00:00 Speaker A
The US and China reached a deal this week, a provisional deal for trade, which again opened access to the much-needed rare Earth minerals of China for American companies. China dominates the global mining and production of crucial materials, UH, which essentially means that the US can again get a shortage if Beijing is decreasing access. We now have to dive deeper into this rare mineral supply chain, we have David Klanaski, the CEO of Cirba Solutions, a recycling company for lithium batteries. Good that you are with us here today. So, first of all, David, just walk into the meaning of China's dominance with rare earths and what a deal with the US would eventually signal.
01:49 David Klanaski
Yes, good morning, Brad. Thank you for having me. Uh, yes, it's an interesting chance. I think of course the US and China have worked on trying to come up with a kind of trade agreement there. As you said, more than 70% of the rare earth minerals are actually processed and produced in China, actually 90% of the rare earths in the world are used in China, but China has access to many of those minerals. So with a deal with China, you know, I think it is a short -term solution that illuminates a bit of the tension there on things where these critical minerals and rare earths are used, use just about everything. That is why they are called critical minerals. Ehm, but in the longer term, you know, I think the country will continue to think about domestic supply chain, domestic production and how we know our dependence, you know, other countries that provide us with these minerals.
3:17 AM Speaker A
How critical is this part of the deal for the rest of an agreement between the US and China, knowing where there are so many of the technological purchases, knowing where there are other elements that, in a multiple approach, the two largest countries in the world also likes to have a kind of checklist that is in this broader species or a greater phase two of a deal.
4:17 AM David Klanaski
Yes. Yes. I mean, this is a pretty important achievement, I think, for the administration, at least to get a kind of agreement there. If you look at where critical minerals are used, the question of where they are not used is, right? Everything we have touched almost every day has a critical mineral, whether it is something, you know, again, a vehicle, could be something in our house, in our kitchen, but also, you know, many of our defense systems and defense industry depends on rare earth and critical minerals. So if you think about it on a broader picture, it has a huge impact on the lives of everyone in the United States. And it is something that, I think, why it gets a lot of attention, because it is a pretty big one, it is a pretty big problem. And it's something that, you know, we need these critical minerals. We need access to them. Uh, there are many of those who are nowadays in our country that we can clearly recycle and recover. That is another critical thing. I think you are thinking about it, and when I talk to the administration, that's something that is a bit, you know, for the mind with them, how do we ensure that if we have these minerals and rare earths in our country, how do we keep recycling and repairing them? And that is a huge game at the moment that our, you know, Cirba Solutions works and other companies in the United States to try to domain and locate that supply chain for the country.
6:15 AM Speaker A
And so Bloomberg now reports that the administration, Trump administration, gives priority to rare earth projects. That's the plan. What is the typical timeline for using these projects?
6:51 AM David Klanaski
Yes. I mean, I think of course it depends on the scale, but most of the time, you know, you are talking about an operation where you recycle, repair or process these minerals from the ground, for example, you know, these timelines depend on where you are. If you only restore and recycle materials, it is a bit easier because you don't have to get a permit for mining and things like that. You just have to build a facility. And usually the construction of those facilities is between 18 months and two years. Uh, so it takes a little time because you got a production plan with you. If you are talking about mines, the administration is of course really focused on streamlining that process of getting mine permits and things like that, which I think will help, but they can take a little longer. So, you know, my kind of, you know, my statement about much of this is, we have many of these minerals on the road, on the road now, or now in our houses. Let us ensure that we now simply restore them and use these plants to use those critical minerals that are already in use and not in the ground to be restored.
08:27 Speaker A
Where do these minerals usually use? The kind of secondary market, if you want, for them?
8:45 AM David Klanaski
Well, the great thing is about these minerals, once you have restored and recycled them, are they brand new again, right? So you restore them to a quality of as if they are actually starting life again. So, you know, when you think of electric vehicles, you have things such as nickel and cobalt, lithium. Once those materials have been recovered from a battery, or it can be a mobile phone or laptop, whatever it may be, those minerals are found and actually returned to the original state of their purity, so that they immediately return to another battery, another phone, a different laptop, whatever it can be. But then there are other applications that they use these metals for pipes and things like that. We have to build many plants, many production facilities. You can therefore also use these in secondary applications.
09:51 Speaker A
David, thank you very much for taking the time here today with us.
10:00 AM David Klanaski
Thank you, Brad. Appreciate the time.
