Mojave Desert Boron Mine Casts Bet on Critical Mineral Label

Boron is in U.S. soldiers’ body armor, the Predator drone, satellites, permanent magnets, and military helicopters. No electrical vehicle works without it.

It’s very light, second only to diamonds in hardness, heat-resistant, corrosion-resistant and anti-microbial.

Yet boron has yet to crack the list of “critical minerals” designated by the U.S. Geological Survey, even as increasingly shaky geopolitics threaten global supplies of rare earths and minerals.

Raising boron’s importance to eventually get on that list is a bet-the-company matter for the owner of a mining venture in California’s Mojave Desert that’s believed to have the world’s largest known new boron deposit. ...