Washington has grown concerned about its dependence on imports of rare earth minerals from China after Beijing suggested using them as leverage in their trade war.
Mining giant Rio Tinto on Thursday lowered its guidance on volumes of iron ore it expects to ship from the key Pilbara producing region in Australia for the third time since April.
A conservation group on Thursday sued the Trump administration for withholding documents related to its decision to cancel a 20-year ban on mining in a Minnesota wilderness area.
A group of Chinese firms have jointly established a rare earths innovation centre in the country's Hebei province as part of a plan to develop a manufacturing base in the region.
The Malaysian environment ministry has said it wants to discuss ways to manage the low-level radioactive residue produced by Lynas at its rare earth processing plant.
The AMV3 has the capacity to add 500,000 carats of annual production from 2022, and is expected to contribute 2 billion Namibian dollars a year in taxes and royalties to the Namibian treasury.
The Tenke Fungurume mine is one of the largest in Democratic Republic of Congo, which is Africa's leading copper producer and the world's top miner of cobalt.
Striking miners and police clashed earlier on Tuesday, with authorities using rubber bullets and tear gas as workers tried to block access to the state-owned firm's mine.