The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
January 1, 2025
Fleet Space has bundled AI, edge computing, geophysics, satellites, and high-tech sensors into a platform for real-time collection and processing of mineral exploration data.
Scientists at the Argonne and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories have developed a fluorspar-forward electrolyte that performs as well in sub-zero conditions as it does at room temperature.
A researcher samples nickel-rich sap from a hyperaccumulating tree on the island of Borneo.
The Utah Geological Survey and Colorado Geological Survey are investigating the potential of recovering rare earths from coal mines in both western states.
Antimony is vital for ammunition, fireproofing compounds, night vision goggles, and other military gear.
A 7.3 earthquake near the Escondida copper mine in Chile added an exclamation point to a USGS study on the threat earthquakes pose to global mineral supply chains.
USGS estimates that southern Arkansas sits above a reservoir with enough lithium for 625 million to 2.3 billion average-sized electric vehicle batteries.
Titanium is a lightweight metal that adds both strength and corrosion resistance to alloys used in jet engines and many other modern aircraft components.
Over the past year, Metal Tech News writers delivered more than 500 articles with deep insights into the scientific breakthroughs, mining initiatives, government policies, and market conditions that are shaping the future for technology metals and mining technologies.
These articles took readers from material science discoveries in the quantum realm to two-story battery mining trucks at the largest mining show on Earth and from battery metal nodules in the deep sea to accidental mineral discoveries on the surface of Mars.
Here is a countdown of the 10 most-read Metal Tech News articles of 2024.
No. 10 – Spacetech & AI aid Aussie copper search
Fleet Space has bundled AI, edge computing, geophysics, satellites, and high-tech sensors into a platform for real-time collection and processing of mineral exploration data.
Landing at the No. 10 spot on the list of most popular Metal Tech News articles of 2024 is a report that provides a first look at Inflection Resources Ltd.'s successful deployment of Fleet Space Technologies' satellite-enabled ExoSphere platform to explore for hidden deposits of copper across its enormous land package in Australia.
By bundling AI, edge computing, geophysics, satellites, and high-tech earthbound sensors into its ExoSphere platform, Fleet Space has advanced mineral exploration into the 21st century.
The connectivity offered by Fleet Space's low-earth-orbit satellites, combined with the power of AI, allows for real-time mineral exploration data collection and processing.
"This represents more than just profound gains in efficiency at every level of exploration," said Fleet Space CEO Flavia Tata Nardini. "It represents a unification of the end-to-end exploration journey, enabling data-driven learning in exploration on a previously unimaginable scale."
This ability to explore more minerals at an unimaginable scale allowed Inflection Resources to pinpoint high-priority copper targets hidden undercover at the Duck Creek project on its roughly 180-mile-long (290 kilometers) package of properties in New South Wales.
"The end-to-end capabilities of ExoSphere and the 3D subsurface insights it unlocked at our Duck Creek project, has helped Inflection rapidly identify several new high-priority drill targets and has demonstrated that the ExoSphere system can accelerate the data-driven exploration of our projects," said Inflection Resources President and CEO Alistair Waddell.
Assisting Inflection to discover buried copper deposits reflects the Fleet Space founders' vision that the space tech company's satellite-enabled mineral exploration solution could accelerate the discovery of the estimated $13 trillion worth of minerals and metals needed for the energy transition over the next two decades.
"Without a major acceleration in copper discoveries, humanity's transition to renewable energy and building the infrastructure necessary for the global AI industry are unachievable," said Nardini.
No. 9 – Fluorspar: the forgotten battery mineral
Scientists at the Argonne and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories have developed a fluorspar-forward electrolyte that performs as well in sub-zero conditions as it does at room temperature.
While Elon Musk has not yet implored the mining sector to "please mine more fluorspar," the demand for this mineral critical to lithium-ion batteries has been rising with the adoption of electric vehicles. The ninth most-read Metal Tech News article of 2024 provides insights into the expected growing demand for underappreciated fluorspar through the end of the decade.
"While cobalt, nickel, and lithium hog the headlines, another critical mineral is quietly gaining prominence in the lithium-ion battery revolution: fluorspar," Benchmark Mineral Intelligence penned in a February report on the largely overlooked battery mineral.
The world-leading battery supply chain analytical firm forecasts that the battery sector alone will need more than 1.6 million metric tons of fluorspar by 2030. This will make battery manufacturing a significant demand driver for this mineral traditionally used for refrigerants, steelmaking, and aluminum smelting.
The U.S. Department of Energy agrees with this assessment and forecasts that lithium-ion batteries will account for 22% of total fluorspar demand by 2030, up sharply from roughly 5% in use today.
And, like most critical minerals, China is the world's primary supplier of fluorspar and the various chemicals made from this raw material.
"Current production capacity can meet nearly all short-term demand projections, but it will fall short of medium-term demand projections," DOE inked in its report. "China accounted for 68% of global production in 2022, and its market dominance is expected to continue."
China's 2024 bans on the exports of gallium, germanium, and antimony to the United States underscores the risks associated with America's heavy dependence on the communist nation for minerals and metals, critical clean energy, high-tech, military readiness and the broader economy.
No. 8 – DOE explores nickel farming concept
A researcher samples nickel-rich sap from a hyperaccumulating tree on the island of Borneo.
Will we soon be able to farm some of the nickel needed for lithium-ion batteries? The eighth most popular Metal Tech News article of 2024 delivers insights into a $10 million investment by the U.S. Department of Energy to answer that question.
The idea of using plants to extract nickel from soil is not as far-fetched as it may sound. Researchers have identified plants in Malaysia known as hyperaccumulators that thrive in nickel-rich environments and suck up battery metals.
The leaves of the Antidesma montis‐silam, a fast-growing tree that grows on the island of Borneo, contain as much as 3.3% nickel and 4.6% manganese – and the sap has much higher concentrations of these metals.
Scientists are investigating the potential of harvesting nickel, manganese, and other metals pulled up from the soil by hyperaccumulators through a hybrid farming-mining process called phytomining.
To carry this research forward in the U.S., DOE is funding a project led by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to establish phytomining as a competitive domestic source of nickel that, along with mining, can reduce America's reliance on imports of this critical battery metals.
ARPA-E Director Evelyn Wang said "it's going to take all-hands-on-deck approach and innovative solutions" to produce the enormous quantities of minerals and metals needed to meet America's clean energy goals.
And farming some of those energy metals could be part of the solution
"By exploring phytomining to extract nickel as the first target critical material, ARPA-E aims to achieve a cost-competitive and low-carbon footprint extraction approach needed to support the energy transition," Wang said.
ARPA-E's Plant Hyperaccumulators to Mine Nickel-Enriched Soils, or PHYTOMINES, nickel farming project is encouraging partnerships between farmers, mining companies, battery manufacturers, and scientists to find out if some of the nickel needed for lithium-ion batteries can be farmed in the U.S.
No. 7 – China restricts critical antimony exports
Antimony is vital for ammunition, fireproofing compounds, night vision goggles, and other military gear.
The seventh most-read Metal Tech News article of 2024 broke the news in August that China has put in place controls that require government authorization for all exports of antimony, a vital ingredient in a wide range of household, industrial, high-tech, and military goods.
American manufacturers require nearly 50 million pounds of antimony each year for fireproofing compounds, batteries, ammunition, electronics, specialty glass, and other products.
While roughly 18% of America's annual antimony needs are met through the recycling of internal combustion engine vehicle batteries, the lack of domestic antimony mines means the U.S. must depend on overseas suppliers for the remaining 40 million lb.
China (48%), Tajikistan (25%), and Russia (5%) control nearly 80% of the world's antimony supply.
A heavy dependence on Russia and China for a metalloid that is both critical to the American economy and strategic to its military is not something that many U.S. policymakers and Pentagon brass are comfortable with.
In a 2022 report, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee said it "is concerned about recent geopolitical dynamics with Russia and China and how that could accelerate supply chain disruptions, particularly with antimony."
China's ban on all exports of antimony, gallium, and germanium to the U.S. in December has validated these concerns.
The country's Ministry of Commerce warned that anyone caught shipping any of these tech metals from China to the U.S. "will be held accountable according to law."
To establish a secure domestic supply of antimony, the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Perpetua Resources Inc. $59.4 million to accelerate the development of the Stibnite gold-stibnite project in Idaho and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) offered a $1.8 billion loan to fund the construction of the precious and critical metals mine.
"We are seeing a whole-of-government approach to bring antimony production home," said Perpetua Resources President and CEO Jon Cherry.
No. 6 – Earthquake exposes global mineral risks
A 7.3 earthquake near the Escondida copper mine in Chile added an exclamation point to a USGS study on the threat earthquakes pose to global mineral supply chains.
Coming in at No. 6 is a July 19 Metal Tech News article covering a United States Geological Survey study warning of seismic risks to global mineral supplies that was underscored by a powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake that shook the ground at the world's largest copper mine on the same day.
While the powerful Chilean quake did not impact operations at the Escondida mine, it did validate the potential for significant supply chain disruptions in the highly seismic regions where much of the world's metals are produced.
"The potential impacts of earthquake hazards on global mineral commodity supplies have previously not been systemically quantified," said USGS Chief of Minerals Intelligence Research Nedal Nassar.
To quantify these hazards, USGS developed a new methodology for assessing the potential risk of seismic activity on global mineral supplies. Initially focused on copper and rhenium, it examined the potential effects of earthquakes on mining, smelting, and refining operations.
The study highlights that many of the world's largest copper mines and processing facilities are located along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a loop of intense seismic activity that extends from the southern tip of South America, along North America's West Coast, across Alaska, through Japan, along the eastern margins of Asia, and down to New Zealand.
According to the USGS data, more than 80% of the copper mines, refineries, and smelters in South America are located in Ring of Fire earthquake hazard zones. This includes BHP's Escondida copper mine, which is about 100 miles southwest of the powerful earthquake that struck Chile in July.
SQM's Salar de Atacama mine, one of the world's richest sources of lithium, is also located near the epicenter of the 2024 Chilean quake.
The powerful tremor near critical sources of copper and lithium serves as a reminder of the vulnerabilities to energy metal supply chains, as well as the hazards faced by mining operations and the communities around them.
No. 5 – Rare earths found in Utah, Colorado mines
The Utah Geological Survey and Colorado Geological Survey are investigating the potential of recovering rare earths from coal mines in both western states.
The annual Metal Tech News Top 10 list would not be complete without at least one article on rare earths, and so it is no surprise that a story on investigating the potential of recovering this suite of technology metals was the fifth most popular article of 2024.
This story provided insights into the Utah Geological Survey and Colorado Geological Survey's research into the potential of recovering rare earths from mines across the Uinta coal belt in both states.
"The model is if you're already moving rock, could you move a little more rock for resources towards energy transition?" said Lauren Birgenheier, an associate professor at the University of Utah and co-author of the study on rare earths-enriched coal in the Uinta region.
With the association between rare earth and coal deposits already documented, it makes sense to analyze Utah and Colorado's coal fields as a potential domestic source of this suite of elements used in high-tech devices, clean energy technologies, and military hardware.
The study carried out under the U.S. Department of Energy's Carbon Ore, Rare Earth and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) project envisions local processing facilities that could recover rare earths from seams between the layers of coal and also transform the fossil fuel into graphene, carbon fiber and other useful products.
"When we talk about them as 'critical minerals,' a lot of the criticality is related to the supply chain and the processing," said Michael Free, a University of Utah professor of metallurgical engineering and co-author of the study. "This project is designed around looking at some alternative unconventional domestic sources for these materials."
The goal of the first phase of this study was to determine whether it was worth pursuing coal-related rare earths in America's West. Given the findings, it is expected that additional phases will expand to coal-producing areas in the neighboring states of Wyoming and New Mexico.
No. 4 – An Arkansas lithium royalty battle brews
USGS estimates that southern Arkansas sits above a reservoir with enough lithium for 625 million to 2.3 billion average-sized electric vehicle batteries.
A clash over what royalty rates companies should pay for lithium extracted from an enormous reservoir under southern Arkansas is the topic of the fourth most-read Metal Tech News article of 2024.
Arkansas happens to sit on a particularly lithium-rich portion of the Smackover Formation, the relic of an ancient sea that extends from the Florida Panhandle to southern Texas. The porous limestone left behind by this ancient sea is saturated with lithium-enriched brines.
These saltwater brines, which are currently brought to the surface as a waste byproduct of oil and gas recovery, offer a ready supply of lithium the U.S. needs for its transition to low-carbon energy and transportation.
The United States Geological Survey estimates that the brines below southern Arkansas contain enough lithium for 625 million to 2.3 billion average-sized electric vehicle batteries.
With such a massive lithium discovery and big names eager to break ground, Arkansas has become a battleground between multinationals and local landowners over royalties.
In mid-2024, five companies – Albemarle, ExxonMobil, Standard Lithium, Lanxess, and Tetra Technologies Inc. – filed a joint application with the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission (AOGC) to propose a royalty rate of 1.82% for extracting lithium-rich brine in south Arkansas.
Local landowners countered with a royalty rate of 12.5%, a level that will likely send at least some companies to Texas or other states that also cover lithium-enriched portions of the Smackover Formation.
"We assume a 2.5% royalty in our base case, within the range of royalties applied in other jurisdictions," said Greg Jones, a mining analyst at BMO Capital Markets. "We anticipate the commission will take a balanced approach to support development of Arkansas's lithium industry."
In November, the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission ruled that the royalty rate proposed by the companies is too low, leaving it up to the companies to propose a rate that is acceptable to the commission and local landowners.
No. 3– MIT announces titanium alloy breakthrough
Titanium is a lightweight metal that adds both strength and corrosion resistance to alloys used in jet engines and many other modern aircraft components.
Coming in at No. 3 is an article on new titanium alloys developed by scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that break the conventional tradeoff between strength and ductility, potentially revolutionizing applications from aerospace to biomedical equipment.
Titanium alloys have long been valued for their exceptional mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and light weight. However, optimizing these alloys often involves a tradeoff between two key characteristics – strength and ductility.
Stronger materials tend to be less deformable, while more deformable materials are typically mechanically weaker.
Working with metals experts at ATI Specialty Materials, MIT researchers discovered an approach for creating new titanium alloys that defy this historical tradeoff.
By tailoring the chemical composition and lattice structure of the alloy and adjusting the processing techniques used, the team has developed alloys with exceptional combinations of strength and ductility.
The structure of titanium alloys, all the way down to the atomic scale, governs their properties, according to C. Cem Tasan, professor of metallurgy at MIT.
Through careful selection of the alloying elements and their relative proportions, and of the way the material is processed, "you can create various different structures, and this creates a big playground for you to get good property combinations, both for cryogenic and elevated temperatures," Tasan explained.
This industry-supported academic research aimed at proving design principles for alloys that can be commercially produced at scale. Given the importance of high-strength materials that bend but don't break to the aerospace industry, the new alloys developed by the MIT and ATI Specialty Materials researchers hold a lot of promise.
"For any aerospace application where an improved combination of strength and ductility are useful, this kind of invention is providing new opportunities," the MIT professor said.
No. 2 – China export ban deals blow to US economy
Rocketing to the No. 2 spot on the Metal Tech News Top 10 lies an article that delivered exclusive insights into the financial and national security implications of China's December ban on the exports of gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials to the United States.
Gallium and germanium are essential ingredients for semiconductors used to make computer chips; antimony is needed for a wide range of technologies for both military and consumer applications; and superhard materials include high-strength products made from critical metals like tungsten, rhenium, and osmium.
China's Ministry of Commerce said any individual or organization that ships gallium, germanium, antimony, or superhard materials that originated in China to the U.S. "will be held accountable according to law."
These strict export restrictions came just one day after the White House blacklisted 140 Chinese-owned companies from receiving computer chip-making equipment and related technologies, as well as high-bandwidth memory chips from the U.S.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said the U.S.'s escalating chip-making bans are a "malicious suppression of China's technological progress."
A report published by the U.S. Geological Survey in November estimates that a complete Chinese ban on exports of gallium and germanium to the U.S. could send America's gross domestic product (GDP) plummeting by $3.4 billion.
While USGS anticipates that American manufacturers will find alternative supplies of gallium and germanium, China's export ban is expected to deal a significant blow to the American economy until new sources or suitable substitutes for these semiconductor materials critical to high-tech, clean energy, and military readiness are established.
"Our model projects the impacts in the near term and in many cases developing new supply sources or substitute materials takes far longer," said Nedal Nassar, lead author of the gallium and germanium study.
No. 1 – U.S. succeeds in first HALEU production
The No. 1 most-read Metal Tech News article of 2024 went nuclear – both in popularity and subject matter.
The top article of the year broke the news in August that Westinghouse Electric Company had produced its first batch of Low Enriched Uranium Plus (LEU+) fuel pellets, a significant technological milestone that strengthens America's push to reduce reliance on foreign uranium, reinforces national security, and ensures a stable supply of fuel for reactors delivering zero-carbon electricity to the nation's grids.
With a legacy of over 130 years of innovation, Westinghouse has played a central role in shaping the energy landscape, from pioneering alternating current technology to building the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor.
Today, nearly half of the world's nuclear reactors rely on Westinghouse technology. Building on this foundation, Westinghouse continues to advance nuclear energy with innovations like the AP1000 nuclear plant and the eVinci microreactor, furthering its commitment to delivering safe, clean, and reliable energy.
As part of these ongoing efforts, the company recently announced it had produced its first batch of LEU+ fuel pellets from its Springfield facility in the U.K.
This advancement is categorized as a Westinghouse ADOPT (Advanced Doped Pellet Technology) fuel, which is designed to improve fuel cycle economics and enhance the tolerance of conventional fuel pellets.
"The first production of LEU+ ADOPT fuel is a key step for achieving longer fuel cycles and reducing operational costs in the nuclear fuel industry," said Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel President Tarik Choho.
LEU+ is considered as a suitable alternative to high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU).
Previously, HALEU was primarily sourced from Russia. However, with the recent ban on Russian uranium imports, the U.S. government has long prepared to break away from this dependence and seeks to establish domestic capabilities to produce this higher form of enriched fuel.
The first batch of Westinghouse's LEU+ fuel pellets is slated for testing at the Vogtle Unit 2 reactor in Georgia this spring.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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