[ION Minerals Expands Its Lithium Resources Footprint in Texas and Saskatchewan] ION Minerals said it had achieved a major expansion of its diversified lithium resources portfolio in the US and Canada. In a late-March news release, the Houston-based company said the expanded land footprint was achieved through prudent acquisitions, targeted leasing, and focused geological assessments. ION now controls more than 280,000 acres across three project areas, further cementing its position as a leading developer of critical lithium resources for the North American battery supply chain. Smackover is a subsurface geological formation stretching from Florida to Texas and is rich in lithium brine. Source: https://www.mining.com/ [EnergyX's "Lone Star" Project Revolutionizes Domestic Lithium Production in the US] EnergyX's groundbreaking "Lone Star" project marked a major milestone in the US pursuit of critical minerals independence through advanced direct lithium extraction technology. This pioneering facility is the first commercial-scale direct lithium extraction plant to enter operation in the US, addressing long-standing supply chain vulnerabilities while establishing an operational framework for domestic battery-grade lithium production. As demand for critical minerals accelerates amid the global energy transition, the project demonstrates how innovative extraction technologies can transform regional resources into strategic assets. Direct lithium extraction differs fundamentally from traditional mining methods, targeting subsurface brine rather than hard-rock deposits or surface evaporation systems. EnergyX's "Lone Star" project demonstrated this approach through its GET-Lit™ technology, which uses advanced filtration and chemical separation processes to treat brine from the Smackover formation. Source: https://discoveryalert.com.au/ [University of Surrey Develops a Lithium-Ion Battery Anode to Enhance Energy Storage] Researchers at the University of Surrey's Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) developed a new-type battery design that could significantly extend EV driving range. In a study published in ACS Applied Energy Materials, the researchers introduced a lithium-ion battery anode. The anode achieved one of the highest energy storage capacities reported to date in a silicon-carbon nanotube system, while remaining stable after hundreds of charge cycles. Lithium-ion batteries power a wide range of devices in modern technology. Graphite is the most commonly used anode material, offering high stability but limited energy storage capacity. By contrast, silicon has a much higher capacity, but it expands during charging, causing cracking and performance degradation over time. Source: https://www.automotivepowertraintechnologyinternational.com/

On March 26, 2026, EnergyX announced the official commissioning of its 250-ton-per-year direct lithium extraction (DLE) demonstration plant for battery-grade lithium hydroxide at the U.S.-based Project Lonestar™. This facility stands as the largest DLE lithium production unit in the United States and the first DLE line in Texas designed to locally process Smackover brine. It has verified the technology’s industrial performance, recovery rates and cost advantages in practical operation, confirming a scalable, cost-effective pathway for large-scale domestic lithium production in the U.S. Meanwhile, it lays a solid technical foundation for the company’s future global commercial capacity expansion targeting over 100,000 tons per annum.

On March 19, Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) disclosed its 2025 results and 2026 outlook. Data shows Q4 2025 module shipments were 4.3GW. Full-year 2025 module shipments reached 24.3GW (with a record 8.1GW delivered to the US market), and energy storage shipments hit 7.8GWp. Regarding overseas capacity, the 5GW module plant in Texas is fully operational and is planned to expand to 10GW in H2 2026; the phase I (2.1GW) HJT cell plant in Indiana expects trial production in April 2026. Looking into 2026, Q1 module shipments are estimated at 2.2-2.4GW, and full-year US market module shipments are projected to reach 6.5-7.0GW.

On March 10, 2026, Lynas and Japan’s JARE signed a long-term deal featuring PrNd floor prices, profit-sharing, and heavy rare earth priority. Analyzing 2025 production data, this report evaluates the partnership’s commercial terms, operational progress, and downstream demand security.

Right now the price of gold sits around $5,100 an ounce, which is double where it sat just over one year ago. And the war in Iran could propel the price upwards even further.

MP Materials has selected Northlake, Texas, as the site for its new "10X" campus, a U.S. rare earth magnet manufacturing park. MP Materials will invest over $1.25 billion to develop what is historically the largest and most strategically significant U.S. rare earth magnet manufacturing asset. MP Materials, the largest rare earth mining company in the U.S., recently announced that it will build a large-scale rare earth magnet manufacturing campus in Northlake, Texas, with a total investment exceeding $1.25 billion.

US rare earth producer MP Materials announced the selection of Northlake, Texas for the development of its "10X" magnet manufacturing campus, with a total investment exceeding $1.25 billion. The facility is expected to be commissioned in 2028. The plant will increase the company's total NdFeB magnet capacity to approximately 10kt per year and secure a local incentive package totaling $200 million over 10 years. The new campus, adjacent to its independent Fort Worth facility (existing capacity of 1,000 mt/year, currently being expanded to 2,000 mt/year), further strengthens its integrated magnet production capability from mining to recycling, and involves collaboration with Apple on magnet recycling.

According to Teslamac on Feb. 25 (local time), select rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Model Y vehicles produced at Tesla’s Grünheide plant in Germany have been equipped with U.S.-made 4680 battery cells since January this year. The 4680-format batteries are produced at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas in the United States.

US critical minerals processing enterprise Momentum Technologies is actively engaged in building out domestic supply chains for rare earth and battery materials, and is currently commissioning the world's first demonstration plant capable of large-scale processing of both these product categories. In September 2024, Momentum Technologies commenced operations at its demonstration plant near Dallas, Texas. Initially, the plant operated only the battery materials processing line; it has now been retrofitted to simultaneously process rare earth elements, with the rare earth processing circuit expected to be commissioned by mid-February 2026.

Select Water Solutions and LibertyStream Infrastructure Partners have announced that they have reached a definitive agreement to develop commercial lithium carbonate production facilities in the Midland Basin, Texas, USA. The project will be implemented in three stages, with LibertyStream responsible for funding, design, construction, and operation. The first facility will have an annual production capacity of approximately 1,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate and is expected to be commissioned by the end of December 2026. The first commercial lithium carbonate facility will be located at Select’s existing operating site in Howard County, north of Midland, Texas, serving as the anchor installation for further expansion of lithium projects in the Midland Basin.