The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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With ambitious technological and financial cooperation, Western allies could produce enough critical minerals to meet climate goals. In the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, nations quickly discovered the perils of an uneven distribution of production and processing capabilities in the guise of globalization. Phrases like "near-shoring" and "friend-shoring" led discussions of a green economy as remedies to the trade imbalance between the United States and the People's Republic...
Tapping the massive underground resource will hinge on landowner royalty agreement. The promise of lithium beneath Arkansas and five neighboring states cannot be overstated. Arkansas' little corner of the Smackover Formation – a massive permeable limestone geological extending from Florida to Texas – was estimated earlier this month by the U.S. Geological Survey to host between five and 19 million tons of lithium reserves. With such a massive lithium discovery and big names ea...
Separation and processing are the master link of US supply chain. From tech devices such as smartphones and computer monitors to clean energy products like electric vehicles and wind turbines, household goods like vacuum cleaners and refrigerators, and military hardware such as F-35 fighters and communications equipment, rare earths have a critical role to play in nearly every facet of America's economy and security. The United States, however, currently relies on China for ne...
Tin is indispensable today and shapes innovation of tomorrow. From $5 flashlightS to multi-million-dollar super computers, virtually all electronics rely on tin, primarily because of its use in soldering. If circuit boards are considered the backbone of technology, then tin-based solder could be seen as the connective tissue that holds the industry together. Despite its fundamental role in the Digital Age, tin is often overshadowed by other critical minerals and contends with...
Projects, initiatives, and technology expand scandium supply chain security. While it may not have quite as strong a chemical bond to its adopted lanthanide siblings as they do each other, scandium does possess similar enough characteristics and is almost always found at the same geological gatherings (deposits) as the rest of its rare earth family. Named for the Latin word for Scandinavia, "Scandia," – as the mineral was thought to only dwell off the Nordic peninsula – sca...
An all-of-government strategy is beginning to unfold in the US. Over the first two years following the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Department of Energy has invested billions of dollars into establishing a clean energy supply chain in the United States. These heavy investments, however, have neglected one vital link – the domestic mines needed to supply the processing facilities, battery plants, and other energy t...
Import-reliance a top concern for national security officials. America's heavy reliance on China and others for the minerals and metals critical to the nation's economic competitiveness, military strength, and clean energy future is high on the list of strategic concerns for top brass at the U.S. departments of Defense and Homeland Security. While much of this concern is rooted in the fact that the United States' ability to defend its strategic interests at home and abroad...
Decades-long clash continues over Colorado's uranium mines with implications for economy and national security. Mining near the Grand Canyon has been an embattled topic for decades, with an outcome that has implications for American jobs, the future of green energy, the economy, and national security. Uranium fuels nuclear power, a sustainable, efficient, plentiful and practically carbon-free energy. Miners like Colorado-based Energy Fuels Resources Inc. and the current...
U.S. Department of Energy is funding a Critical Materials Supply Chain Research Facility support a resilient and secure domestic supply chain. The Department of Energy is funding a Critical Materials Supply Chain Research Facility that will help support a secure domestic supply of minerals and materials critical to economic prosperity, national security, and the green energy transition in the U.S. This week, the DOE's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)...
Without investors, the future of South Africa's rare earth elements enriched Phalaborwa site may depend on Washington support. Bordering South Africa's renowned Kruger National Park stands Phalaborwa, a mine sporting two rare earths-enriched phospho-gypsum waste piles that could mean over a billion in critical minerals for the U.S. – if the project can get enough support to run. To challenge China's near monopoly on rare earths, Washington has committed funds to a little-known...
University convened with key leaders across government, industry, and academia on Capitol Hill to discuss sustainable production and cultivating the next generation of miners. In a pivotal move to safeguard the U.S. critical mineral supply chain, the University of Arizona has taken center stage in pioneering sustainable mining practices, nurturing a skilled domestic workforce, and powering the national transition to renewable energy and next-gen defense technology at an event...
Researcher Lana Alagha received $875,000 from Rio Tinto to explore gallium and germanium recovery from copper waste streams. In a landmark development for critical minerals recovery, global mining company Rio Tinto has granted Missouri University of Science and Technology professor Lana Alagha $875,000 for a two-year project that seeks to pioneer novel techniques for extracting the highly sought after critical minerals gallium and germanium from waste generated in copper...
Pentagon awards Doe Run $7 million to help scale up a cobalt and nickel processing plant in The Show-Me State. As part of a larger objective to ensure the United States has reliable domestic supplies of the minerals and metals critical to the nation's economy and security, the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded The Doe Run Resources Corp. $7 million to complete a demonstration-scale hydrometallurgical plant for separation of cobalt and nickel at their facility in...
Combining carbon-free energy with permanent storage of CO2 creates a more cost-effective self-sustaining loop. A research team at Ohio State University (OSU) has proposed the combination of carbon capture with geothermal energy in a cheap, novel method that could make capturing carbon dioxide from the air a viable option. Their system recycles some of the captured CO2 to transport geothermal energy in a closed loop that can make large-scale direct air capture cheaper and more...
Enters into agreement with ReElement for a domestic supply of rare earths for its magnet plant in Oklahoma. In a move that will begin to establish a circular and domestic supply chain for the powerful magnets used in electric vehicle motors, USA Rare Earth LLC has signed a deal to buy ultra-pure rare earth elements (REE) produced from ReElement Technologies Corp.'s state-of-the-art rare earths and battery metals refining facility in Indiana. "We are thrilled to be working...
Three projects that will advance coal-derived rare earths and critical minerals. Further attempting to strengthen America's critical mineral supply chain and by proxy its national security, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $17 million in funding for three projects focused on establishing a domestic supply of rare earth elements and critical minerals from coal-based resources. Funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as part of President Biden's Investing in...
Reshoring mineral supply chains lost to globalization is a key part of DOD National Defense Industrial Strategy The urgency to onshore critical mineral supply chains in the United States has begun to shift away from a need to secure reliable sources of the minerals and metals needed to support the nation's economy and clean energy ambitions toward the need for these same mined commodities to defend American ideals and interests at home and abroad. "Establishing a fully...
In 2023 alone, the federal geological survey invested $51M into Earth MRI scans of 35 states as part of a nationwide critical minerals search. From rare earths in Northern Maine to lithium in Southern California and titanium in Florida to 29 critical minerals in Alaska, the United States Geological Survey is investing heavily in strengthening domestic supply chains for the 50 minerals and metals critical to every sector of the American economy. This nationwide search for...
The start of ExxonMobil's new lithium production unit in southwestern Arkansas in mid-November highlights rapidly growing industry interest in producing the white mineral from the briny aquifers that proliferate in this region of the United States. Lithium is a crucial component in the manufacture of batteries needed for electric vehicles, and demand for the white mineral is projected to quadruple by 2030. ExxonMobil said its new unit is expected to begin producing the white...
The growing list of critical minerals and conflict elements like cobalt are drawing intense focus and demand for alternative sources. Investors and consumers are increasingly focused on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials, provenance, and indirect emissions of these supply chains. If done right, prioritizing urban mining – specifically moving recycled materials upstream in supply chains – could provide cheaper domestic supply with a lower emissions foo...
As the White House continues to dole out hundreds of billions of dollars to position America as the global leader in clean energy and digital technologies, Beijing initiates a strategy to put America in check with the global economy equivalent of pawns. These pawns in the technology chess match between the U.S. and China are gallium and germanium, a pair of semiconductor metals used to make the computer chips essential to every facet of modern life. Before all the major news o...
USA Rare Earth has entered a deal with Australian Strategic Materials to supply magnet rare earths for Oklahoma plant. With its sights set on producing rare earth magnets at its new Oklahoma plant next year, USA Rare Earth LLC has entered into a multi-year supply agreement with Australian Strategic Materials Ltd., a producer of metals for clean energy and high-tech devices. "Having a supply agreement in place with ASM plays a critical role in delivering on our vision of...
What's the secret behind the bright colors lighting up the US night skies on the 4th of July? The answer is minerals! Each color is the result of specific chemicals derived from different minerals. Read further to find out what these minerals are, and get ready to be surprised at the other ways these minerals are used when they're not competing with the stars to illuminate the night sky. The Color: Green The Chemical: Barium Chloride Mineralogy 101: Barium chloride is what's...
US invests heavily into developing domestic rare earth element processing plants Despite what their name suggests, rare earths are not all that scarce. An efficient and environmentally sound technology capable of separating this tightly bonded group into the 15 individual elements of innovation, however, is truly unique and the key to establishing a rare earths supply chain in North America. There are currently no commercial-scale rare earths separation facilities in North...
General Motors, Stellantis, and Tesla moving further up battery supply chain With the batteries powering the electric vehicle revolution demanding more lithium than miners can produce, the price of this lightest metal in the universe rocketed more than 1,000% over the span of two years. This has prompted automakers such as Tesla and General Motors to become more directly involved in the mining and refining of the lithium-ion battery namesake. "Price of lithium has gone to...
