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A few weeks ago, American Resources Principal Daniel McGroarty had the honor of participating in a fantastic event put on by our friends at ProEdgeWire.

The 2nd Annual Technology Metals Summit, Renewable Energy — the next industrial revolution, hosted in Toronto in April, brought together a formidable crowd of strategic mineral experts, industry representatives, accredited investors and senior government officials to discuss the complex challenges faced by the sector.

For those interested, ProEdgeWire Editor and American Resources expert Tracy Weslosky has put together a post-conference wrap-up post which features links to many of the presentations offered by speakers during the event.

According to news reports, former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson will be joining Apple Inc. as vice president of environmental initiatives. As part of her new position, Jackson will coordinate many of the company’s environmental practices.

Jackson hailed Apple’s environmental record stating that “Apple has shown how innovation can drive real progress by removing toxics from its products, incorporating renewable energy in its data center plans, and continually raising the bar for energy efficiency in the electronics industry.”

Interestingly, Jackson will now for the first time have to represent the interests of a company which heavily relies on critical minerals for the manufacturing of its hi-tech products, an area where Apple emphasizes its commitment to “supplier responsibility.”

Jackson may not be known as a strong proponent of domestic resource development to date, but one thing is clear: in order to reconcile the company’s mineral resource needs and responsible sourcing goals as well as environmental policies, an emphasis on sustainable domestic resource development is crucial.

As American Resources Principal Daniel McGroarty has previously pointed out:

Mining projects developed here in the U.S. are, on balance, likely to be conducted with higher standards of safety, against stronger environmental strictures, with better benefits to the surrounding communities than projects in many parts of the world.

With her background as a close ally of President Obama’s during her tenure at EPA, there is an opportunity for Jackson to use her clout and experience to help push forward President Obama’s Material Genome Initiative – a collaboration between government, private-sector, and academia “to discover and deploy new cutting-edge materials faster and cheaper than ever before,” born from the realization that many critical minerals which characterize “the industrial cutting-edge are not as naturally abundant or easy to access as their predecessors.”

At a time when manufacturing could use a boost, an increased focus on domestic resource development would be just what the doctor ordered. Or in other words:

If we’re serious about reviving American manufacturing, if we’re serious about restoring American jobs, if we’re serious about making sure the high-tech and green-tech dreams of the future are Made In America, if we’re serious about safeguarding our national security – we need a new resource development strategy. And we need it now.

With the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo being a rich source of the so-called Three Ts – Tantalum, Tin and Tungsten – and these minerals having been used to finance the civil war in the region, “conflict minerals” are a hot-button issue. The 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law and respective rules (…) more

Dear Reader, We are writing to warn you of a federal action that could dramatically impact America’s domestic supplies of natural resources. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its revised draft Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment last month in response to calls from anti-mining groups for the EPA to issue a preemptive permit veto under (…) more

In a recent opinion piece for Politico, Brigadier General John Adams (U.S. Army, ret.) author of “Remaking American Security” and President of Guardian Six Consulting, and Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, zero in on the national security implications of our mineral dependencies. Citing Hellfire missiles and night vision goggles as examples, (…) more

Last week, the American Resources Policy Network had the honor of organizing and participating in a confidential, invitation-only session on strategic and critical materials identified by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency/Strategic Materials (DLA/SM) and the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA). The event is part of a series of sessions American Resources has been asked to (…) more

It’s spring – and everything is growing, including the group of formidable people lending their expertise to the American Resources Policy Network. We’re thrilled to announce that Chris Berry of House Mountain Partners, LLC has joined the American Resources panel of experts. A life-long interest in geopolitics and the financial issues that emerge from these (…) more

U.S. Defense Agencies Look to ARPN Experts for Critical Input on Metals and National Security The American Resources Policy Network has been invited by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency/Strategic Materials (DLA/SM) and the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) to take part in the 2015 National Defense Stockpile (NDS) Requirements Report process, assessing potential shortfalls in (…) more

There has been much hype surrounding what has been described as the world’s wonder material – graphene. It is (theoretically) stronger than steel, more conductive than copper and incredibly flexible. Graphene is a one atom layer of carbon, a truly two-dimensional material. One mining company described it as “graphite, unfolded”. On the face of it (…) more

After a few-month-long hiatus, it is time to bring back our Metals of the Month feature on the blog. In its context, we have been highlighting the breadth of our mineral needs and potential by showcasing the utilities of metals and minerals for which the United States is largely import-dependent, as well as associated challenges. (…) more