Washington, Feb. 4 -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday hosted the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial at the Department of State in Washington, bringing together more than 50 countries to collaborate on securing critical mineral supply chains.

Rubio described the event as a "historic gathering" aimed at building momentum for global collaboration to secure and diversify supply chains for minerals vital to national security and technological innovation.

The event aimed to reduce reliance on China, which dominates rare-earth mining and processing, and to promote economic security through multilateral cooperation.

Addressing the inaugural, Rubio said, "We're planning to sign new critical minerals frameworks with several p...