Agenda for Argus Rare Earths & Critical Minerals Conference
As governments and industry accelerate efforts to build critical mineral supply chains outside China, attention is shifting from ambition to execution. The 2027 agenda will examine what it will really take to build commercially viable, resilient supply chains, from government policy and financing through to processing, pricing, procurement and downstream demand.
Key themes include critical minerals strategy, mine-to-market development, OEM demand and offtake, project finance, recycling, emerging technologies and the growth of non-China magnet manufacturing.
Across two days, gain practical insight into where new supply will come from, which projects and technologies can scale, where the biggest supply chain vulnerabilities remain and how companies can position themselves as the market evolves.
Browse the sessions below to discover the discussions shaping the future of rare earths and critical minerals.
Agenda
Main conference day one
Main conference day two
- 08:00 - 08:55
Breakfast and registration
- 08:55 - 09:00
Chairperson's opening remarks
- 09:00 - 09:40
The CEO debate: what will it really take to compete with China?
- Have we reached a tipping point, or are we still too dependent on China?
- What is the single biggest barrier to building commercially competitive non-China supply chains?
- Where should governments and industry focus investment over the next five years?
- Which assumptions about building non-China supply chains need to be challenged over the next five years?
Speakers Include:
Mark Smith
CEONioCorp Developments- 09:40 - 10:00
Argus market outlook: is supply outpacing demand?
- Will demand outside China grow quickly enough to absorb the next wave of supply?
- Could new projects come online faster than demand develops, creating the next market imbalance? Which critical minerals are most at risk of oversupply and which remain structurally undersupplied?
- How does demand differ across applications, and which sectors will drive the next wave of consumption?
- Which materials have the strongest long-term fundamentals, and where are demand expectations becoming overly optimistic?
Speakers Include:
Mark Seddon
Principal, Analytics & ConsultingArgus- 10:00 - 10:40
Minor metals: Which materials matter most for the next decade?
- Which critical minerals pose the greatest strategic risk beyond rare earths?
- How are export controls reshaping markets for gallium, germanium, tungsten, antimony and hafnium?
- Which downstream industries face the greatest supply vulnerabilities?
- Where are the biggest opportunities for new investment and Western production?
- Will each material require a different supply chain strategy?
Speakers Include:
Ross Berntson
President and CEOIndium Corporation- 10:40 - 11:20
Networking coffee break
- 11:20 - 12:00
The heavy rare earth challenge: securing the next strategic supply chain
- Which heavy rare earth projects are most likely to reach commercial production between 2027–2029?
- How can the US and its allies build commercially viable heavy rare earth supply chains for dysprosium, terbium and other strategic materials outside China?
- How can access to heavy rare earth feedstocks be diversified while reducing reliance on Chinese processing?
- Which end-use industries will drive future demand, and what quality and volume requirements will they need to secure?
- What role will investment, processing innovation and government support play in making heavy rare earth production economically competitive?
Speakers Include:
Debra Bennethum
VP Critical Minerals & Strategic Supply ChainEnergy Fuels
Michael Parton
Senior Group Manager - Battery Systems Supply ChainLucid- 12:00 - 12:35
Recycling, urban mining and secondary supply: a major source of rare earth supply?
- Can recycling become a commercially viable source of rare earths and critical minerals, or will primary mining dominate future supply?
- How much can secondary supply from end-of-life products, industrial waste streams, coal ash and other unconventional feedstocks reduce import dependence?
- Can urban mining provide a faster route to supply chain resilience than developing new mines?
- What technological and commercial barriers still prevent recycling from scaling to meet future demand?
Speakers Include:
Helena Khazdozian
Senior Technology ManagerU.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Samuel Stein
Materials Engineer - Critical Materials ManagementLockheed Martin- 12:35 - 13:05
Commercialising tomorrow’s technologies: which technologies will actually scale?
- Which processing, recycling and magnet technologies are genuinely ready for commercial deployment over the next 3–5 years?
- How do we move technologies from successful pilot projects to commercially viable industrial production?
- What is preventing industry from adopting proven technologies faster?
- Which innovations have the greatest potential to reduce costs and make non-China supply chains commercially competitive?
Speakers Include:
Tom Lograsso
Director of Critical Materials Innovation HubAmes National Laboratory- 13:05 - 13:40
Who will manufacture the world’s non-China magnets?
- Can Western magnet manufacturers compete with China on cost, quality and scale?
- Which OEM sectors will underpin the first wave of non-China magnet manufacturing?
- What will it take to create a globally competitive non-China magnet supply chain?
- What investment and customer commitments are needed to build commercially viable magnet industry?
Speakers Include:
Weiping Yu
NASA Physicist, Crew Spacecraft Subsystem ManagerNASA
Ronan Murphy
Editor, MetalsArgus- 13:40 - 14:40
End of conference and networking lunch