Tag: natural resources

Why The U.S. Faces Chinese Dominance For Critical Energy Minerals

More than three years ago, in May 2021, I wrote a piece here detailing the importance of a relatively obscure mineral, antimony, to the ultimate success of alternative energy sources like wind and solar and electric vehicles, and thus to the progress of the energy transition itself.

Even more pressing is the fact that antimony is critical to the needs of major weapon systems used by the U.S. military. The piece also discussed the urgent need for policymakers to find ways to speed up the permitting processes for mining of this and an array of other critical energy minerals if the United States were to avoid becoming almost wholly dependent on China for its future energy needs.

The story was focused on the struggles of Perpetua Resources, a mining company that had at the time struggled for over a decade to obtain the needed local, state, and federal permits to mine a long-known major resource of antimony at the Stibnite mine in Idaho. Stibnite is a long-ago abandoned gold mining operation that Perpetua says it could quickly place into antimony production once all the needed permits are secured.

Since that time, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and fellow sponsors have tried to move federal permitting reform bills in both 2022, and again this year. The 2022 bill failed in the face of bipartisan opposition, and this year’s effort currently seems doomed to the same fate. It must seem to Sen. Manchin that no one in Washington, D.C., other than himself and a handful of fellow members of congress, is serious about getting anything real done on this pressing issue that is essential to the entire energy transition effort.

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China’s Restrictions on Antimony Exports Could Cripple US Military-Industrial Complex: Here’s Why

China has slapped export controls on antimony metals, ores and oxides effective September 15. Companies seeking to export these materials will have to apply for export licenses for dual-use products. That’s bad news for resource import-dependent American arms manufacturers.

In its explanation of last Thursday’s decision to introduce export controls on antimony, China’s Commerce Ministry said the measure was not aimed against any country, but at assuring China’s national security and fulfilling the PRC’s “non-proliferation obligations.” But with China accounting for nearly half of global antimony ore production in 2023, and the US a top buyer, it’s not hard to discern who the restrictions may hit the hardest.

The US International Trade Commission considers antimony “critical to economic and national security – similar to rare earth elements, plus cobalt and uranium.” US business media have described it as “the most important mineral you never heard of.”

That’s because in addition to a long list of civilian uses ranging from flame retardants, lead-acid batteries, and plastics, to ceramics, consumer electronics and safety clothing, antimony has a dizzying array of military applications, from armor-piercing bullets and tracer ammo to night vision goggles, laser sights, communications equipment and even components in nuclear weapons.

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How Saudi Arabia went from pariah to patron

Perhaps we should be grateful that it took President Biden over four years to fully abandon his campaign pledge to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia, eroding the promise bit by bit before finally announcing at the end of the day on Friday, August 9, that the administration would resume sales of offensive air-to-ground munitions to the Kingdom.

In reality, the ban was merely the last vestige of a long-abandoned policy to isolate and sanction Saudi Arabia for its various, gruesome atrocities and abuses both at home and abroad. In its place, the Biden administration’s courtiers doubled down on their embrace of Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS), offering up a never-ending basket of concessions and goodies, as the golden ticket for continued U.S. primacy in the Middle East, come what may to everyone and everything else.

What follows will be their rush to the finish line, bestowing on the prince the biggest prize of all — an unprecedented U.S. security guarantee — before the clock runs out on Joe Biden’s presidency.

Cutting off the biggest U.S. weapons purchaser in the world carried well-understood costs of its own, upsetting not only U.S. defense companies deprived of the Saudi cash cow, but also encouraging MBS to retaliate by flaunting closer ties with China and Russia. And so just a few months into the first year of the Biden administration, his national security team walked back the arms embargo, clarifying that they only intended to block “offensive” weapons, not “defensive” ones.

Queries from members of Congress about the distinction between these terms went unanswered. Soon, billions in weapons were flowing, paving the way for a further mending of relations with the Saudi ruler, culminating in the now infamous July 2022 Biden/MBS “fist bump” in Jeddah.

Once the Biden team announced that it too would follow Trump’s lead to make adding Saudi Arabia to the Abraham Accords its number one Middle East foreign policy priority, any lingering concerns about rewarding the Kingdom with new military support despite its widespread horrors in Yemen and at home, or fueling its further belligerence in the region, were swept under the desert sands.

Coupled with national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s open admission of his secondary priorities — cheap oil and keeping China out of the region — the only answer to MBS’s “jump” was to ask “how high?” MBS turned to a hardball game of reverse leverage, not only refusing to open his oil spigot to relieve global oil prices ahead of the 2022 November primaries despite Biden’s pleas, but prominently hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping in a multiday red carpet affair, announcing China would build a civilian nuclear plant and support missile development in the country, and refusing to sanction Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

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US looks to crack down on Iran’s booming oil industry

Washington is considering measures to further crack down on Iranian oil exports, Politico reported on 13 August. 

“Sanctions evasion is very costly – paying middlemen, laundering money, and so on. We assess that the Iranian regime receives only a fraction of the revenue from its oil sales as a result,” an unnamed State Department spokesman told the outlet. 

However, new efforts to put pressure on Iranian oil revenues are being reviewed. “As Iran continues to escalate tensions in the region, we will work with partners to further pressure Iran and reduce their oil exports.”

Iranian oil exports hit a six-year high earlier this year, reaching an average of 1.56 million barrels of oil per day throughout the first quarter. 

Despite harsh western sanctions, Iran’s crude oil exports have surged by 30 percent in the last quarter, and its fossil fuel shipments reached a five-year high, according to data from the Kpler analytics firm. 

Reuters reported earlier in August that shipments of Iranian oil have been reaching new customers, including Oman and Bangladesh. 

The US has imposed harsh sanctions on Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, particularly on trade and energy. These sanctions are linked to a spike in illegal smuggling in the Persian Gulf. 

In recent years, Washington has illegally plundered several shipments of Iranian oil, framing the seizures as sanctions-enforcement operations. 

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US troops return to oil-rich Kirkuk despite talks to withdraw from Iraq

Troops from the US-led international coalition have returned to the K-1 military base in the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk for the first time since 2020, The New Arab (TNA) reported on 6 August.

An informed Kurdish source told TNA, “The force, comprising about 40 soldiers and 10 to 15 US-made armored Hummer vehicles, was sent from Erbil and deployed at the K-1 military base.”

The US-led coalition did not respond to requests for comment.

The reason for the new US deployment of troops to Kirkuk after four years is unclear.

The source suggested that it may be a response to increased ISIS activities in the disputed province, which leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) have long wished to annex to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (IKR).

Another source, also speaking on condition of secrecy, told TNA that ISIS has recently resumed its insurgency in and around the Diyala province in eastern Iraq.

The Iraqi armed forces have increased security along the country’s western border with Syria following the release of hundreds of ISIS fighters from prison camps controlled by the US-backed and Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

In mid-July, authorities from the SDF-controlled Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) issued a general amnesty that has so far secured the release of over 1,500 Syrian ISIS fighters convicted of terrorism-related offenses, provided they “did not participate directly in combat” against the SDF.

Informed Iraqi sources speaking with The Cradle stated the US military ordered the release of the ISIS prisoners.

The US-backed SDF holds thousands of ISIS fighters and their family members in around two dozen prison camps in occupied northeast Syria. These include 2,000 foreigners whose home countries have refused to repatriate them.

The deployment of US and coalition troops to Kirkuk follows the Iraqi government’s signing on 1 August of a deal with UK oil giant BP to develop oil and gas fields in Kirkuk. 

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Global Instability and the Rise of the “Great Resource Grab”

In the past three years China has accelerated export agreements and industrial operations in Africa, becoming the continent’s largest bilateral trade partner. Given Africa’s complete lack of development and GDP, the Asian rush to cement economic ties might seem strange. However, I would argue that China is adapting to events that haven’t quite happened yet.

I’m referring to a major global shift away from interdependent markets (i.e. traditional globalism) into a chaotic period of trade “protectionism”. I’m talking about the end of the current model of export-based nations supplying goods to the west in exchange for advantageous trade deficits and access to dollars. This will be the era of what I call the “Great Resource Grab.”

I believe China is positioning itself for this era, perhaps out of desperation due to the disastrous economic decline they are currently trying to hide from the rest of the world, or maybe the CCP has been given a warning from globalist interests (China’s government has been exceedingly supportive of the IMF’s one-world digital currency push, and it makes sense that globalists would give them vital information on future disasters in exchange).

Why Africa? Because of the lack of modern development, Africa is a vast land mass loaded with untapped natural resources. China is importing billions in raw materials including vital metals from Africa and they are trying to establish infrastructure to increase the extraction of these commodities. If you’re familiar with China’s rotting domestic conditions, then you understand what is happening here – China has hollowed out their own country and they must spread into other regions to survive.

To be sure, Africa is not the only place in which the Chinese are quietly setting up camp. There are diplomatic agreements with Russia that have given them access to farm land in the north, and the Chinese have even been buying up farmland in the US (nearly 400,000 acres according to official reports). In America, anyone that questions this trend is immediately accused of “conspiracy theory” and I would argue this tells us A LOT about what is really happening.

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“NATO’s LIES ON MEDITERRANEAN WARS FOR GAS”. Exclusive Interview to Former Interpol EU Officer

Never before have the words that master Geppetto, a psychoanalyst ante litteram, addressed to his puppet been so timely. Lies that have effects on the mind, on the body, on relationships with others, on relationships between states.

How many conflicts – Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq – began thanks to artfully packaged lies, conflicts that continue even today with the sole purpose of plundering the energy resources of countries that have them in abundance and which Europe, but not only, desperately needs, with the complicity of the energy lobbies.

A Review of Lies Illustrated by Former Interpol Official in Jordan

The proof of these lies is found in the book “Mediterraneo. Same blood, same mud”, written by Antonio Evangelista and illustrated to Gospa News in an exclusive interview

“ is a bit of a review of the lies that have been told about the conflicts in the Balkans, in Libya, in Syria, lies that have now been verified with official sources, interviews with American officials, UN and embassy documents or secret documents that have now been declassified, like the Canadian ones, where we read a different story compared to what was the narrative of the time.”

This is according to author Antonio Evangelista , a former police director, who also served in the United Nations international police, and in Interpol as attaché at the Italian embassy in Amman, Jordan, dealing with war crimes, terrorism and Balkan mafia.

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US Senator Says Ukraine Is ‘Gold Mine’ with $12 Trillion of Minerals ‘We Can’t Afford to Lose’

Aprominent US lawmaker has referred to Ukraine as a “gold mine”, insisting the West must maintain access to its estimated $12 trillion worth of critical minerals.

US Senator Lindsey Graham made these comments in a June 10 interview on the CBS program “Face the Nation”.

“They’re sitting on $10 to $12 trillion of critical minerals in Ukraine”, Graham said.

“They could be the richest country in all of Europe. I don’t want to give that money and those assets to Putin to share with China”, he added.

Graham, a Republican, recalled that, when Donald Trump was president, he sent Ukraine military aid in the form of loans.

The senator strongly implied that Ukraine should pay the West for weapons shipments with its large mineral reserves.

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Lindsey Graham on the Real Reason Behind Ukraine

What happened to the story that “Putin attacked Ukraine unprovoked, and Ukraine was just defending itself, etc”? Now, suddenly, the problem is the natural resources in Donbas, not Ukraine itself. The first victim in war is always the truth. These people have NEVER told the truth about any war EVER!!!!!!

I have stated before that there is a huge natural gas reserve under Crimea. All the Neocons are doing is constantly trying to conquer Russia and bankrupt it so they can invade, and it has been the same scenario constantly. Obama wanted to invade Syria, and Putin came to their aid. This was all about a pipeline they wanted to put through Syria to cut off Russian energy sales to Europe. The Neocons orchestrated the blowing up of Nord Stream. That undermined Germany and Europe – but as Victoria Nuland famously said, “Fuck the EU.”

The question of Palestinian reserves was confirmed back in 2019. I covered the gas reserves in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights in 2017 involving Genie Oil. Obama wanted to invade Syria all for pipelines. What the press reports never connects the dots. Obama was pushing for a pipeline through Syria to stop Russia from supplying energy to Europe. This has been a war against Russia for decades.

The Neocons after blowing up Nord Stream, promised to pay for a pipeline from Nigeria to Europe. When the Niger coup took place, that is why Victoria Nuland was on a plane to Niger. US taxpayers fund the Neocon dreams of war. We blow up Nord Stream and then pay for a pipeline from Nigeria.  The deal with Nigeria was that they had to be the first Digital Currency guinea pig, and the US taxpayer would fund a pipeline from them to Europe to cut off energy sales from Russia.

Now, Lindsey Graham has come out and admitted that the “resources” under Crimea are worth $10 to $12 trillion, and this is again to stop Russia from gaining that natural gas.

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New York Stock Exchange Abandons Plan To Control America’s Natural Resources

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Jan. 17 withdrew its proposal to establish and list Natural Asset Companies (NAC), which would pool investors’ money from around the world to buy controlling rights to public and private land throughout the United States.

The NACs would, according to filing documents, manage the lands solely for the purpose of “sustainability.” Critics of the plan charged that wealthy investors and foreign entities would be able to use these vehicles to make decisions to allow or block the public from accessing the publicly owned land that is designated for uses such as hunting, fishing, drilling, mining, hiking, and logging. 

While some conservation groups and global warming activists had supported the initiative as a way to protect natural resources, many land-rights activists applauded its demise and questioned whether wealthy investors would be better stewards of America’s land. 

“Today’s withdrawal is a major victory for Americans,” Margaret Byfield, executive director of American Stewards of Liberty, a land-rights organization, told The Epoch Times.

“Very few people understand how close we were to losing control of our property and natural resources through this diabolical NAC scam.” 

The creation of NACs was the initiative of an organization called the Intrinsic Exchange Group (IEG), which was created with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and other unnamed investors. IEG entered into a partnership with the NYSE, where the NYSE bought a stake in IEG.

The two organizations collaborated to set up NACs, which would have been financed and traded on the exchange, while licensing IEG’s proprietary software for valuation and reporting according to guidelines based in the U.N. environmental accounting standards. Because this was a nonstandard type of company, which wouldn’t earn profits for investors in the way that other companies do, nor would it use GAAP accounting to value its assets, the NYSE applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to grant an exception to its existing rules of operation. 

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