7 Comments

Good observations, although I think the green energy transition is already dying. Real energy transitions happen when a new source is cheaper or more convenient. This government mandated, subsidy ridden nonsense is neither.

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USA has plenty of these minerals as well, but our environmental rules make them prohibitively expensive to exploit.

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Thacker Pass, Nevada.

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But environmentalist here feel so GREEN when they drive an EV, regardless of the massive destruction occurring elsewhere.

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My understanding is that much of the talk about minerals in Ukraine concerns resources, i.e., we think we know what stuff is there, rather than reserves, i.e., we know exactly what minerals are present and can be extracted profitably.

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Excellent Matthew. This is one for those who still think the Ukraine conflict is an honourable pursuit for the West!

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Maybe. I can believe it is an additional factor but not the main one. OTOH, even if we do not have a green energy transition, advanced electronics will still use a lot a rare earths.

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