American Resources leader Dan McGroarty will be attending the 7th Annual Military Energy Alernatives Conference in Tysons Corner, VA on March 6-8. The conference will discuss how the Department of Defense is implementing renewable technology to achieve energy efficiency and security at the operational level, as well as how renewable energy can be applied more broadly and less expensively on a strategic level.
Promoting the development of American mineral resources.
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U.S. Steel Industry leads the world – but what about our other minerals and metals?
American Resources expert Lisa Reisman’s blog MetalMiner had some cheerful news to share this week: The U.S. Steel Industry is leading the world – and this is not just a blast from the past. Some of the post’s key points:
- Steel production is up 5.7 percent to 7.6 million tons in January.
- According to a daily Reuters customer newsletter, CRU reports that the U.S. steel industry “is almost alone in positive territory both last year and 2012.”
- At the same time, world crude steel production declined to 117 million tons in January (a 7.8 percent drop), with China’s fall in crude output leading the global plunge.
- While Asian and European steelmakers are equally negatively affected by a drop in demand, U.S. steelmakers are benefiting from a “judicious control of capacity and a strong performance of the automotive sector, as well as export-oriented and natural resource-based sectors,” giving them the competitive edge over their international peers.
It’s great to see this key mainstay metal sector performing well. One of the things we should keep in mind, though, is that when it comes to other critical minerals and metals, the U.S. does not nearly fare as well as it could when compared to other global players, in spite of the treasure trove of natural resources beneath our own feet.In many cases, we are blessed to have the minerals, as well as the technologies to cost-efficiently and – following some of the highest standards – safely explore and develop them, but fail to do so for a number of reasons. Given our mineral potential, we could conceivably lead the world in more sectors than steel, if only our policy makers would focus on creating a framework conducive to it, creating jobs and securing our strategic and economic future in the process.
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Utah plant to reduce over-reliance on foreign rhenium imports
Perfectly closing out our rhenium month this week, Utah’s daily Deseret News has a piece on Kennecott Utah Copper’s $340 million “Molybdenum Autoclave Processing” project, a plant, which according to Kennecott’s vice president for projects and expansions, “will (produce) 10 percent of the world’s molybdenum.” At the same time, the vast complex in Magna, Utah, (…) more
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Critical metals take center stage in border dispute: The Kuril Islands and Rhenium
According to a recent article in the Russian daily Pravda, Russia finds itself locked in a territorial dispute that is becoming increasingly acute. The conflict over the group of four islands, which Russia calls the “Southern Kurils” and Japan calls the “Northern Territories, is the reason why Japan and Russia never signed a peace treaty (…) more
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Japan’s rare earth recycling strategy
While the United States pours money into foreign mineral imports, other countries are recognizing the value of self-sufficiency: Japan has drafted a bill requiring consumers to recycle used electronics containing rare earth and critical metals. The federally-sponsored move illustrates the priority Japanese officials are giving to mineral policy, a focus that contrasts sharply with the (…) more
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The voice from “the other Washington” – Addressing the mining crowd at the Seattle SME conference
This week, I traveled to Seattle, Washington to attend the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration’s (SME) annual meeting, and give a presentation titled “Public Policy in the Resource Wars.” A policy speech at a mining conference is a little like topping your banana split with broccoli; mining folks understand chemistry, geology, economics and physics (…) more
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FY 2013 budget doubles down on “green” energy fueled by critical minerals
In his much-anticipated proposed FY 2013 Federal budget blueprint released last week, President Barack Obama reaffirmed his commitment to “renewable” energy. An attractive proposition, but it raises the question of whether we are simply trading one set of foreign dependencies for another. Technologies such as electric cars and wind and solar energy generators are heavily (…) more
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Waiting for DoD: What does the Pentagon think of our rare earths vulnerability?
Inquiring Congressional minds want to know — or at least the Congressional mind belonging to Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), co-chair (with Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman) of the newly-formed Rare Earths Caucus. During Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s House Armed testimony this week, Cong. Johnson seized the opportunity to ask where things stood with the Pentagon’s report (…) more
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The U.S.-China Relationship: A Test of Metals?
Beginning today, official Washington hosts a visit from China’s Vice-President Xi Jinping, widely seen as the successor to current President Hu Jintao, who steps down later this year as head of China’s Communist Party, and cedes the presidency in 2013. The visit highlights a number of issues that make the current U.S-China relationship contentious. For (…) more
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Canada remains worldwide leader of non-fuel exploration
Canada is the leading country for mineral exploration for the 10th year in a row, according to the latest rankings from Metals Economics Group’s (MEG) Corporate Exploration Strategies. The country represents 18 percent of worldwide investments into non-fuel mineral exploration. Here are some interesting figures on Canada from the MEG Corporate Exploration Strategies study, which Commodities Now says includes (…) more
