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American Resources Policy Network
Promoting the development of American mineral resources.

  • Mining continues to fuel economic growth in Nevada

    By Sandra Wirtz | Posted: July 27, 2012 at 9:14 am | 1 comment

    Another example of the mining sector’s contribution to economic growth and U.S competitiveness comes to us via our friends at The More You Dig. As the Nevada Review Journal reports, Nevada’s economy, which is slowly rebounding, is expected to add 10,000 to 15,000 workers to its payrolls this year. This news follows on the heels of $58.9 million in higher-than-expected state tax revenue pouring into state coffers.

    With a gold exploration and development project in Long Canyon expected to kick off within the next two or three years, and the growth and opening of new lithium mines, a key metal in green-tech electric battery applications, the mining sector continues to hold the most promise of all economic sectors in Nevada.

    According to Nevada Mining Association President Tim Crowley, the mining industry in the state employs 16,000 workers at an average annual wage of $83,000.

    As American Resources principal Dan McGroarty has pointed out in a recent column:

    “We could (bring) countless jobs back to the U.S. by mining our domestic metal and mineral resources. Every shovel in the ground would have a ripple effect across the economy, as the raw materials are processed and incorporated into goods that are sold around the world.”

    The question is, why don’t we?

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  • Happy Lithium Month! – New extraction method to alleviate supply concerns?

    By Sandra Wirtz | Posted: December 1, 2011 at 10:48 am | No comments yet
    As promised, American Resources is closing out the year with yet another feature month.  After “drilling down” into copper and antimony to highlight the breadth of our mineral needs, we’re making lithium our “metal of the month.” Over the next few weeks, we will showcase lithium’s utilities as well as associated challenges. 

    Demand for lithium is soaring in light of its key role in the production rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which have become indispensable components of portable electronics and electric vehicles.  However, in spite of the fact that identified lithium resources in the United States total 4 million tons, our import dependency rate stands at 43 percent.  As late as the second half of the 1990s, the U.S. was still producing 75 percent of the world’s lithium carbonate – now production is down to merely five percent. Much of the world’s current lithium supply comes from Chile, Argentina, and China, making potential supply disruptions a cause of concern.

    According to an article in MIT’s Technology Review, a California startup company could help alleviate such concerns by boosting domestic production through the extraction of lithium, as well as manganese and zinc, from the brine used by geothermal plants.  If successful, this technology, coupled with other U.S. lithium production efforts, two of which are underway in Nevada, could go far in reducing, and possibly even ending U.S. dependence on foreign lithium supplies.

    For the sake of our economic growth, social wellbeing and economic security, this is a goal worth pursuing not only for this element, but for all critical minerals we’re blessed to have beneath our own soil.

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  • Will the U.S. Congress take on resource development regulatory reform?

    By Daniel McGroarty | Posted: November 11, 2011 at 3:03 pm | No comments yet
    Those of us who follow how public policy impacts private-sector efforts to develop domestic mineral resources need to tune in to the current Capitol Hill debate on jobs and economic growth. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) recently introduced the Public Lands Job Creation Act, a bill that he says “will streamline the permitting process for energy [...]

  • German industry gears up for global resource competition

    By Sandra Wirtz | Posted: September 23, 2011 at 2:44 pm | No comments yet
    In an effort to secure access to critical metals and minerals, Germany’s national industrial association, the Federation of German Industry (BDI) is exploring the formation of a “globally active profit-oriented raw materials corporation.” As the German monthly Manager Magazin reports, the envisioned procurement trust, which companies like chemicals maker Evonik and auto manufacturer Daimler have [...]

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