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By Jeff Mason and Ernest Scheyder
WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday plans to tout progress by government and private industry to boost American production of minerals used to make electric vehicles, cell phones, weaponry and a range of
related electronics, the White House said.
Washington has grown increasingly concerned website that low U.S.
production of minerals essential for the construction of future technologies
could leave it beholden to China and other nations that have heavily invested in mining.
That has sparked a range of attempts by Biden, as well as his predecessors, to boost U.S.
output of these strategic minerals while balancing opposition to mining from environmental and indigenous groups.
"Critical minerals provide the building blocks for many modern technologies and are essential to our national security and economic prosperity," the White House said in a statement.
Biden will announce the U.S.
Defense Department has awarded MP Materials Inc $35 million to process rare earths,
which are used to make magnets found in consumer
goods and weapons, the White House said.
The Pentagon has already awarded website roughly $10 million to
MP, which controls the only U.S.
rare earths mine but depends on China website for
processing.
Las Vegas-based MP Materials will announce it will invest $700 million in its own funds
and create more than 350 jobs by 2024, the White
House said.
MP Materials declined to comment ahead of
the White House announcement.
The company's chief executive, Jim Litinsky, is set to participate virtually.
MP has said it aims to begin processing rare earths in California by the end of the year.
Additionally, Berkshire Hathaway Energy Renewables will announce it
plans to break ground this spring on a California facility to test sustainable ways to produce lithium from geothermal
brines website
That announcement, the White House said, would be part of a multibillion dollar investment in sustainable lithium production over the next five years.
Biden will also announce that the Pentagon plans to boost its stockpile of strategic
minerals, a development that Reuters reported last week website
Biden, who is navigating the U.S.
response to Russian aggression website against Ukraine, is slated to hold a virtual event
with industry and labor leaders, as well as California Governor Gavin Newsom, to discuss the issue.
Even as he works to boost U.S. minerals production, the president has blocked several
proposed U.S.
mines.
Last month, the Biden administration blocked a proposed
Minnesota copper mine website from Antofagasta Plc. It has also taken steps
to slow down development of a lithium mine in Nevada website from ioneer Ltd and a
copper mine in Arizona website from Rio Tinto Ltd.
Biden himself has said little about why his administration has blocked some
mines while touting the need to boost domestic production of critical minerals.
Other announcements at the event include one
from Redwood Materials Inc, which the White House said would discuss a pilot
project website with Ford Motor Co and Volvo to collect and recycle end-of-life
lithium-ion batteries in Nevada to extract lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm also will tout a $140 million pilot project to recover rare earth
elements and other minerals from coal ash, with funding from Biden's
recently passed infrastructure law website
The White House will tout an agreement between Talon Metals Corp and the United
Steelworkers to train workers in northern Minnesota near
Talon's Tamarack nickel project.
Talon signed a nickel supply deal website with
Tesla Inc last month.
Talon has also agreed to remain neutral in any union organizing effort,
the White House said. Biden has been a large supporter of
organized labor throughout his presidency.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington and Ernest Scheyder in Houston; Editing by Robert
Birsel)
My website: http://www.codecademy.com/profiles/darrenmostyn |
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