In the News
Over the past few years, the US has engaged in a trade war with this country over rare earth elements and other materials. Name the country.
China
The Spruce Pine mining district in North Carolina is crucial to the manufacturing of silicon. What common but high-purity mineral is found and mined in Spruce Pine?
Quartz
This California mine (revived in the 2010s) is one of the most famous rare earth mining sites outside China. Name it.
Mountain Pass
Where is most of the world’s cobalt mined?
Democratic Republic of Congo
Which of these is not a critical mineral? Lithium, cobalt, vibranium, nickel
Vibranium
A proposed lithium mine in what country was granted Strategic Project status by the European Union but was recently put on care and maintenance status due to a lack of public support?
Serbia
This rare earth element is a key ingredient in high-strength permanent magnets used in EV motors and wind turbines.
Neodymium
Long before modern "critical lists," these two metals were alloyed to create the era-defining material used to arm the Greeks during the Trojan War.
Copper and Tin
What country is considered to have the world’s largest lithium reserves?
Bolivia
In South America, three lithium-producing countries (Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile) are collectively referred to as…
The Lithium Triangle
This 2022 U.S. law reshaped EV tax credits and pushed automakers to source battery materials and critical minerals from the U.S. or partners.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
Prior to focusing on Neodymium and Praseodymium, Mountain Pass helped to produce this critical mineral that was once used to make the red tint in color televisions
Europium
In 1992, while visiting Baotou, Inner Mongolia, Deng Xiaoping famously said: "The Middle East has oil, China has _________"
Rare earths
What country is the world’s top lithium producer?
Australia
DAILY DOUBLE! What country boasts the largest copper reserves?
Chile
This Idaho project, which ceased operations in 1997, received a 2025 green light to produce gold, silver, and antimony.
Stibnite Gold Project
Efforts to mine this critical mineral in Portugal have sparked widespread community opposition
Lithium
In what year did China ban rare earths exports to Japan over a fishing trawler dispute, sparking panic and an eventual World Trade Organization case?
2010
What country in Southeast Asia is a significant (global top 5) producer of rare earth elements?
Burma
In rare earth processing, an acidic “crack” is often used to break down monazite to release REEs. What radioactive element is a common byproduct concern in monazite and can complicate permitting and waste handling?
Thorium
Recent U.S. news coverage has focused on speeding up permits for critical mineral projects under this long-standing environmental review law, often abbreviated with four letters.
NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act)
DAILY DOUBLE! The International Energy Agency has a list of six key energy transition minerals: copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, rare earth elements, and _______
Graphite
The molar mass (isotopic composition) of lithium in commercially available lithium chemicals was altered from the natural value in the 1950s through the 1980s. This was due to the preferential removal of lithium-6 for what purpose?
Nuclear weapons, atomic weapons, thermonuclear weapons, hydrogen bombs, etc.
What autonomous territory has significant (global top 10) reserves of rare earths?
Greenland
Per the USGS, this rare-earth element has the largest probability-weighted net decrease in U.S. GDP, about $4.5B, in the agency’s disruption scenarios
Samarium