Mission Critical | Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes: Inside America's Plan to Break China's Critical Minerals Grip

About this episode

Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes discusses America's reliance on China for critical minerals and the implications for national security and industry.

Upwards of 80% of critical minerals are processed in China - even when they're mined elsewhere. If a global conflict broke out tomorrow, America likely couldn't supply its own defense industrial base. In this episode, Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes joins Logan and Alex to share what she learned deploying $16 billion in grants and tax credits as Deputy Director for Batteries and Critical Materials at the Department of Energy - and why she's now back in the private sector running two critical minerals SPACs worth over $500 million. The conversation covers how China built a state-backed monopoly that Western companies can't outcompete, why the Biden and Trump administrations use different tools to try and accomplish the same goal, and what Project Vault and the recent Critical Minerals Ministerial signal about where policy is heading. Ashley also delivers a warning: the flood of capital into critical minerals will lead to capital destruction, and the industry's reputation may suffer for years. Everything downstream - batteries, defense systems, grid infrastructure, AI - starts with what comes out of the ground. Hosted by Logan Jones and Alex Mercer Mission Critical is proudly supported by…

People in this episode

Hosts: Logan Jones, Alex Mercer

Guest: Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes

Topics covered

• critical minerals
• China
• defense industrial base
• energy policy
• batteries

Keywords

• grants
• tax credits
• Project Vault
• capital destruction

Sponsors

Valent, Abel Construction

Mentioned in this episode

Products: batteries, defense systems, grid infrastructure, AI

Places: America, China

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