Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-25

[Duque de Bragança]

Maybe Trump can be convinced that the Donbass holds similar promise to Gaza as a casino resort.

Crimea has more potential than both, however.

I think Portugal is currently the largest producer in Europe for lithium.

Makes sense, Spain's deposits are located in areas near the Portuguese border.

As a matter of fact, the latest political scandal involving the former prime minister, António Costa, causing his resignation, was about a new lithium mine.

https://www.politico.eu/article/portugal-antonio-costa-lithium-scandal-spells-trouble-for-brussels-critical-minerals-hunt/

[Legbiter]

Yeah Norway, for instance, very likely has entire mountain chains worth of rare earths if anybody bothered to look. It's like most things, a question of political will/competence.

[Barrister]

Yeah Norway, for instance, very likely has entire mountain chains worth of rare earths if anybody bothered to look. It's like most things, a question of political will/competence.

It's now passé, but I used to raise this issue when it came to "peak oil" all the time.

When it comes to almost any mineral - there's an almost limitless amount of them on the earth.  It just depends how much you want to pay.  Rare Earths are rare when compared to more common elements - that doesn't mean they aren't actually relatively abundant.

As I understand it we get most of our rare earths from China just because of environmental concerns - not because they're lacking in the rest of the planet.

Which goes back to the point of Ukraine of "we'll give you as much Lithium as you could ever want if you'll help us win this war".