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1) USA Rare Earth LLC said that the former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be joining the company as a strategic advisor. “USA Rare Earth’s supply is critically important to reduce foreign dependencies while creating additional American jobs,” Pompeo said. With Joe Biden's initiative to transition away from fossil fuels and clean energy, rare earth elements will play a critical role as they are used in many of the green technologies like EVs and wind turbines. China currently has a grip on the rare earth market with around 90% of the global market controlled, according to some reports. USA Rare Earth is currently developing a rare earth deposit in Texas called Round Top as it is trying to separate the reliance from a foreign power by the US. Currently, there is only one mine in the US producing rare earths, Mountain Pass, but it needs to ship the ore to China for refining.
2) General Motors has discussed taking a small stake in the Brazilian miner Vale new base metals unit. Vale is looking to spin off its "green" mineral assets, such as nickel and copper, away from its iron ore and coal business units. In December, Vale said that it would consider selling up to a 10% stake in their base metal business that could be worth up to $2 billion. The sale of Vale's metals base unit is in the early stages but has garnered interest from some of the world's biggest sovereign-wealth and pension fund, including the Middle East and North America. GM has recently announced that it invested into Thacker Pass, the biggest lithium resource in North America as it pushes to secure its mineral chain for its EVs.