Jack Lifton is a world renowned critical minerals expert specializing in rare earths, with more than six decades of experience in advanced materials and manufacturing. He is Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Critical Minerals Institute (CMI) and Editor-in-Chief of InvestorNews.com. A prolific writer and well known industry speaker, he addresses rare earth markets, processing technologies and the geopolitical implications of concentrated supply. His rare earths expertise spans mineral processing, separation and refining, metal and alloy production, and permanent magnet supply chains. His analysis addresses the different commercial requirements of light and heavy rare earths, including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium. He evaluates projects against the processing knowledge, production costs and customer specifications required to deliver materials for automotive, industrial and defense applications. A physical chemist by training, Lifton began his career in 1962 at Energy Conversion Devices in Detroit, working on high-purity metals and their applications in electronics and energy storage. His early research included phase-change memory materials, rare earth phosphors and thin-film technologies for image intensifiers. In the 1970s, he worked in the automotive catalytic converter industry, including a contract with a major automaker to collect and recycle used converters. He also held technical operations and manufacturing management positions, ultimately serving as chief executive of engineered materials businesses supplying the automotive and electronics industries. In 1999, he established Jack Lifton, LLC, advising companies, institutional investors and government organizations on metals and materials supply chains. His consulting assignments have included due diligence on mining, refining, metals fabrication and manufacturing businesses. He co-founded Technology Metals Research in 2010 and helped popularize the term technology metals to describe materials essential to modern technologies. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Rare Earth Industry Association. Lifton is co-editor of Rare Earth Metals and Minerals Industries: Status and Prospects (Springer, 2024), and has participated in rare earth peer-review panels for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory. Recent appointments include Chair of Gadolyn’s Advisory Board and membership of the Advisory Board of Arlington Innovation Partners. He holds a PhB in Chemistry and Mathematics from Wayne State University and a law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.