#soapstone

Ring set with a mouse design amulet

New Kingdom, c. 1479–1425 B.C.

Gold, glazed steatite (soapstone). Inscribed with the cartouche of Thutmose III.

Once they reached the quarry, Linnaeus found it wasn't quartz or granite at all but soapstone. A vaguely sage and tan color with thin lines of ocher, blue gray and more of that vague green. All worn smooth by thousands of centuries. It stretched high over their heads, smooth and vibrant in places where the sun landed on it, the walls of the quarry naturally curved by the stones' erosion.

The future of energy storage without over-reliance on rare earths?

Will sand batteries become gospel to geopolitics of over reliance of rare earths from China?

Probably yes or no because China is also rich in soapstone and is the largest producer of soapstone. It is impossible to fully tick out China from the geopolitical global supply chains of minerals.

Will sand batteries become new gold rushes for countries having rich resources of the soapstone?

Yes if Finnish model is proved to be replicable, scalable, profitable for sand batteries investors and afforable as long term solutions by high electricity consumption industries, such as datacentres.

Soapstone can be an alternative to rare earths but unlikely to fully substitute rare earths.