The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Invests $45 million for regional Carbon Ore, Rare Earth and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) assessment across the nation. To help break America's reliance on imports for many of the minerals critical to the nation's economy and security, the U.S. Department of Energy is investing $45 million into six regional projects from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to the Appalachian Mountain region near the Atlantic coast. "Rebuilding a domestic supply chain for critical minerals and...
New Supply Chain Resiliency Initiative aims to break America's reliance on China for minerals essential to transformative technologies. As the Chinese government brandishes its dominance over critical mineral supply chains as a weapon in an escalating trade war with the U.S., the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is equipping critical minerals suppliers outside of the People's Republic of China (PRC) with a powerful new financing tool aimed at leveling the...
Northern Nevada lithium project co-owned by GM now hosts enough reserves for 85 years of mining. Lithium Americas and General Motors' Thacker Pass Mine project in Nevada now hosts enough reserves to supply the lithium needed for the batteries to power more than 250 million electric vehicles over the next 85 years. Lithium America President and CEO Jonathan Evans says a new reserve calculation and supporting technical report detailing the plans for an initial 25 years of...
Receives funding to help build sustainable US rare earth supply chain. Backing from BMW i Ventures is allowing Phoenix Tailings to recover 200 metric tons of rare earth metals like neodymium and dysprosium from mine tailings annually, advancing sustainable technology and strengthening U.S. supplies. Working to unlock the immense potential hidden within mine tailings and other waste byproducts, Phoenix Tailings has grown from a backyard project in Cambridge, Massachusetts, into...
After eight years of permitting, Perpetua Resources receives major federal authorizations needed to develop Stibnite Mine. "We Did It!" Perpetua Resources Corp.'s three-word response to the U.S. Forest Service's authorization of its plan to build and operate the Stibnite Mine underscores both the significance of this major milestone for gold-antimony project in Idaho and the excitement of finally reaching the finish line after nearly a decade of federal permitting process for...
DOD and NRCan invest in advancing Fireweed Metals' Mactung mine project, supporting North America's critical mineral needs. In a strategic bid to establish secure and reliable North American supplies of minerals critical to defense and the broader economy, the U.S. Department of Defense and Canadian government are jointly investing up to US$27.3 million (C$35.4 million) to aid Fireweed Metals Corp. in advancing the Mactung tungsten mine project in eastern Yukon toward a final...
Innovative mining company explores potential of recovering tech metal from aluminum plant in Quebec; province backs endeavor. In a move that could help fill the gap in supply left by China's ban on exports of gallium to the United States, Rio Tinto is investigating the potential of recovering this high-tech metal needed for computer chip manufacturing from its aluminum operations in Quebec. ''This new research and development project is destined to help strengthen the North Am...
Mozambique unrest forces Australian company to declare force majeure at graphite mine backed by the U.S. government. The Biden administration's bet on friendshoring graphite for electric vehicle batteries from a mine in Africa suffered a major blow with Syrah Resources Ltd.'s Dec. 12 declaration of force majeure for its Balama graphite mine in Mozambique and a notice that it will default on more than $250 million in loans from United States government agencies. The...
China export bans underscore lack of national reserves; The Oregon Group points out upsides and downsides to rebuilding stockpiles. Above and beyond exposing America's lack of critical minerals mining and processing, China's ban on the exports of antimony, gallium, and germanium shines a spotlight on the near depletion of national reserves of mined commodities vital to the nation's economy and security. Critical minerals and energy analysts at The Oregon Group point out that...
Recycled copper and aluminum raw material imports get a break to go green. Chinese import tariffs on certain recycled copper and aluminum raw materials will be reduced effective Jan. 1, the government said last weekend. Lower provisional tariffs will also be implemented for ethane, cycloolefin polymers and ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers, which are basic materials used by the petrochemical industry. "These tariff cuts will effectively reduce the production costs of...
Los Alamos National Lab blasts runaway electrons with tungsten particles to prevent fusion damage. Harnessing the energy of stars is no simple feat – scientists have been "20 years away" from the successful attainment of sustained nuclear fusion for more than five decades. A Los Alamos National Laboratory discovery that utilizes a "tungsten shotgun" to neutralize destructive instability in fusion reactors may be the key to finally hitting that moving target, bringing the p...
Funds six firms to build domestic nuclear fuel supply. In a decisive move to bolster America's nuclear energy capabilities, the U.S. Department of Energy has announced contracts with six companies to develop domestic low enriched uranium (LEU) production, strengthening supply chains for the nation's existing and next-generation reactors. Prioritizing the development of an LEU supply chain, DOE has made this effort central to its energy security strategy, a necessity...
$17M in funding supports innovation to bolster domestic resource recovery. To address vulnerabilities in the global supply chain for critical materials, the U.S. Department of Energy is awarding $17 million for 14 projects aimed at advancing domestic production and recovery of essential resources needed for next-generation technologies. Rising geopolitical tensions and tightening trade policies have exposed the fragility of global supply chains for critical materials such as...
Perpetua and United States Antimony take first step into connecting links in Idaho and Montana. United States Antimony Corp. and Perpetua Resources Corp., companies at the vanguard of breaking America's heavy reliance on imports for antimony, are investigating the potential of integrating their expertise to establish an antimony supply chain in Idaho and Montana. Antimony has long been on the list of minerals deemed critical to the U.S. and is of high strategic importance to...
Lifts suspension holding back development at Energy Fuels' Toliara critical minerals project. With approval from the Malagasy Council of Ministers, Energy Fuels, one of the largest uranium producers in the United States, is resuming its Toliara project in southwest Madagascar after a five-year suspension of development. "The lifting of the suspension by the Malagasy Government is a very significant step in the development of the Toliara rare earths, titanium, and zirconium...
Norway's attempt to open up a U.K.-sized section of Arctic seabed to mineral exploration and potential mining has been halted – for now. Several official studies and commercial forays into deep-sea mining have discovered a wealth of vital energy transition minerals secreted at the bottom of the world's oceans, globally available and hotly contested. Countries large and small are now peering eagerly into the depths of territorial and international waters to find incalculable a...
The cutoff of gallium and germanium could send America's GDP plummeting by $3.4 billion; antimony a top concern for the Pentagon. In a move that could deal a multibillion-dollar blow to the American economy and impact the nation's military readiness, China has completely banned 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; and antimony...
Leaving cities dark and businesses in ruin, the skyrocketing demand for recycled copper has a seedy underbelly. The Upper Midwest Chapter of Recycled Materials Association (ReMA), a trade group representing scrap metal workers, has sued the Minnesota Department of Commerce, alleging that a new law imposing a $250 license fee involving copper recyclers meant as a "barrier to entry" could hinder the majority of recycling efforts without deterring copper wire thieves. The Copper...
Coal ash waste stream might become feedstock for extracting much-needed domestic rare earth elements. The U.S. has relied almost entirely on imports for its supply of rare earth elements (REEs) – nearly 75% of which comes from China, whose geopolitical tensions with the West have put several critical mineral supply chains onto shaky ground. Meanwhile, at a special landfill in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, researchers have discovered massive potential for this suite of elements h...
Congressman Ciscomani's bill to include copper and other energy materials on critical minerals list receives strong bipartisan support, Copper is so essential to wiring the energy transition that the World Bank estimates global mining operations will need to produce as much of this ubiquitous metal over the next 25 years as has been mined over the 5,000 years since the dawn of the Bronze Age. Despite the economic and geopolitical implications of a world demanding 1.1 trillion...
Receives 10-year federal permit to expand upon deposits within the famed Idaho Cobalt Belt. With a federal 10-year exploration permit in its pocket, Electra Battery Materials Corp. has the flexibility and time to thoroughly evaluate its Idaho Cobalt Belt properties, which host some of the only potential primary sources of cobalt outside the Democratic Republic of Congo. So far, Electra has outlined 4.5 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.19% (18.4 million pou...
Funding to support New York facility to recycle critical battery materials. Amid rising demand for domestic battery recycling solutions, Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. has secured a landmark $475 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance the development of its Rochester Hub project, a facility poised to become North America's first commercial-scale hydrometallurgical battery materials recovery center. Over the past few years, Li-Cycle has emerged as a leader in...
USGS estimates that the U.S. economy would take a $2.4 billion hit if China banned exports of gallium and germanium. From household appliances to high-end electronics, gallium and germanium are essential elements to a wide array of products manufactured in the United States. American manufacturers, however, must rely heavily on imports from China for both of these critical minerals. A cutoff of this supply could send America's gross domestic product (GDP) plummeting by $3.4...
Researchers have engineered a nanomaterial flexed by rare earth magnets that is as soft as skin but strong as steel. The studies of robotics, biomedical engineering, and wearable technology all intersect over the immensely complex task of replicating human musculature – creating materials strong enough to replace or enhance human limbs, flexible and soft enough to manipulate delicate objects or complete precise tasks in everyday life, during space exploration or on a b...
CMAG is on a mission to foster relationships the will unlock Africa's vast critical mineral potential. Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to host nearly one-third of the world's proven critical minerals reserves but has struggled to have its voice heard when it comes to global critical minerals policy and supply chains. The newly launched Critical Minerals Africa Group (CMAG) aims to provide African policymakers, business leaders, and citizens a seat at the table when it comes...
