Rio Tinto May Eventually Process Critical Minerals, CEO Says
- CEO says company had talks with White House on minerals
- China is dominant producer of minerals key to U.S. security
Photographer: George Frey/Bloomberg
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Rio Tinto PLC, one of the world’s largest mining companies, wants to start processing minerals in North America that are considered key to U.S. national security.
The company is currently figuring out ways to extract up to ten so-called critical minerals from copper waste at its mining facility in Utah, Chief Executive Officer Jakob Stausholm said in a phone interview. The minerals are used in everything from missiles to wind turbines, yet China is the world’s dominant processor of most of the materials seen as strategically important to U.S. national defense.