Ernest Scheider
Appearances
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
My name is Ernest Scheider. I'm a journalist at Reuters where I write about critical minerals. I'm also the author of a book called The War Below, Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
Well, I think there's a realization by President Trump and those in his orbit that the United States produces relatively few of these critical minerals within its own borders. And that countries like China and others have large reserves and produce and process a lot of them.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
And so as our world becomes increasingly electrified, we're going to need a lot more of these critical minerals, not just in the United States, but globally. And so there's definitely a realization that we need to have more of these, not just for things like laptops and cell phones and electric vehicles.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
but also for key pieces of equipment used by the military, you know, fighter jets, submarines, laser guided missiles, et cetera. They're all made with critical minerals, some of them very niche and specific critical minerals. But the United States produces and processes very few of these today.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
So that's part of the reason why you're seeing the administration in Washington and especially President Trump make a big push for new, fresh supplies.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
So when we think, Noelle, about the periodic table of the elements and stay with me here, you don't don't fall asleep.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
There's a whole host of items on that periodic table of the elements. And so copper might be the one that people might know the most about. It's used in wiring, it's used in motors and many other electronics. Lithium is used in lithium ion batteries, as the name of course implies. But the lithium ion battery really started to take off in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
Record for up to 12 hours on one battery with a Sony Stem and a Handycam camcorder. For decades before that, it was used in things like greases or in pharmacologic. So its use has definitely mushroomed in recent decades. Nickel is used to make stainless steel, but its use in the lithium ion battery has become extremely important in that same timeframe as well.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
They're a group of 17 minor metals found on that periodic table of the elements, and they're used to make magnets that turn power into motion. So the thing that makes your cell phone vibrate is a magnet made from rare earths. So broadly, when we look at critical minerals, copper has been one of the most important for many, many, many years.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
But when we look at all these other assortments of these niche areas like lithium or cobalt or rare earths, They've just exploded in popularity because of this electrified transition that our entire global economy is going through right now.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
One of the things that I like to talk about is just think about all of the gadgets and gizmos in your house, Noelle, that are powered by lithium-ion batteries today that weren't even 20 or 30 years ago. So a great example is a leaf blower. Leaf blowers historically have been powered by two-stroke engines and that are just really bad for the environment.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
They emit this noxious plume of pollutants that contribute to climate change. And so many governments across the planet are actually outlawing them or phasing them out. Washington, D.C., for instance, has determined that they should be banned. The answer, many people say, is get a leaf blower powered by a lithium ion battery.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
And so you're starting to see these sprout up at home improvement stores across the United States and really the world. Here's the question that I have, though. Where do all the critical minerals used to make that electric leaf blower come from? Do we know that the copper is ethically sourced?
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
Do we know that the lithium was produced in a sustainable manner that honored ESG and environmental commitments? And what about the other critical minerals in there? And we don't know.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
As part of my book, I actually went down this rabbit hole of trying to figure out where do all the critical minerals come from in these leaf blowers and other household appliances now that are powered by lithium ion batteries. And I couldn't actually find an answer because tracking that supply chain was extremely difficult. So this is not just about electric vehicles.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
This is about all the devices that we use every single day that are increasingly powered by these lithium ion batteries. They're all built with critical minerals.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
Yes, yeah, exactly. So for many of these critical minerals, they're extracted the way that you would extract, say, gold or silver, sort of that you actually, you know, you have a big, you know, caterpillar or other piece of large earth-moving equipment that would take the rock out of the ground, and then you would process it in a series of chemical steps.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
That is the case for most of these critical minerals. Some have different methodologies, though, by ways that they are produced. Lithium, for instance, can be produced by basically filtering out lithium from brines or salty waters. And these are often found in places of South America, like in Chile or Bolivia or Argentina. But there's no way around it that broadly this involves mining.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
And mining is just not popular, depending on who you talk to. Mining is loud and it's intrusive and it can have an effect on the environment. But we have to have mining in order to have this electrified future. So there's a huge tension there.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
Yeah. So I see sort of two issues or two tension points here. Certainly, there's the geopolitical tension because we know right now that the United States produces relatively few amounts of these critical minerals. And China and its allies have spent the better part of the past 30 or 40 years cornering control of many of these critical mineral markets.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
And they've been very willing to use that control as economic leverage, as an economic weapon. There's also a battle here closer at home, Noel, because while we do have reserves of many of these critical minerals within our borders, we just generally don't like mining.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
People don't want a mine in their backyard, or they don't want a mine where they might have gone camping or fishing as a child and have strong memories there, or they just might have concerns about what mining might do to land in the long term. And so there's a big tension point there as well.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
And then I would add to that that there's also a tension point around where we want to actually process these materials, because once you take that rock out of the ground, you just can't put it into a battery. You then have to process it into a form that can be used to make a battery or other electronic device.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
So if people don't want to mine in their backyard, they definitely probably don't want a giant refining complex in their backyard as well. But that is an extremely important part of this supply chain here and has to be part of the conversation.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
Do you agree with that? Well, what I would say is that whoever controls the production and processing of these critical minerals will control the 21st century economy the way that control of petroleum defined the 20th century economy. I mean, I think it's that stark of an issue here for us to look at. And this is something that not just President Trump is focused on.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
You know, many folks across the aisle in Washington, D.C., Democrats, Republicans and independents are focused on this. You know, I think it's the one issue actually that unites people politically in Washington, D.C. right now.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
And it also was an area that President Biden, when he was in office, focused on.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
And I'm not saying that oil or natural gas will be phased out completely. I don't think that's a realistic assumption. But we do know that our economy, not just in the United States, but the economies of other nations across the world, are expanding to include more and more of these critical minerals. And there's going to be a fight for supply on the global stage.
Today, Explained
The minerals that rule our world
And so the United States can either produce more of its own domestically or go out to global markets and try to tap deposits there. And this is something that is very, very, very, very much a focus for folks across the Washington establishment, not just President Trump.