The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Copper has had a wild ride in 2023, going from expected surplus to deficit within the last few months due to labor disputes, environmental protests, and volatile demand. The supply-demand roller coaster in 2023 was reflected in the price of this energy metal, which dropped from a high above $9,400 per metric ton last January to fluctuating to lows of around $7,800 in May and again in October before rebounding above $8,700 by year's end. Part of the reason for the late 2023...
On Dec. 12, 2015, delegates from almost every country on the planet signed a landmark climate accord, the Paris Agreement, that united more than 190 parties in support of a legally binding treaty pledging to drive the overall planetary temperature down by slashing the use of fossil fuels and adopting solutions for a massive transition to renewable energy and green transportation. This requires extensive economic and social transformation, measured in five-year cycles of...
S&P Global study details enormous energy transition metals demand in the US; significant supply challenges at home, abroad. The United States has "considerable challenges" to overcome when it comes to securing enough critical minerals and copper to meet the increased energy transition-related demands being driven by the Inflation Reduction Act, according to analysis by S&P Global. Detailed in a new 111-page report – Inflation Reduction Act: Impact on North America Metals a...
Helping to spur the production of critical minerals around the world, TechMet Ltd. announced the closing of its latest $200 million in equity funding to further invigorate its incredible lineup of technology metal assets around the globe. Founded in 2017, TechMet is a capital investment firm focused on building businesses across the critical minerals value chain from mining to processing, recycling, and battery component manufacturing. In the past year, TechMet has already inv...
Funds 5 national labs to streamline critical minerals recovery process. In yet another round of funding, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $5.3 million in grants for five cutting-edge projects intended to advance research supporting the domestic production of rare earth elements and other critical minerals that are key to manufacturing clean energy technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cells. Under the purview of DOE's...
Leading the lithium rush, the Pilgangoora project in Western Australia's mine-friendly and resource-rich Pilbara region is sporting one of the largest hard rock lithium deposits in the world. Nearly all the lithium produced at Pilbara Minerals' gigantic Pilgangoora processing plant is sold to China for processing into lithium carbonate and hydroxide. But Pilbara Minerals, along with a few of Australia's more daring mining companies, is working to break China's grip on lithium...
Mining companies that hope to draw lithium-rich brines from Railroad Valley in the Nevada desert have come up against heated resistance from environmentalists, local ranchers and tribal leaders for years. A highly persuasive voice that joined the chorus of opponents – the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration itself – has succeeded in placing a world-class lithium area off limits to mining. This wasn't exactly a bolt from the blue – NASA has been working with...
The global shift to renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, and electric vehicles (EV) requires a vast amount of several minerals and metals. While supplying the huge amount of mined materials needed for the coming clean energy transition poses challenges, especially if not managed responsibly and sustainably, World Bank Group sees economic opportunities for some of the world's poorest regions. "The World Bank supports a low-carbon transition where mining is...
Latest RFI for unconventional sources and possible desire for critical minerals "matchmaking." Much like its requests for information on clean energy projects, lithium recycling, and critical minerals, the United States Department of Energy is once again seeking input, this time to further solidify domestic critical minerals supply through the use of unconventional and secondary sources. Aimed at supporting its ongoing Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM)...
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have found a way to add a dash of boron to a tungsten tokamak fusion reactor to keep its plasma clean during operations. Because of its high melting point, tungsten is a metal of choice for helping tokamak components withstand the intense heat of the fusion process – often upwards of 150 million degrees Kelvin, or ten times the temperature at the core of the Sun. While it is not new to use boron...
Typically thought of as a glimmery precious metal used to make coins, bullion, jewelry, and other shiny objects, silver's true value lies in more industrious properties that make it invaluable to high-tech applications such as solar panels, electric vehicles, and 5G networks. "Silver demand has evolved from a monetary ornamental use, to photographic, to digital, and now to energy," Hecla Mining Company President and CEO Phillips Baker, Jr. said during a March 31 keynote...
Appia Energy Corp. says recent testing shows that the rare earths-enriched monazite mineral at its Alces Lake project in northern Saskatchewan also hosts gallium, a semiconducting metal that will melt in the palm of your hand. An electron microprobe study conducted by the Saskatchewan Research Council successfully demonstrated that monazite from two separate high-grade rare earth zones and trends at Alces Lake – Ivan and WRCB – contain similar concentrations of gallium oxi...
University researchers working in tandem with the European Space Agency, have tested the use of a new, smokeless, carbon-free energy by burning iron powder. And what better way to assess the potential of this new type of fuel than by brewing beer with all the flavor and less carbon emissions than traditional brews? First tested in microgravity aboard European Space Agency sounding rockets, a team at McGill University in Canada and Eindhoven University of Technology in the...
Canada-based Zinc8 Energy Solutions Inc. has formed a partnership that could see its patented zinc-air energy storage system installed at renewable energy facilities in Australia, a country at the forefront of low-carbon electrical power generation. In recent years, Australia and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency have invested A$1.58 billion (US$1.12 billion) to support 543 greenhouse gas-reducing energy projects as the country seeks to achieve more aggressive renewable...
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...