The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Imagine a future where a geologist could slip on a virtual reality headset and descend into a full-color, highly accurate 3D model of a mine abandoned decades earlier and much too unstable to allow for human entry. With Exyn Technologies Inc.'s unveiling of the world's first real-time colorized point cloud visualization on a handheld lidar scanner, the ExynPak, such chromatic visions may be closer than you think. "If you watch any good sci-fi movie or show, colorized 3D...
Above and beyond its agreement to sell cobalt hydroxide feed material to Electra Battery Materials Corp., Glencore has signed a five-year tolling contract for the use of Electra's refinery in Ontario to upgrade additional cobalt hydroxide into battery-grade cobalt. Glencore has been a strong supporter of Electra for a number of years, funding the initial engineering studies and providing technical input as the Canada-based company advanced development of its First Cobalt...
With a "substantially complete" application for a loan to fund the development of its Rhyolite lithium-boron project in Nevada already being processed by the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office, ioneer Ltd. is positioned to be one of the early beneficiaries of the more than $20 billion in federal loans and loan guarantees available to mining and manufacturing companies along the electric vehicle battery materials supply chain. Early in 2021, ioneer entered into...
Teck Resources Ltd. is piloting a project that utilizes the power of blockchain technology to trace responsibly produced germanium from its Red Dog zinc mine in Northwest Alaska all the way to fiber optic cables that leverage the unique properties of this critical mineral. From the transistors in quantum computers that are millions of times faster than their classical counterparts to fiber optic cables that send data at the speed of light, germanium is a little-known semicondu...
Alberta has been chosen as the best locale to develop a critical minerals refinery that would process concentrates from Fortune Minerals Ltd.'s planned Nico cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper mine in Canada's Northwest Territories. A mine at Nico and an associated hydrometallurgical refinery in a Canadian province would produce an average of 1,800 metric tons of battery-grade cobalt sulfate; 1,700 metric tons of bismuth; 300 metric tons of copper; and 47,000 ounces of gold annually ov...
In its race toward becoming North America's electric vehicle market leader by 2025, General Motors Co. has unveiled plans to invest roughly $7 billion in new lithium-ion battery and EV manufacturing facilities in Michigan, the single largest investment ever by the American automaker. "Today we are taking the next step in our continuous work to establish GM's EV leadership by making investments in our vertically integrated battery production in the U.S., and our North American...
On the heels of Rio Tinto's order for four battery-electric locomotives to pull trains of iron ore in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, BHP has placed an order for four of its own battery-electric locomotives to be trialed on its Western Australia Iron Ore rail network. Both of these global miners see electrification of mining and transport equipment as an important facet of achieving their steep carbon dioxide emission reduction targets moving forward. "Replacing...
Seeking greener and more efficient technology for the production of advanced lithium materials for rechargeable batteries, Australia-based Albemarle Corp. has entered into a joint development agreement with 6K, a United States-based company that has developed a cutting-edge microwave-controlled plasma technology for producing advanced materials. Dubbed UniMelt, this patented technology leverages the physics of plasma chemistry to produce high-purity and customized materials...
As the competition for supplies of the minerals and metals needed to build electric vehicles heats up, Tesla Inc. has cut a deal to secure the nickel for the lithium-ion batteries to power its future EVs from Talon Metals Corp.'s Tamarack project in Minnesota. Located 54 miles west of Duluth, the Tamarack project is slated to produce roughly 28 million pounds of nickel, plus 17 million lb of copper, per year over the first nine years of mining. Talon's commitment to reducing t...
Taking a large step toward its goal of halving the carbon emissions at its iron mines in the Pilbara region of Western Australia by 2030, Rio Tinto has placed an order with Wabtec Corp. for four FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives. "Our partnership with Wabtec is an investment in innovation and an acknowledgment of the need to increase the pace of our decarbonization efforts," said Rio Tinto Iron Ore Managing Director of Port, Rail and Core Services Richard Cohen. The...
In another step toward Ucore Rare Metals Inc.'s goal of producing the first separated rare earth elements at its planned Strategic Metals Complex in Alaska in about two years, a third party has carried out an independent evaluation of the RapidSX rare earths separation technology to be used at the Alaska SMC. Developed by Gareth Hatch and his team at Innovation Metals Corp., a subsidiary of Ucore, RapidSX is a technological upgrade to the conventional solvent extraction techno...
5 has been a watershed year for Zentek Ltd., which entered the year as Zen Graphene Solutions Ltd., a mining company leveraging the unique characteristics of the graphite at its Albany project in Ontario to produce a graphene coating that is more than 99% effective at killing a broad range of bacteria and viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19, and exited the year as a technology that is applying this patent-pending ZENGuard antimicrobial coating...
Seeking to wean Wyoming's energy grids and coffers off coal and other fossil fuels, the United States Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management is providing the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources with funds to evaluate the idea of deploying clean hydrogen technologies in the state. The Biden administration sees the development of affordable clean hydrogen as a key to achieving its goal of net-zero carbon emissions in the U.S. by 2050....
To secure a long-term domestic supply of the rare earths needed to build electric vehicles in North America, General Motors has entered into a binding agreement to buy REE materials and magnets to be produced at a new facility MP Materials Corp. is building in Fort Worth, Texas. "We are building a resilient and sustainable EV manufacturing value chain in North America, from raw materials to cell manufacturing to electric drive motors and beyond, further accelerating GM's...
The proposed list of 50 critical minerals unveiled by the U.S. Geological Survey in November shined a light on how dependent the United States is on foreign countries for rare earth elements and a broad array of other technology metals vital to electric vehicles, clean energy, high-tech, and other industrial sectors. The enormous Round Top deposit in the West Texas desert hosts nearly half of the minerals and metals deemed critical to America's economic wellbeing and national...
Powering up its mission to become the world's leading manufacturer of electric vehicles, Volkswagen Group has established a European public company to consolidate activities along the EV battery supply chain – from processing raw materials, to developing a unified Volkswagen battery, and managing the five European gigafactories the company has in the pipeline. The German automaker's new battery business will be headquartered in Salzgitter, Germany, which is the site of V...
The economics of mining bulk tonnage commodities such as iron ore often hinge upon the ability to economically deliver millions of tons of product per year to global markets. Typically, trains and ships are the lowest cost options for moving ore at this scale. If an iron ore deposit is too far away from the ocean and too small to justify the expense of connecting to world markets via rail, then it becomes stranded. Unless, maybe, an autonomous convoy of triple-trailer trucks...
Canada-based AP&C has signed a deal to supply Airbus with titanium powders for 3D printing, a technology that is gaining traction for manufacturing lighter, more durable, and uniquely designed parts for the aerospace industry. AP&C is the metal powder company for GE Additive, a division of the famed multinational energy corporation that sees metal 3D printing as a pioneering process with the potential to transform businesses. Often referred to as metal additive manufacturing...
It is an inconvenient truth that the low-carbon future envisioned by world leaders that gathered for the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, cannot be built without massive new supplies of minerals and metals. While battery metals, rare earths, and other critical minerals have garnered the spotlight for their role in building this future of traveling and transporting goods with electric vehicles charged with renewable energy – and rightfully so – the inc...
While it may seem counterintuitive to consider lava as a source of inspiration for preventing homes and businesses from going up in smoke, researchers in Australia and China have drawn inspiration from this molten rock in the development of a better flame retardant. To prevent buildings from going ablaze, manufacturers have added flame retardants to plastic, wood, and steel building materials for decades. These additives, however, can be toxic and expensive. To make a better...
Tesla Inc. has cut a deal with Syrah Resources Ltd. to supply the single largest ingredient in most lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles – graphite. More specifically, the renowned electric automaker has entered into an offtake agreement for natural graphite active anode material, also known as coated spherical graphite, from Syrah's Vidalia processing facility in Louisiana. The anodes in lithium-ion batteries that power most EVs are packed full of graphite that h...
Looking to establish itself as a major new player in the technology metals and energy transition metals space, Welsbach Technology Metals Acquisition Corp. has launched a $75 million initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market. Led by CEO Daniel Mamadou, a technology metals advisor with more than 20 years of experience in global banking, Welsbach is being established as a blank check company that will use the funds raised through its IPO to invest in and support...
Pennsylvanian coal helped to fuel America's Industrial Revolution, and mines in the Keystone State have since provided a domestic source of iron ore, cobalt, nickel, and various other metals. Now, researchers at Pennsylvania State University have identified a potential motherlode of battery metals to feed into America's EV Revolution in waste left behind by more than two centuries of mining in the commonwealth. "Preliminary estimates indicate that waste left by coal mining...
While laying out an action plan to establish the national network of electric vehicle charging stations needed to keep pace with its ambitious goal of 50% of all vehicles sold in the United States being electric by 2030, the Biden administration reiterated that domestic battery manufacturing and critical minerals supplies are key aspects of the overall EV strategy. The White House is backing up this commitment to domestic battery supply chains with roughly $20 billion in loan...
In spite of its toxic and corrosive reputation, cyanide has been the go-to chemical for gold recovery since 1890 due to its unmatched ability to dissolve the precious metal into a solution. Or, more precisely, previously unmatched ability to recover gold. A new, more environmentally sound formula has been developed in Canada that rivals and sometimes even exceeds cyanide gold recovery, according to tests carried out by world-leading analytical firm SGS. Developed by...
