China dominates the rare earth industry, accounting for approximately 60 percent of rare earth metal mining and approximately 90 percent of rare earth metal processing in 2023. In order to combat this near-monopoly and to...more
This is the first article in Womble Bond Dickinson’s Energy & Natural Resources thought leadership series titled Striking the Balance: Permitting Reforms for Mining and the Energy Transition. In this series, we’ll explore the...more
Financial Institutions Add Bitcoin ETFs, Crypto Product Integrations Continue - According to recent reports, two major U.S. financial institutions have begun offering spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to their...more
El Gobierno Nacional de Colombia modificó mediante el Decreto 0242 de 2024 las tarifas de retención y autorretención aplicables a las empresas del sector minero y de hidrocarburos. Estas modificaciones fueron realizadas con...more
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. government has deployed a whole-of-government approach to impose sanctions and tighter export controls on Russia. This alert summarizes key economic sanctions imposed by...more
Unlike other jurisdictions, such as the US and Angola, the UK does not have a single mining / mineral code or legislative framework. Instead, different laws and regulations apply according to the mineral type and the nature...more
Holland & Knight's Venezuela Focus Team invites you to read our Venezuela Update, in which we discuss the latest news, trends and developments in Venezuela that impact the interests of businesses across all industry sectors. ...more
Digital assets are not the only coins drawing regulatory scrutiny these days. Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it filed a complaint against California-based Red Rock Secured...more
To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal and state events that have influenced the Consumer Finance Services industry over the past week...more
In litigation news . . . For the third consecutive month, Tesla finds itself involved in a new patent infringement lawsuit, this latest time as a defendant in an action filed by Graphite Charging Company LLC on August 4,...more
The Australian Government recently released its Critical Minerals Strategy 2023–2030 (CM Strategy). BACKGROUND - Australia holds some of the world’s largest repositories of cobalt, lithium and vanadium — elements critical...more
In recent years, the government contracts space has seen an increased scrutiny of procurements from certain countries, especially the People's Republic of China. A prominent example is Section 889 of the National Defense...more
Critical raw materials, such as rare earths, lithium and cobalt, are essential to the energy transition and to modern and green technologies. As States compete to secure these materials, there is an increasing importance to...more
In recent months, the critical minerals sector has been at the top of government legislative and regulatory agendas and has been subject to substantial media attention. "Critical minerals" is a generic term that refers to a...more
The Japanese parliament has enacted the first comprehensive economic security legislation to enhance Japan's national security from an economic activities perspective, especially focusing on sensitive industry sectors such as...more
Critical minerals, which include rare earth minerals, are generally defined as minerals that are important to supply chains, but difficult to mine and ship due to scarcity, geopolitical issues, trade policy, or a combination...more
Legislation Introduced In The Context Of Significant Federal Attention To Vulnerable Supply Chains, Including Critical Minerals And Materials - On January 14, 2022, Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ)...more
PGMs are helping Southern African mining remain relevant and contributing to a global clean and green transition - "Among the rarest metals on earth, PGMs are well known for their catalytic properties." Platinum...more
On September 24, 2021, the Department of Commerce announced that its Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is investigating whether imports of neodymium-ironboron (NdFeB) permanent magnets, or rare earth magnets, undermine...more
A Series on Innovation and Space During this next installment of the Innovations in Space series, our team provides an overview of space mining and the extraction of natural resources in outer space. Space mining and the...more
In 2019, the US imposed sanctions against China in reaction to “serious human rights abuse against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang...” The sanctions followed reports of mass arbitrary detention and severe physical abuse, among...more
President Biden issued an “Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains” (the “EO”) on February 24, 2021, ordering 100-day and 1-year reviews of certain critical supply chains. The initial 100-day review aims to assess risks...more
On September 22, 2020, the CFTC along with 30 state securities regulators filed a historic joint enforcement action against two precious metals dealers and their companies for perpetrating a $185 million scheme to defraud...more
Mining companies entered 2020 in good financial shape and have continued to secure finance despite disruption from COVID-19 - The mining industry has navigated the past nine months in better shape than most sectors, even...more