The sharp rise in demand for lithium is outpacing the growth of an independent US supply chain, Ian Rodger, chief executive officer of lithium development company US Elemental, told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Wednesday June 3.

An interview with Assistant Secretary, Michael Cadenazzi at the Department of War, as it is known, and Zach Boykin, the department's technical director for strategic and critical minerals with Andrea Hotter for the Fast Forward podcast.

Critical minerals have long sat quietly in the background of industrial supply chains. Today, they are at the centre of national security strategy. Fastmarkets’ Andrea Hotter speaks to senior officials from the US Department of Defense in the lastest Fast Forward podcast episode.

The recent appreciation of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar is rippling through Asia’s ferrosilicon market, squeezing Chinese export margins, lifting regional prices and shifting currency risks downstream to buyers.

The US company EVelution Energy outlined its plans to produce 3,000 tonnes per year of cobalt metal in the United States from Congolese hydroxide, speaking with Fastmarkets on Wednesday May 13 on the sidelines of the Cobalt Congress that took place in Madrid, Spain (May 12-13).

South32 said on April 30 that first production from its 4.3-million-tonne-per-year Taylor zinc-lead-silver project in Arizona has been delayed to the first half of the 2028 calendar year.

On Wednesday May 6, a critical minerals panel at Commodities Trading Week in London said metals markets are shifting from an energy transition-led narrative toward security of supply, leaving Europe particularly exposed because of its reliance on imports.

A new US-backed structure is attempting to turn critical minerals inventory from a cost burden into a strategic asset. Project Vault combines pooled demand, private governance and capped-return financing to create a shared supply buffer—and potentially the first steps toward price discovery in fragmented markets.

Fastmarkets has launched three new critical minerals prices on Friday May 1 to improve transparency in the US market. The additional prices are: MB-BI-0004 – Bismuth 99.99%, ddp US, $/lbMB-IN-0005 – Indium 99.99%, ddp US, $/kgMB-GA-0003 – Gallium 99.99%, ddp US $/kg The launch of the bismuth and indium price assessments follow a consultation period […]

Capital is flowing back into junior mining, but selectively. Investment is increasingly favouring development‑stage assets with clearer paths to production, supported by government funding and strategic partnerships. While demand for critical minerals underpins the cycle, early‑stage explorers continue to struggle for capital as investors prioritise discipline, ESG alignment and near‑term cash flow.