NewsDialy
The Trump administration has thrown its support behind plans to build a scandium mine in Australia, with backing from the U.S.
Scandium is a rare metallic element designated as a critical mineral, a policy label that signals a material is both essential to defense and industrial supply chains and dangerously dependent on a narrow group of producers.
China holds that dominant position today. Shares of the Australian miner involved climbed sharply on the news. What critical minerals actually means Critical mineral is a government classification, not a scientific one.
When Washington applies the label, it means officials have determined that an economy cannot function without a material and that existing supply is too concentrated in rival hands to be comfortable.
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