The stakes for critical minerals just got a whole lot higher.
Late last week, US president Donald Trump and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau announced they plan to develop a plan for US/Canada collaboration on critical minerals. According to a White House statement, Trump and Trudeau "instructed officials to develop a joint action plan on critical minerals collaboration."
The US has unveiled its strategy in an effort to rebuild struggling domestic supply chains for metals and minerals that are "critical” to the country's manufacturing and defense sectors. It has listed 35 mineral commodities deemed critical.
So, what exactly is a critical mineral?
The list is long, so we've highlighted a few key ones: cobalt, graphite, lithium, manganese, rare earths, scandium, tellurium, uranium and vanadium.
In short, it's a work in progress. It was only last year that the U.S. decided on what exactly constitutes a “critical” mineral.
A strategy released by the Department of Commerce earlier this month, titled A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals includes 61 recommendations, ranging from revamping mine permitting rules to stimulating recycling activities to forging alliances with friendly suppliers such as Canada and Australia.
READ: Global Energy Metals expands claim footprint in Nevada as it's poised to advance battery metals project
For a company like Global Energy Metals Corp (CVE:GEMC) (OTCMKTS:GBLEF) the news is welcome, as it expands its footprint in Nevada where it has optioned the Lovelock cobalt mine and nearby Treasure Box project.
The firm is focused on battery metals, notably cobalt, as it builds out its promising portfolio of projects in key jurisdictions: the Lovelock cobalt mine and Treasure Box projects are located around 150 km east of the Tesla Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. The explorer has now staked 18 claims, which adjoin the 70 pre-existing ones in Churchill County.
The news in regards to critical minerals collaboration is welcomed.
Fast-tracking critical metals projects
"Collaboration between the US and Canada will help move projects forward and we’ve seen a lot of interest in the assets," says CEO Mitchell Smith in an interview. "The real problem is how to get these assets properly funded, and how do you get the capital markets invested?"
"There needs to be more grants put in place on the critical metals side and there needs to be regulation put in place to fast-track some of these critical metals projects in place with platforms in place -- that would help," he says.
WATCH: Global Energy Metals sign deal to use Canada Cobalt Works technology in Nevada
Smith is not alone in his thinking. And the desire for urgency has been boosted -- quickly.
China has nimbly gained control of the metals at the heart of the electric vehicle transportation industry.The country's surging control of metals at the heart of the electric transport revolution, such as lithium and cobalt, are a stark reminder in the potential battle.
Simply put: the US has fallen behind, as it looks to pivot its global supply chain away from China and Russia.
READ: Energy Fuels welcomes US Department of Commerce report on uranium imports and awaits President Trump's response
Other players in the space that are focused on the US include Energy Fuels Inc (TSE:EFR) (NYSEMKT:UUUU), which has said it is pleased the US Department of Commerce is looking into the effects of uranium imports on US national security.
Headquartered in Colorado, Energy Fuels is a fully-integrated producer of both uranium and vanadium, and owner of the only operational conventional uranium mining in the US.
In April, the firm submitted the section 232 report to the White House into the effects of uranium imports on US national security. The White House has 90 days to respond. According to the firm, Russia and its allies are flooding the global market with artificially cheap uranium.
"Uranium imports, increasingly from state-owned enterprises in adversarial countries like Russia and its allies, created a stark national security crisis. More than 60 percent of newly mined uranium around the world now comes from state-owned enterprises that unfriendly nations control," noted the company in a release. "The once robust American uranium mining industry is disappearing because a flood of state-subsidized imports has made fair competition impossible."
WATCH: Energy Fuels excited to see uranium imports report is now on the President's desk
Global Energy Metals is tapping into something many others are hunting for: a secure source of cobalt in a safe-mining jursidction.
The facts are tough: around 70% of cobalt is sourced from the politically unstable Democratic Republic of Congo.
"We want to secure a supply of cobalt assets and battery assets in safe-mining jurisdictions," says Smith. "We need to recognize that 70% of cobalt is from the DRC and we want to look at that regional supply, break out of it and offer projects in other locations. We're building projects in Australia, Nevada -- that's our core focus," he adds. "Our projects are at different stages and that's purposeful."
Smith adds the demand for electric vehicles appears to continue to grow.
"The electrification of vehicles are growing, and at at a higher rate than most have expected," he says. "Because of that, there are longer term demands of supply to meet that demand. Cobalt is one, but there are others, and there are a lot of supply constraints on it."
Ciritical minerals list
Aluminum (bauxite), antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, cesium, chromium, cobalt, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite (natural), hafnium, helium, indium, lithium, magnesium, manganese, niobium, platinum group metals, potash, the rare earth elements group, rhenium, rubidium, scandium, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, and zirconium.
Contact Katie Lewis at katie@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter @kelewis