The White House has tapped a former mining executive to head an office at the National Security Council focused on strengthening supply chains, three sources said, as a pared-down NSC zeroes in on a few of President Donald Trump's most oft-stated priorities…David Copley, who was chosen earlier in the year to serve as the top mining official at the U.S. National Energy Dominance Council, or NEDC, an interagency body chaired by the interior secretary, is now a senior director at the NSC, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss non-public personnel moves…The shift in roles reflects the White House ramping up its efforts to gain ground against China in a critical minerals arms race that touches a broad swath of global industries…China recently demonstrated its leverage by withholding exports of rare earth magnets, upending global markets and forcing U.S. officials back to the negotiating table, before reversing course…But Trump's focus on obtaining critical minerals like cobalt and nickel has never waned, and China's near-total control of the critical minerals industry has long rankled the president.

In a damning new report, researchers reveal how China came to control over 80% of the critical raw battery materials needed for defense technology — posing an urgent national security threat…Through lax permitting processes, weak environmental standards, and aggressive state-led interventions, China has come to dominate global supplies of graphite, cobalt, manganese, and the battery anode and cathode materials that power advanced defense systems…"Batteries will be one of the bullets of future wars," the report’s authors warn, citing their essential role in drones, handheld radios, autonomous submersibles, and emerging capabilities like lasers and directed energy weapons…According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has weaponized global battery infrastructure through a combination of state subsidies, forced intellectual property transfers, and predatory pricing practices…Over the past two decades, at least 26 state-backed banks have pumped roughly $57 billion into mining and processing projects in Africa, Latin America, and beyond…Through its Belt and Road Initiative, China has leveraged influence in resource-rich developing nations, securing control over massive critical mineral deposits…Moreover, Beijing has begun weaponizing export controls…These measures curb exports via a licensing regime and broad bans on exports to the U.S., signaling a clear geopolitical leverage too, according to the report…Cobalt alloys are used in jet engines, naval turbines, electronics connectors, and sensors capable of withstanding extreme temperatures, vibration, and radiation-making…Chinese subsidies "dwarf" those available to U.S. firms, and include tax exemptions, direct manufacturing grants, and ultra-low-interest loans, the report said…But to become globally competitive, the report argues, the U.S. must take a far more proactive approach, including incentivizing private-sector investment, streamlining federal permitting, establishing a national critical minerals stockpile, building technical talent pipelines, creating special economic zones, and developing robust domestic processing infrastructure…The authors also stress the importance of ally-shoring, recommending diplomatic coordination with trusted partners…

Tesla is preparing to launch a new variant of its 'Model 3' specifically designed for the Chinese market. Called the 'Model 3+', this strategic model focuses on maximizing driving range rather than performance, setting it apart from the current performance-oriented versions…Unlike the standard Model 3, which uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, the Model 3+ will be equipped with LG Energy Solution’s nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries. Tesla’s current long-range model in China uses a 78.4 kWh NMC battery, offering a maximum CLTC-rated range of 753 km with all-wheel drive…The Model 3+ aims to enhance efficiency by pairing the same battery with a rear-wheel-drive single motor system. Although official battery capacity details have not yet been announced, it is expected to be similar to the U.S. long-range RWD model, which features a 79.7 kWh battery…This setup is expected to boost the Model 3+’s CLTC-rated range to an impressive 800 km, matching Xiaomi’s top-tier SU7, which currently holds the range crown in China. 

Moves to end fighting in eastern Congo that are essential to U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for a mining bonanza in the region are meant to get underway by Sunday, but the future of a small rebel group has emerged as one of the major obstacles…But the peace agreement explicitly requires Congo to "neutralise" the FDLR as Rwanda withdraws from Congolese territory, underscoring the group's importance to the fate of Trump's diplomacy…Both the Congolese operations against the FDLR and the Rwandan withdrawal are supposed to start by Sunday and conclude by the end of September…The U.N. experts also accused the Congolese military of relying on the FDLR in its fight against M23…Congolese researcher Josaphat Musamba said it was not possible for Congo to rid the region of FDLR fighters given that M23 holds much of the territory where the FDLR now operates…Jason Stearns, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University in Canada who specialises in Africa's Great Lakes region, said lack of progress against the FDLR could be cited by Rwanda as a reason to keep its troops deployed in eastern Congo past September, throwing off Washington's timeline…Trump said on July 9 the Congolese and Rwandan presidents would travel to the United States in the "next couple of weeks" to sign the peace agreement. They are also expected to sign bilateral economic packages that would bring billions of dollars of investment into countries rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium and other minerals. There has been no further word on a date.