RE:hunter metal actJack, Graphite is classed as a critical material, and would be included in Hunter Metal Act.
The Bill is important to CSPG as hopefully, there may soon be some Gov. backed loans available.
"The U.S. must no longer be wholly dependent on foreign sources of strategic and critical materials,” said Rep. Hunter. “The risk of this dependence on national security is too great and it urgently demands that we re-establish our depleted domestic industrial base."
Presently, the People's Republic of China dominates the production of rare earth elements, controlling more than 90 percent of global production. These critical materials are key components of everything from high technology consumer electronics to advanced weapons systems, including the Joint Strike Fighter. Over the past decade, the U.S. has lost its capacity to produce these materials and ceded this ability to foreign nations, namely China. In fact, the last major domestic producer of rare earth elements declared bankruptcy in 2015, shuttered its California mine and processing plant and sold a portion of its assets to the Chinese. The mine is now is being considered for purchase by a firm with ties to a Russian billionaire.