon study estimates broader Canadian exploration tax eligibility could unlock up to C$1.6 billion in annual spending…
10 October 2026
Critical Minerals
Paladin Targets 150 Tonnes of Annual Rare Earth Recovery in Ohio
Standfirst: A US$5 million-plus expansion aims to scale secondary rare earth supply, with feedstock access, processing economics and…
10 October 2026
Critical Minerals
Project Vault: Aerospace Industry Warns US Critical Minerals Stockpile Could Push Prices Higher
The US government’s US$12 billion Project Vault aims to protect manufacturers from critical minerals shortages. But the aerospace…
9 October 2026
Critical Minerals
US Separates Zambia Health Pact From Critical Minerals Talks as Copper Negotiations Continue
Zambia and the United States have signed a five-year health-financing agreement worth $2.49 billion in combined commitments. Negotiations…
9 October 2026
Sustainable Mining & Energy Transition
ESG & decarbonisation →The US Wants to Mine the Ocean Floor. Can It Build a Domestic Refining Chain?
The United States wants to turn minerals on the Pacific seabed into a new source of critical materials. But bringing those resources…
Sigma Lithium mine halt: Quilombola ruling tests Brazil’s permitting floor
Grota do Cirilo has become a test of how Brazil balances critical-minerals development with community consultation and environmental safeguards. By Charles Pitts…
Brazil court upholds Indigenous mining framework in Cinta Larga lands
By Charles Pitts Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has upheld a provisional framework allowing the Cinta Larga Indigenous people to pursue mineral exploration…
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