The concept of critical minerals is not new. In fact, the idea emerged in the US prior to the First World War and was formulated in the 1939 Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act that focused on materials needed to support the defence industry the concept has seen a resurgence due to an increased focus on the materiality of the low-carbon transition with the deployment of technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles potentially requiring large amounts of base metals such as copper and steel along with relatively high levels of a wide range of niche metals This has led to policy action in many parts of the world In early July 2023 the EU amended its list of minerals that it deems critical, adding aluminium to the list under its Critical Raw Minerals Act These are the materials deemed crucial to Europe’s economy – especially in the context of a materially intensive transition away from fossil fuels Aluminium is also on the US’s critical minerals list refined from an ore – bauxite – that is extremely abundant and the second most abundant metallic element on Earth so critical to the future of the global economy up to 486 million tonnes of aluminium could be required up to 2050 compared to a current global annual production of 69 million tonnes Aluminium is not just used for these energy transition technologies – in fact they only make up a small fraction of total demand It is a vital material across a wide range of sectors including construction (accounting for approximately 25% of current demand) transportation (including aircraft and electric vehicles electrical items (including a growing use in transmission lines making up 12%) and other machinery and equipment (11%) Over the last couple of decades there has been a rapid increase in the global capacity for refining and smelting aluminium (Figure 2) This has meant an increase in global supply from around 40 million tonnes in 2008 to 69 million in 2022 this increase in capacity has happened almost exclusively in middle-income countries with the former tripling smelting capacity between 2008 and 2021 and the latter increasing its capacity by over 200% There has also been considerable investment in new smelting capacity in the Gulf In other parts of the world the trend has been the opposite with smelters mothballing or shutting down – most notably in Brazil – while capacity in other locations is the use of electricity in the Hall–Héroult process that converts alumina to the final metal The process uses a minimum of 6 kWh of electricity per kg of aluminium and is potentially a large source of emissions depending on how this electricity is produced The key aspects that have determined the location of new aluminium smelters are therefore upfront capital costs and access to cheap electricity It is these factors that have led to the increase in capacity and production in middle-income countries and the decline in production in higher-cost regions such as North America and Europe The size of the potential emissions footprint of aluminium production is therefore dependent on a range of factors the location of future aluminium production and crucially the generation method of the electricity used to power aluminium smelters Emissions also arise in the Hall–Héroult process itself as electricity is passed through carbon anodes – although these ‘process’ emissions have reduced in recent years and there are ongoing efforts within the sector to find economic technologically feasible solutions to eliminate these emissions A potential future scenario therefore involves an expansion in global aluminium demand due to high deployment of aluminium-intensive solar PV which would mainly be met by a supply of relatively emissions-intensive aluminium from China or India This would create a supply chain that is vulnerable to geopolitical issues and a residual emissions footprint that could undermine some of the gains from switching to renewable energy generation The country now produces more secondary aluminium than primary Increasing the availability of scrap globally is therefore a key condition of scaling up recycled aluminium This is often challenging due to the long-lived nature of some of the uses of aluminium and also the labour-intensive processes of scrap collection from other uses such as packaging Improving policy support for sourcing recycled aluminium all along the supply chain is needed to fulfil the potential for secondary aluminium to help in meeting the demands of the low-carbon transition the situation for a range of the critical minerals required for the low-carbon transition Particular technological pathways to a low-carbon world could lead to large increases in the demand for the material This potentially raises environmental and geopolitical issues along with questions about the speed at which the transition can be achieved and the cost at which technologies can be built and deployed secure and reliable source of low-emissions low-environmental impact and cheap aluminium is important to help facilitate a smooth transition to a low-carbon world But this requires policy action across the supply chain from incentivising mitigation action within the sector – such as research and development into inert anodes that reduce process emissions – to encouraging greater recycling through circular design and scrap recovery Helping to create a diverse source of supply with primary aluminium from a range of geographic regions as well as secondary supply from local regions will also help to reduce geopolitical and market risks This requires policy direction regarding sourcing and investment regimes to ensure that smelting capacity is maintained across regions what is needed is a holistic approach to ensuring that low-cost clean aluminium is available in order to facilitate a smooth The views expressed in this Commentary are the author’s and do not represent those of RUSI or any other institution Have an idea for a Commentary you’d like to write for us? Send a short pitch to commentaries@rusi.org and we’ll get back to you if it fits into our research interests. Full guidelines for contributors can be found here. security and international affairs to help build a safer UK and a more secure Copyright 2025 | The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies | RUSI is registered as a charity in England and Wales - Charity number: 210639 | VAT number: GB752275038 Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Arkalyk celebrates its mining history by showcasing the first hunk of bauxite extracted here in 1964 a town of fewer than 30,000 people in the central belt of Kazakhstan close to the excavator bucket that tore it out of the ground in 1964 brick-red mineral dust still speckles the snow-covered streets built largely by locally-held prisoners of the former Soviet Union rises out of the steppe surrounding the town like earthen fortifications Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information Photographer: Mikhail Grachyev/AFP via Getty Images  My NewsSign Out Sign InCreate your free profileSections news Alerts Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin landed today safely in the Kazakh steppe aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule after a stay of over five months aboard the International Space Station.Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP - Getty Images Russia's space agency ground personnel help US astronaut Dan Burbank shortly after the landing of Soyuz TMA-22 capsule near the town of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan A Russian space capsule touched down on the steppes of Kazakhstan in Central Asia Friday safely returning a joint U.S.-Russian crew to Earth after months aboard the International Space Station The Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft landed at 7:45 a.m. ET, less than four hours after undocking from the space station Riding home aboard the space capsule were NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin who were reintroduced to the strong tug of Earth's gravity after spending 165 days Burbank, Shkaplerov and Ivanishin launched into space in mid-November. The three men formed half of the space station's six-person crew. Their homecoming brought the outpost's Expedition 30 mission to a close and marked the beginning of Expedition 31 Continue reading Russia's space agency ground personnel help Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin shortly after the landing of Soyuz TMA-22 capsule near the town of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan Follow @msnbc_pictures Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world The couple paid an undisclosed amount to fly around the moon on Starship once the vehicle is complete They will travel with 10 other undisclosed passengers on a roughly week-long journey The trip doesn’t include a landing on the lunar surface and it’s unclear if the other passengers have been chosen yet A space capsule carrying a U.S.-Russian-Italian crew landed safely on the steppes of northern Kazakhstan early today following a mission aboard the international space station Search-and-rescue helicopters spotted the Russian TMA-5 capsule as it floated toward its arrival site about 50 miles north of the Kazakh town of Arkalyk and made a soft landing It had undocked with the orbiting station less than 3 1/2 hours earlier Space officials and medical staff traveled to the landing site to welcome American Leroy Chiao Russian Salizhan Sharipov and Italian Roberto Vittori while Sharipov and Chiao have been on the orbiting lab since October Remaining behind on the station were Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev and American astronaut John Phillips whose six-month mission is slated to include welcoming the first U.S space shuttle flight since the Columbia shuttle disaster two years ago Russia’s space program has been the only way of getting astronauts to the station since the Columbia disintegrated as it returned to Earth on Feb space agency NASA is hoping to renew shuttle flights sometime next month The latest headlines from the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com Copyright © 2025 Ogden Newspapers of Kansas, LLC | https://www2.ljworld.com | 1035 N. Third Street, Lawrence, KS 66044 | 785-843-1000 | Terms of Service International Space Station (ISS) crew members US astronaut Daniel Burbank (L) and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov (C) and Anatoly Ivanishin rest after landing some 88 km (55 miles) north-east of Arkalyk US astronaut Daniel Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin are seen inside the Soyuz capsule shortly after landing in Kazakhstan some 88 km (55 miles) northeast of Arkalyk The mystery of Halloween haunts scholars of East and West Racism takes a bus ride through SF's Chinatown An Aussie view of China-US ties Is China's philanthropic system finally taking shape? Premier Li visits Germany, Russia, Italy 2014 Beijing-Tokyo Forum President Xi attends SCO summit, visits four nations The world's first female space tourist was greeted with fresh fruit and a bouquet of roses when she and the two crew members of the 13th International Space Station (ISS) mission landed early yesterday in the steppe of Kazakhstan The capsule carrying Anousheh Ansari -- who was born in Iran but is a US citizen -- Pavel Vinogradov of Russia and US astronaut Jeffrey Williams touched down softly yesterday north of Arkalyk Russian news agencies quoted the Russian flight control center as saying The mission departed from the ISS on Thursday the vessel landed on its side," a center spokesman said adding that helicopters and planes of the space service had successfully pinpointed the capsule while it was still in the sky Russian television channel NTV showed space service workers helping the cosmonauts out of the capsule and wrapping them in furs to protect them from the cold A beaming Ansari was greeted by her husband who brought her a bouquet of red roses as she sat in a special chair to help her recover from weightlessness Ansari spent eight days on the ISS while Vinogradov and Williams spent 183 days there All three cosmonauts "are in good health," ITAR-TASS quoted a Russian space official as saying the Russian company Energia that is helping to construct the ISS praised the three at a news conference shortly after the landing "The crew performed magnificently," Sevastyanov said in comments shown on NTV the trio were to be taken by helicopter to nearby Kostanai They were scheduled to fly on to Moscow yesterday paid US$25 million to space tourism agency Space Adventures to spend a week aboard the ISS She carried out medical and biological experiments there for the European Space Agency (ESA) and took hundreds of photos NTV showed footage of Ansari's farewell broadcast from the ISS her pigtails floating behind her in the zero-gravity "I had a very unique experience because of the people here." Ansari lived in Iran until the age of 16 and is only the fourth space tourist in history She made her fortune in the telecom sector and her family has gone on to invest in technology and space exploration contributing US$10 million to the X Foundation which was founded to encourage advances in human space flight NASA's Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russia's Mikhail Tyurin The duo will stay there until spring next year along with the ESA's Thomas Reiter of Germany who will return to Earth at the end of this year The Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft departs from the International Space Station and heads toward a landing in a remote area outside the town of Arkalyk Expedition 33 commander; Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko Soyuz commander and flight engineer; and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Aki Hoshide are returning from four months onboard the space station where they served as members of the Expedition 32 and 33 crews Soyuz TMA-05M (descent module) beginning to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere on Nov time) leaving a plasma trail as the Expedition 33 crew streaked toward a pre-dawn landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan northeast of Arkalyk NASA astronaut Sunita Williams completed a triathlon from space Sept using an orbital treadmill to complete the running portion and a resistance machine to simulate swimming NASA astronaut Sunita Williams (front left) takes command of the International Space Station from cosmonaut Gennady Padalka (front right) during a ceremony marking the start of the Expedition 33 increment aboard the space station on Sept Expedition 32 flight engineer and commander of the International Space Station's Expedition 33 crew poses for a photo with her spacesuit ahead of an Aug The International Space Station's Expedition 33 crew Russian cosmonauts Evgeny Tarelkin and Oleg Novitskiy and NASA astronaut Kevin Ford The Expedition 33 patch depicts the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting around the Earth The Soyuz TMA-05M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 15 Crewmembers for Expeditions 32 & 33 were flying to the International Space Station Expedition 32/33 crew members leave building 254 following their suited up for launch July 15 2012 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan The grid structure at the upper side of each Aquatic Habitat an aquarium for the International Space Station Air will be injected with special syringe by the crew prior to the start of an investigation in 2012 Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.  NASA astronauts prep ISS for new solar arrays on 5th-ever all-female spacewalk Watch 2 NASA astronauts perform the 5th-ever all-female spacewalk today NASA's Artemis 2 moon rocket gets 2nd stage even as Trump tries to scrap Space Launch System (photos) Deputy Prime Minister - Deputy Head of the Republican Headquarters for coordination of flood control measures and elimination of consequences of the flood period Kanat Bozumbayev made a working visit to Kostanay region he familiarised himself with the situation in Amangeldinsky where the state of emergency has been declared.  Kanat Bozumbayev and the head of the region Kumar Aksakalov inspected flooded houses in Amangeldy village of Amangeldy district studied the condition of access roads to the district centre visited the volunteer centre to assist the population Organiser of the centre Aibek Tanabaev said that humanitarian aid to the district continues to arrive clothing and hygiene products have been brought here in 3 days In Zhangelda district Kanat Bozumbayev visited the site of flooding in Kolkamys village as well as met with residents of Kokalat village the emergency bridge of the district road ‘Arkalyk - Yekidin’ was inspected the akim of the city reported on the flood situation in the village of Yekidin.  Then Kanat Bozumbayev met with residents of the village of Kyzylzhuldyz placed in the evacuation point in the building of the dormitory of the polytechnic college.  The regional operational headquarters for coordination of flood control measures and elimination of consequences of the flood period is located in Arkalyk city and district operational headquarters function in all regions of the oblast A commission for damage assessment has been established In the southern region of Kostanay region 75 private residential houses remain flooded 13 overflows and 7 washouts of motorways (1 bridge There are 12 settlements without transport communication The work on pumping out melt water and laying bags continues more than 686.2 thousand cubic metres of melt water have been pumped out more than 16 thousand bags have been laid and 1.3 thousand tonnes of inert material have been poured 30 units of watercrafts and 2 aircrafts are involved in the rescue work During the trip Kanat Bozumbayev held a number of meetings with akims of districts and the city heads of regional services and departments Deputy Prime Minister gave a number of instructions for further rescue operations providing evacuated people with everything they need restoration of damaged houses and infrastructure "It is necessary to do everything possible to ensure the safety of people and provide assistance to the victims Work to eliminate the consequences of the flood should be carried out round the clock All the necessary resources for the restoration of the regions will be allocated," summarised the Deputy Head of the Headquarters Stay updated about the events of the Prime minister and the Government of Kazakhstan - subscribe to the official Telegram channel Representatives of big business are ready to assist in eliminating the consequences of floods in Kostanay region Chairman of the Board of Directors of Allur and AgromashHolding Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev familiarised them with the scope of the forthcoming rehabilitation works.  the local emergency regime is still in place During the meeting with citizens Kanat Bozumbayev explained the procedure for compensation for damage including flooded dachas (the only housing).  "For those for whom it is impossible to restore housing This is being done at the expense of sponsors Concern is expressed in social networks about the safety of the funds that big business sends for the restoration of housing to the victims I would like to say responsibly that the funds will be spent mostly by businesses themselves build or repair," Deputy Prime Minister explained.  Kanat Bozumbayev separately dwelled on the issues of payment of compensation and financial assistance More than 3 thousand applications for lump sum payments have been received from residents of Kostanay region Financial assistance has already been provided to almost 2 thousand families in the amount of 705.2 million tenge "Payment of 100 monthly instalments to all victims is under the jurisdiction of akimats and maslikhats We realise that the problems are common throughout the country so the Operational Headquarters recommended that 100 monthly instalments be paid to everyone," Kanat Bozumbayev said.  Flood victims are also entitled to compensation for lost or damaged property up to 150 monthly instalments The list of such property includes: items for storing and cooking food items of means of water supply and heating.  Deputy Prime Minister instructed special commissions to complete all work on assessment of flood damage by 10 May.  residents of Kostanay district have already started to receive flats in one of the new multi-storey houses the district akimat has signed about 30 contracts for the provision of housing Ayala Fund of businessman Daniyar Abulgazin is helping the residents The businessman will buy flats for 65 families in Kostanay district and Arkalyk city for 1.5 billion tenge from his personal funds and another 500 million will be sent to the Demeu fund.  "My house went under water halfway through in the village of Altynsarino Immediately we were given a lot of support I have three children and we were given a three-room flat in a new house thanked the patron of the arts.    Before the onset of cold weather all those left homeless should be provided with housing by the local authorities The Kostanay region Akimat will be assisted in this by large entrepreneurs who will purchase and build 378 houses There are several of our enterprises in Kostanay region Our employees took an active part in the fight against the elements They helped with emergency evacuation of villagers from the flood zone Our special equipment was sent to villages near Arkalyk to build dams We will buy ready-made housing for those left homeless," ERG spokesman Shukhrat Ibragimov said.   Founding shareholders of Eurasian Resources Group allocated 400m in the first days of the flood and then another 40bn tenge to eliminate the consequences of the disaster and support residents to reconstruct road and engineering infrastructure as well as schools in the Kostanai region.  Entrepreneur Andrei Lavrentiev said he will send 3bn tenge to the region This amount will be used to build 140 houses or purchase 96 flats Earlier his companies transferred 500 million tenge to the corporate fund ‘Demeu Kazakhstan Kory’ to fight against the elements more than a thousand of our employees together with employees of Akimat and special services were engaged in strengthening of dams The allocated funds will be used to buy flats and build houses We have responded to the call of the Head of State and I think that we will definitely do this work together with the Government," Andrei Lavrentiyev said RG Brands will also allocate 1.46 billion tenge for the construction and repair of housing in Kostanay region.  405 million tenge was transferred from the reserve of the Government of Kazakhstan to buy houses for flood victims in Arkalyk "The crew of the Soyuz TMA-16 craft is on earth," mission control in Moscow said Jeffrey Williams of the United States and Russia's Maxim Surayev touched down late on Thursday night after five-and-a-half months to-gether on the ISS The Russian cosmonaut and a US astronaut returned to earth from the International Space Station after 169 days in space The spacecraft "made a safe landing in the designated area northeast of the town of Arkalyk" in the steppes of Kazakhstan "The cosmonauts are feeling well," it added Russian recovery teams were on hand at the landing site to help the crew exit the Soyuz vehicle and readjust to gravity," the US space agency Nasa said in a statement Nasa said that as members of the Expedition 21 and 22 crews the two presided over the completion of the US segment of the space station The Russian-US duo had been high above earth for 169 days 2009 and docking with the ISS on October 2 Mr Surayev and Mr Williams had worked as flight engineers in a crew that also included Belgian Frank De Winne Canadian Robert Thirsk and Russian Roman Romanenko which had been manned by just two people until three more crew members arrived on December 23 The three current inhabitants - Russia's Oleg Kotov Soichi Noguchi of Japan and US astronaut Timothy Creamer - will man the ISS until the arrival of a new spacecraft is a sophisticated platform for scientific experiments helping test the effects of long-term space travel on humans please register for free or log in to your account.