China’s Ministry of Commerce introduced strict export licensing on refined silver, limiting permissions to a tight list of state-approved, high-volume entities. Protect their domestic manufacturing base. China dominates global solar panel manufacturing and electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. Because silver is the most electrically conductive metal on Earth, they cannot scale their green-tech or advanced computing dominance without monopolizing the physical metal. To complement direct export limits, China implemented an export ban on sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is the essential chemical input used in heap-leach ... (full story)