Post #67

🌍 Rare Earth, Real Stakes: What's In A Name of REE? [1/2] 🌏 On Thursday (October 9) China imposedadditional restrictions on the exports of rare earth elements (REEs) which provoked a new iteration of tariff hysteria on the part of the US. Amid these developments we've decided to speak about what's the situation with REEs in Africa. 🤓 As the reader may already know, Africa is rich in Cobalt, Manganese, Grahite, Lithium - so, these are not rare earths. The REAL REEs are Europium, Holmium and 15 more "-um" elements no one had ever heard of, since their formation in the Mesozoic and up to two or three years ago. 🎛The significance of REEs in our high-tech era has also become a household name: certainly, without them Chinese batteries would not battery, and American F-35 airfighters would not airfight. If this explanation seems insufficient, one may merely look and the degree of tensions that arise any time somebody (mostly the PRC) tries to limit exports of REEs. As regards Africa, the largest known deposits of this flesh and blood of high-tech are located in Tanzania, Angola and Kenya (see one of the pics). ❗️Surprisingly, the only known REEs producers are completely different: they are Madagascar and Nigeria, which is now the leading REEs exporter in Africa. ‼️What's even more surprising, before 2024 nobody had even had an idea of Nigeria's potential leadership in the sphere of REEs. And then the country started exporting some 7,000 tons of REEs oxydes literally out of the blue. 👇 The question of who, where and how extracts and produces Nigerian REEs still remains vague. Next week we are going to publish one of our most interesting articles, which will be devoted to this issue. Devils Below