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
Latest upload
The Hidden Link: America’s Yttrium Crisis
2 days ago
The Scattershot Strategy: America’s Billion Dollar Rare Earth
2 days ago
The Physics of a Monopoly
3 days ago
The 134 Mine Equation {global lithium demand}
3 days ago
The Implementation Gap: Why Mining Billions Take Years
4 days ago
The Missing Link: America’s Magnet Supply Chain
4 days ago
The Anatomy of Influence: Canada’s Critical Minerals Clampdown
5 days ago
The Vault Paradox: Tracing America’s Chinese Copper
5 days ago
The Critical Minerals War Mini Series — Episode 1
1 week ago
The Global Hunt for the Mines That Could Challenge China - Episode 3
1 week ago
CRITICAL MINERALS: THE NEW RESOURCE WAR: Mini Series: EPISODE 2
1 week ago
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
Rare Earth
Ghana Pitches Australian Investors on a Post-Gold Critical Minerals Future
12 September 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…
China and New Zealand Hold Second EV Talks — No Deal, but the Bigger Story Is the Supply Chain
China Halts Rio Tinto Pilbara Blend Purchases in Contract Standoff
Energy Fuels Completes Australian Strategic Materials Acquisition to Build Mine-to-Magnet Chain
Rare-earth processing equipment representing the oxide-to-metal stage of an integrated supply chain. By Penny Langford Energy Fuels Inc. has completed its acquisition…
Queensland Critical Minerals Bill: What Changed and Impact on Miners
Hardhat & pit intelligence
More → Operations, Equipment & Mining Technology
Autonomous Mining Technology 2026: 1,500 Electric Trucks
By Charles Pitts Autonomous mining technology is moving from isolated pilot projects into routine production across surface and underground operations. In September,…
JL MAG Shows the Scale of China’s Rare Earth Magnet Manufacturing Advantage
JL MAG highlights the scale of China’s rare earth magnet manufacturing and the challenge of building alternative magnet supply chains outside China.
Underground Mining 2026: 22-Hour Shifts Rewrite Gold Costs
By Charles Pitts Vertex Minerals’ approval to operate its Reward gold mine underground for almost the full day has turned a permitting…
Australia watch
Permitting, tariffs & sovereign partnershipsArticles
Albemarle Launches $1.2B Lithium Hydroxide Expansion in Western Australia
By Mo Shine | Markets & Commodities Albemarle Corporation’s aggressive downstream integration strategy in Western Australia: highlighted by…
24 August 2026
Articles
Fortescue Hits First Hot Metal Milestone on Path to Australian Green Iron
An industrial electric smelting facility at Fortescue’s Christmas Creek operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. By Penny Langford…
23 August 2026
Articles
OceanaGold expands into Australia with $553M Ausgold acquisition
Western Australian gold development landscape with mining infrastructure and exploration activity. By Penny Langford Canadian gold and copper…
19 August 2026
Articles
BHP Commits US$900M to Develop Ministers North Iron Ore Project in Pilbara
By Penny Langford BHP has formally greenlit a US$900 million (100% basis) investment to develop the Ministers North…
17 July 2026
Sustainable Mining & Energy Transition
ESG & decarbonisation →The Uranium New Market: Why the Australia-India Fuel Deal is a Multibillion-Dollar Strategic Win
By Charles Pitts The global energy landscape shifted fundamentally this week as Australia and India finalized a long-awaited administrative arrangement, effectively activating…
The Green Energy Paradox: Australia’s
When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a US $13 billion rare-earths partnership in October, it was framed…
From Country to Continent: Australia-India Mining Trade
Australia’s First Nations-owned METS companies are leading a bold new front in the Australia India mining trade, signaling a shift from raw…
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