The Lyceum: Critical Minerals Weekly — Aug 05, 2026

Washington claimed strategic authority over mineral-rich scrap, Energy Fuels began building heavy rare-earth separation capacity, and Canada advanced projects at both the mine and battery-component ends of the chain. That is tangible progress—but incomplete progress. Permits, construction starts and public money matter, yet none guarantees qualified output at commercial scale.

• Recoverable Critical Minerals and Materials DPA Delegation (The White House): President Donald Trump delegated Defense Production Act authority to the US Department of Commerce on July 30, enabling future controls on exports of recoverable minerals in used batteries, permanent magnets and manufacturing scrap.
• White Mesa Heavy Rare Earth Expansion (Energy Fuels): Energy Fuels announced on July 29 that construction had begun on commercial-scale circuits for separating heavy rare earths at its White Mesa Mill in Utah.
• Crawford Nickel Project Federal Decision Statement (Impact Assessment Agency of Canada): Canada issued a positive federal decision statement on July 31 for Canada Nickel Company’s proposed Crawford nickel-cobalt project in Ontario.

America’s next strategic ore body may be sitting in a retired electric vehicle or on a factory floor.

On July 30, President Donald Trump delegated Defense Production Act authority to the US Department of Commerce to control exports of recoverable critical minerals contained in used batteries, permanent magnets, manufacturing scrap and finished goods. The White House says copper scrap is excluded because it is handled separately.

The distinction matters: this is not yet an export ban. It is the legal machinery for one.

If the Commerce Department uses that authority, American recyclers could gain more reliable access to battery “black mass”—shredded battery material containing lithium, graphite and other metals—and rare-earth magnet scrap. Processors in Canada, Europe and Asia could lose feedstock they currently purchase from the United States. Circular supply chains would become another arena for trade policy. (Canada Approved a Giant Nickel Mine—Not a Nickel Supply Chain)

Failure would be quieter. If the Commerce Department never identifies covered product codes, destinations or licensing rules, the delegation remains strategic posture rather than an operating constraint. The tell will be a published control list with an effective date.

Most Western rare-earth plans end with the same awkward sentence: the concentrate will be sent somewhere else for separation. Energy Fuels is trying to delete it. (Energy Fuels starts construction of commercial‑scale heavy rare earth plant in U)

The company announced July 29 that it had begun construction on a US$104 million expansion of its operating White Mesa Mill in Utah. Energy Fuels says the first phase is designed to produce as much as 120 tonnes of dysprosium oxide and 20 tonnes of terbium oxide annually by the end of 2027, with samarium, europium and gadolinium circuits planned for 2028.

Dysprosium and terbium help permanent magnets retain strength at high temperatures, making them important for defense systems, electric motors and other demanding applications. China dominates their separation, a step more technically difficult than mining rare-earth-bearing rock.

White Mesa has an advantage over many proposals: Energy Fuels is expanding an operating mill that already has a neodymium-praseodymium separation circuit. If the new equipment consistently achieves customer-required purity and recovery rates, US magnet producers gain a domestic source of two especially difficult inputs. (Energy Fuels starts construction of commercial‑scale heavy rare earth plant in U)

Failure would look like construction without qualification: a plant that can make material, but not material customers will accept. Watch for independently specified product purity, sustained output and named buyers—not merely mechanical completion.

Phoenix Tailings’ New Hampshire refinery is operating. But the gap between operating and useful is measured in orders of magnitude.

The Associated Press reported that Phoenix Tailings currently has annual samarium capacity of roughly 200 kilograms, compared with estimated US defense demand of 50 to 100 tonnes. Phoenix Tailings told the Associated Press it expects to reach approximately five tonnes within three months and is targeting 120 tonnes in 2027 or 2028. The Associated Press also reported that the US Department of Defense is supporting the expansion with a $500 million loan.

Samarium-cobalt magnets tolerate high temperatures and harsh conditions, making them valuable in missiles, radar and aerospace systems. Qualification is slow. Replacing them is not as simple as choosing a cheaper line item.

If Phoenix Tailings reaches continuous production at the promised scale, the United States gains more than samarium metal: it gains evidence that mining waste and recycled magnets can support a domestic rare-earth refinery. Arnold Magnetic Technologies is also sourcing samarium from Solvay’s restarted separation operation in La Rochelle, France, giving defense manufacturers an allied bridge while US capacity develops.

The failure signal is straightforward. If Phoenix Tailings misses its five-tonne ramp—or produces intermittent batches rather than stable, specification-grade output—the refinery remains a demonstration with industrial ambitions.

Canada has approved a giant nickel mine. It has not yet built a nickel supply chain.

Canada’s federal government issued a positive decision statement on July 31 for Canada Nickel Company’s Crawford nickel-cobalt project north of Timmins, Ontario. The proposed open-pit mine and mill would operate for roughly 41 years; the Canadian government says it could attract C$5 billion in investment and create thousands of jobs. (Canada Approved a Giant Nickel Mine—Not a Nickel Supply Chain)

That makes Crawford one of North America’s more consequential prospective alternatives to Indonesian nickel. But the federal decision does not build the mine, and the proposed mill would make concentrate—not the battery-grade nickel sulphate used by cathode manufacturers. (Canada Approved a Giant Nickel Mine—Not a Nickel Supply Chain)

If Crawford secures engineering approvals, remaining permits and project finance, Canada gains a large domestic source of nickel and cobalt. If associated refining capacity follows, North American battery manufacturers gain something rarer: a supply chain that does not stop at the mine gate. (Canada Approved a Giant Nickel Mine—Not a Nickel Supply Chain)

Failure would look like a familiar Canadian outcome—a permitted deposit waiting for capital while downstream plants look elsewhere for feedstock. The decisive signals are project debt, a construction decision and binding refinery arrangements ahead of Canada Nickel Company’s targeted 2027 construction decision. (Canada Approved a Giant Nickel Mine—Not a Nickel Supply Chain)

Copper gets attention in mines, power grids and charging cables. Volta Energy Solutions Canada is focused on the thinner, less glamorous layer inside every lithium-ion cell.

Canada announced July 30 that it would provide up to C$70 million to Volta Energy Solutions Canada, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Solus Advanced Materials. Volta plans to convert an acquired facility in Granby, Quebec, into a battery copper-foil plant as part of a C$760.9 million project. (Canada Is Paying to Put Copper Inside the Battery, Not Just Under the Ground)

Copper foil is the extremely thin sheet that collects current from a battery’s anode. Volta plans to produce 25,000 tonnes annually beginning in 2027 and eventually scale to 63,000 tonnes, according to the Canadian government. (Canada Is Paying to Put Copper Inside the Battery, Not Just Under the Ground)

If the plant opens with qualified customers, Canada will have turned refined copper into a specialized battery component rather than exporting another interchangeable metal product. That creates local demand for high-purity copper and gives North American cell manufacturers a regional source of a component now concentrated in Asia.

Failure would look like public funding marooned between an acquired building and an underfinanced expansion. Watch for the balance of project financing, equipment installation and named customer contracts before the 2027 production target. (Canada Is Paying to Put Copper Inside the Battery, Not Just Under the Ground)

Washington is putting a customs fence around dead batteries. Utah is teaching an old uranium mill to make terbium. New Hampshire is trying to turn a jar of samarium into a defense supply chain. (Canada Is Paying to Put Copper Inside the Battery, Not Just Under the Ground)

Meanwhile, the deep seabed has finished accepting comments—more administrative progress than several mines managed this week. (Canada Is Paying to Put Copper Inside the Battery, Not Just Under the Ground)

Keep watching the bottlenecks.

Forward this to the person who still thinks finding the ore is the hard part.