The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - March 18, 2024
High-purity lead bars produced from Doe Run's mining and battery recycling operations in Missouri.
Cobalt and nickel are critical EV battery metals.
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 Missouri.
"This award is another important step towards decreasing reliance on unstable sources of cobalt and nickel, and ensuring a sustainable industrial base capable of meeting current and future demand," said Department of Defense Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Policy Laura Taylor-Kale.
In 2022, the Pentagon received a directive from the White House to leverage the Defense Production Act (DPA) – a law established in 1950 to ensure the U.S. could secure goods needed for national security during the Cold War – to fund sustainable and responsible domestic production of strategic and critical minerals.
Domestic critical minerals projects that have received funding from Pentagon's DPA investment program over the past three years include:
• Albemarle Corp. – $90 million to support the reopening of the Kings Mountain lithium mine in North Carolina.
• Graphite One Inc. – $37.5 million to support a domestic graphite supply chain that includes a mine in Alaska.
• Jervois Mining Ltd. – $15 million to support the expansion of the Idaho Cobalt Operations.
• Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. – $258 million in funding to establish a rare earths processing facility in Texas.
• MP Materials Corp. – $44.6 million to commercially separate rare earths at its Mountain Pass Mine in California.
• Perpetua Resources Corp. – $40.8 million to reestablish a domestic supply of antimony at the Stibnite Gold project in Idaho.
• Talon Nickel Corp. – $20.6 million to advance exploration and resource definition at the Tamarack project in Minnesota.
The $7 million investment into Doe Run is supporting another potential domestic supply of sustainable cobalt and nickel, metals critical to the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles and a wide array of military hardware.
Doe Run is a nearly 160-year-old private resource firm that operates mines, mineral processing plants, and recycling facilities in Missouri, Washington, and Arizona.
The St. Louis-based firm's operations are centered in southeastern Missouri, where it operates mines that produce zinc and copper concentrates that also contain lead and other metals. Doe Run's projects also host antimony, cobalt, nickel, and tin – all of which are on the list of minerals and metals critical to the U.S.
"Missouri has key mineral resources critical to powering an electrified future and reducing greenhouse gases," said Doe Run President and CEO Matthew Wohl. "Accessing these minerals and converting them into resources that can be utilized domestically will require collaboration among policymakers, producers, end-users, and the investment community."
In a 2023 letter to stakeholders, Wohl said "the company spent untold hours with federal and state elected officials and regulators explaining how Doe Run can help the nation reduce its dependence on foreign minerals and metals through U.S. domestic resources."
In addition to the mines and mineral processing facilities it already operates, Doe Run says the critical mineral opportunities it has to offer include new technologies emerging from its in-house tech center, as well as from mineral projects not currently in production.
"We are also working closely with Missouri University of Science and Technology on supporting their critical minerals research funding opportunities," Wohl explained.
Cobalt and nickel are critical EV battery metals.
Among the opportunities offered by Doe Run is a hydrometallurgical nickel and cobalt extraction processing plant under development.
The DPA investment funding from DOD will enable Doe Run to test, demonstrate, and scale up this technology, which is expected to culminate in "a sustainable domestic processing facility capable of producing commercial-scale levels of cobalt and nickel, which are used in a number of DOD systems."
This battery metals processing plant is part of Doe Run's strategy to help establish The Show-Me State as a major supply hub for the minerals and metals needed for the clean energy transition.
"With its access to mineral resources and the proprietary technologies necessary to unlock our state's resources, Doe Run is uniquely positioned to help Missouri become the centerpiece of the nation's energy transformation," said Wohl.
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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