Finance
U.S. researchers visit Korean tungsten mine amid critical minerals race with China
Workers in July 2019 expand a mine in Germany intended to increase supplies of tungsten and fluorspar.
Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
BEIJING — U.S. government researchers recently visited a South Korean mine to assess progress towards boosting supply of a critical metal called tungsten from areas outside China, the mine operator said Wednesday.
The Sangdong Mine, owned by a subsidiary of Canada-based Almonty Industries, is set to resume operations this year. Tungsten is an extremely hard metal used for making weapons, semiconductors and industrial cutting machines.
With China dominating over 80% of the metal’s supply chain, Almonty claims the mine could potentially produce 50% of the rest of the world’s tungsten supply.
The U.S. has not commercially mined tungsten since 2015, according to the latest annual report from the U.S. Geological Survey, a government agency that analyzes the availability of natural resources.
Four mineral resource scholars visited the Sangdong Mine in a trip led by Sean Xun, assistant chief at the agency’s National Minerals Information Center, the report said.
The U.S. Geological Survey would make a “significant update” on its assessment of the mine in its 2025 report due out in the first three months of next year, it added.
The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside of U.S. business hours.
The Biden administration has identified critical minerals and announced tariffs on tungsten and others as part of a broader effort to bolster national security.
“Of the 35 mineral commodities deemed critical by the Department of the Interior, the United States was 100 percent reliant on foreign sources for 13 in 2019,” according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Almonty has said it’s spending at least $125 million to reopen the Sangdong Mine, which closed in the 1990s.
China, in the past year and a half, has started to use its leverage in parts of the global critical mineral supply chain to control exports.
Beijing has so far avoided any restrictions on tungsten. But forthcoming rules to limit exports of a similar metal called antimony have raised expectations that tungsten will soon be subject to more Chinese export restrictions.
“If Donald Trump wins the US presidency and follows through on his threat to dramatically hike tariffs on China, Beijing might respond with new export controls on critical minerals or deploy existing controls more forcefully,” Gabriel Wildau, managing director at consulting firm Teneo, said in a note Tuesday.
“Chinese regulators may also apply controls selectively, denying minerals to specific foreign companies that are viewed as supporting Washington’s technological containment agenda.”
He added that the U.S. Energy Department has already awarded $151 million in grants to encourage domestic mining and processing of critical minerals, and western nations are expected to respond to Beijing’s “calibrated weaponization of critical minerals by accelerating efforts to reduce dependence on China.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Monday said the U.S. government is inefficient and in need of work as the Trump administration terminates thousands of federal employees and works to dismantle agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Dimon was asked by CNBC’s Leslie Picker whether he supported efforts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. He declined to give what he called a “binary” response, but made comments that supported the overall effort.
“The government is inefficient, not very competent, and needs a lot of work,” Dimon told Picker. “It’s not just waste and fraud, its outcomes.”
The Trump administration’s effort to rein in spending and scrutinize federal agencies “needs to be done,” Dimon added.
“Why are we spending the money on these things? Are we getting what we deserve? What should we change?” Dimon said. “It’s not just about the deficit, its about building the right policies and procedures and the government we deserve.”
Dimon said if DOGE overreaches with its cost-cutting efforts or engages in activity that’s not legal, “the courts will stop it.”
“I’m hoping it’s quite successful,” he said.
In the wide-ranging interview, Dimon also addressed his company’s push to have most workers in office five days a week, as well as his views on the Ukraine conflict, tariffs and the U.S. consumer.
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