U.S. Scientists Tap Seawater to Break China's Rare Earth Monopoly

Competition for critical minerals used in the energy, manufacturing, and tech sectors is heating up to be a major geopolitical flashpoint around the world. The supply chains for essential ingredients for clean energy manufacturing like lithium, cobalt, magnesium, and nickel, are dominated by China, creating a precarious concentration of global supplies. But the United States is hoping to even the playing field by sourcing certain critical minerals from seawater through the use of cutting-edge technology. Today, China supplies about 85-95 percent…