The Epoch Times by Nick Ciolino
The Biden administration has announced a domestic plan for processing and refining minerals that are critical to modern technologies. It comes as part of an effort to reduce the United States’ dependence on China, according to a White House release on Feb. 22.
The plan includes a $35 million award from the Department of Defense to MP Materials. Those funds will go toward upgrading the mining company’s California facility to separate and process rare earth minerals like cobalt and lithium. This comes with a pledge that the company will invest $700 million into the plan that will create 350 manufacturing jobs.
“China controls most of the global market of these minerals, and the fact that we can’t build a future that’s made in America if we ourselves are dependent on China for the materials that power the products of today and tomorrow,” President Joe Biden said at a virtual event Tuesday…
