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1) BHP Group said that the London Metal Exchange's (LME) nickel contract is long overdue for a reform, as it does not represent the physical market. Last year there was a tremendous surge in the price of nickel, to around $100,000/ton, prompting LME to suspend trade for more than a week. Since then, the volume has decreased and has reinforced the problem for the exchange. "Reform of the LME's metal delivery rules is long overdue. The LME short squeeze episode highlighted vulnerabilities that had been building for years," Huw McKay, the Vice President of Market Analysis & Economics at BHP. Nickel is a major component of stainless steel but will be a critical mineral when it comes to batteries.
2) US Critical Materials Corp. announced that it has recovered rare earth samples that have the highest grades than any other domestic rare earth resource. The samples came from 125 ft. underground at its flagship Sheep Creek property in Southwest Montana and contains over 10% of total rare earth oxides, including high levels of neodymium and praseodymium. According to the Salt-Lake City, Utah-based company, the claims at Sheep Creek contain 12 of the essential critical minerals needed for electrification, as the US needs to establish a domestic source. The project is located in Ravalli County, and the company holds 223 lode claims on 4,700 acres. The President of US Critical Minerals, Jim Hedrick, said that the pre-resource-stage deposit is valued at a "conservative" $43 billion. “Over the course of my career independently evaluating rare earth properties within the US, I have never encountered a property with the grades being generated by Sheep Creek,” Mr. Hedrick said.