Rare earth minerals – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

June 5, 2026

When global trade becomes a weapon, how can African economies protect themselves?

Jonathan Munemo, Salisbury University

Africa needs to navigate the tension between interdependence, economic security, and economic diversification.

A worker stands on a roof of a Ukrainian power plant after a Russian missile attack in November 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

February 20, 2025

Ukraine’s natural resources are at centre stage in the ongoing war, and will likely remain there

Nino Antadze, University of Prince Edward Island

Ukraine’s mineral riches have always had strategic importance in the Russia-Ukraine war — first, to Russia, and now to the United States under President Donald Trump.

Background: Trump Jr’s plane lands at Nuuk, Greenland, this week. Evan Vucci (front), Emil Stach, Ritzau Scanpix (background)/AAP

January 8, 2025

Trump won’t rule out force to take Greenland – a country with a complex colonial history

Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Australian Catholic University

Donald Trump first flagged buying Greenland, whose colonial history spans centuries, during his first term. Yesterday, he said he wouldn’t rule out military force.

An aerial view of pools of brine that slowly evaporate, leaving behind lithium and other minerals, in the SQM mine in the San Pedro de Atacama desert, in northern Chile, on April 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

February 27, 2024

The importance of critical minerals should not condone their extraction at all costs

Elizabeth Steyn, University of Calgary

The temptation to justify critical minerals mining at all costs is a dangerous fallacy. The social and environmental impacts of poorly mined critical minerals are dire.

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