Yeongdong County in North Chungcheong Province announced that a joint survey with the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources confirmed the presence of approximately 104.5 million tons of illite deposits in the Yeongdong area. Notably, about 67.7% of the total reserves are distributed in the 40–45% grade range, indicating high industrial utility value.
Türkiye is moving to scale up its Beylikova rare earth project with a planned $600 million investment, aiming to enter the world’s top five producers as it shifts from pilot operations to full industrial output.
Clean Earth, a division of Enviri Corporation, announced the launch of full solar panel recycling services at its Lancaster, Texas, facility following approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. At full capacity, the Lancaster facility can process approximately 600,000 solar panels per year.
Colorado School of Mines is opening a 50,000-square-foot facility in Golden to support university–industry–government–startup partnerships that drive innovation and accelerate commercialization, strengthening domestic critical minerals supply chains across the full value chain.
Energy technology company Baker Hughes opened a new subsea services center and manufacturing plant in Norway as part of its ambition to strengthen its North Sea capabilities. The 49,000-square-meter facility features a 12,000-square-meter workshop, multiple testing bays, and the capability to recreate pressures up to 22,500 psi.
Owens Corning announced that it has completed the sale of its glass reinforcements business to Praana Group. The company says that closing this transaction represents another key step forward in reshaping Owens Corning as a more integrated building products leader.
The agreement between solar manufacturer Solx and perovskite glass-maker Caelux aims to meet U.S demand for domestic content while producing more powerful photovoltaic modules that will compete internationally beyond the sunset of federal tax credits.
The Presidency of COP31 named the International Energy Agency as a strategic partner of the international climate conference that will take place in Antalya, Türkiye, in November 2026. The partnership was announced at the opening of a jointly hosted High-Level Energy Transition Dialogue at the IEA’s headquarters in Paris, France.
The Phoenix Award Committee named Roberto Cabrera as the Glass Person of the Year 2026. Cabrera is vice president of engineering and technology at Vitro Architectural Glass. He was recognized for his outstanding achievements and leadership in manufacturing quality, engineering innovation, and sustainability across the flat glass industry.
The Brick Industry Association honored the 2025 Brick in Architecture Award winners during its inaugural Brick Excellence Gala on April 9, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Fla. Held during the 2026 National Clay Brick Expo, the first gala drew more than 300 attendees from around the world.
The Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT recently approved the “Strategy to Build an AI Materials R&D Platform (2026-2030).” This strategy will support the independent development of materials artificial intelligence models.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the consolidation of the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs into the Office of Technology Commercialization. This consolidation follows the Department’s renaming and reorganization of the Office of Technology Commercialization in November 2025.
Fusion power startup Zap Energy decided that it would be quicker to build a fission power plant first. For Zap’s fission gambit to pay off, one of two things needs to occur: It will have to bring in revenue or bring in new investment.
ROSS’s double planetary mixer model DPM-10 is engineered for high-viscosity and specialty material processing in laboratory and pilot-scale operations. This machine can handle batch sizes from 2 to 12 gallons, with a 15-gallon full holding capacity mix can.
