copper

Washington Post calls issue “the biggest environmental decision…you’ve never heard of…”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has officially extended the public comment period for its draft Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment – a review released in April in response to calls from anti-mining groups for the EPA to issue a preemptive permit veto under section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act of the Pebble mine project in Alaska.

The Washington Post notes the issue’s importance, which has so far flown largely under the national media’s radar, as potentially “one of the most important environmental decisions the president faces in his second term.”

The situation does indeed deserve greater attention. The Pebble deposit is quite possibly the largest copper resource in American history, and responsible development of it could create tens of thousands of much-needed jobs and billions in economic development. Far more is at stake, though, as a preemptive permit veto prior to the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process has never been done. As we have previously pointed out, if this precedent is set, every exploratory domestic resource project in the United States will be at risk, jeopardizing our economic and national security future.

With the comment period extended, please consider weighing in on this important issue and submit a comment to the EPA via their website, if you haven’t done so already.

For your convenience, here are some key facts and links for further information, as well as a sample message.

The global race for resources has countries look for new ways to meet their mineral resource needs. We’re now used to seeing headlines about mineral riches in the Arctic, beneath the ocean seabed, and even asteroid mining. The latest region in the cross-hairs is Antarctica, with – you guessed it – China aggressively pursuing its interests in the region.

Though the area is technically off-limits for mining under the Antarctic Treaty, experts say there is increasing pressure to change the policy and the ban may be overturned within decades.

A familiar occurrence around the globe, China is enlarging its footprint in the region, and has stepped up investment in Antarctica from $20 million in 2003 to $55 million in 2012. There is also speculation whether the country is looking to “expand its presence from three to four permanent bases on the ice.”

Expect the debate over the Antarctic riches – which are said to comprise copper, coal, chromium and natural gas, as well as iron ore – to heat up, and other nations stake their claims should the mining ban get close to being overturned.

While Antarctic mining is not a near-term scenario, the United States should use these developments in the Southern hemisphere as impetus to step up and formulate a coherent and comprehensive critical mineral strategy, as the rest of the world won’t wait for us to get off the starting block in the global race for resources.

A first important step in that direction may have been made with the launch of DoE’s new critical minerals research hub, but a broad inter-departmental approach is needed for the sake of our strategic and economic future.

While not making a big splash in the media, a piece of news from Germany once more underscores the relevance of critical minerals and associated supply issues. As the newly launched German Resource Alliance (Rohstoffallianz) has announced, automakers BMW and VW are officially becoming shareholders of the alliance. Founded in 2012, the Resource Alliance is [...]

Metal prices may be sluggish, but type in the key words “metal theft,” and any news search will yield at least ten stories from local papers on stolen copper wires, scrap metal, or parts from street lights or a/c units. Metal theft is far more than local petty crime, however, and its far-reaching implications have [...]

The Daily Caller reports that the EPA’s preemptive assessment of the Pebble copper and gold mine in Alaska could cost the U.S. $220 billion in investment. The agency’s report, based on an evaluation of a hypothetical mine, expresses concern over the site’s potential environmental impact and could lead to Pebble’s rejection before it has a [...]

Underscoring once more that technological progress continues to change the utility of metals and minerals, and that today’s mainstay metals may be tomorrow’s specialty metals, European wind farms are driving up copper demand. According to a Reuters story, research consultant Wood Mackenzie expects “copper use in wind turbines to rise 15 percent between 2013 and [...]

As reports about China’s restrictive mineral export policies continue to dominate the resource news cycles, don’t expect Beijing to slow down its aggressive pursuit of access to critical metals and minerals around the world. According to China Daily’s European edition, senior Chinese industry officials have announced that Chinese miners will accelerate the exploration of overseas [...]

Two copper mines in Silver City, New Mexico are proving to be a real boon to the local economy. Employment at the Chino and Tyrone copper mines has increased dramatically since 2009 thanks to increased production, with the Chino mine now employing 1,500 people. The economic benefit, however, stretches beyond local families and businesses profiting [...]

The second-largest cable and wire maker in the world, Nexans SA (NEX), expects copper consumption growth in China to “rebound in the next few years on accelerating demand from the renewable energy sector and special industries.” With the power sector accounting for almost half of consumption, China is the world’s largest copper user. In an [...]

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, [...]