critical minerals

Advances in materials science are altering and expanding the ways in which we use metals and minerals at neck-breaking speeds, and are drastically changing the supply and demand picture.  The United States was significantly less dependent on foreign supplies of metals and minerals in the 1970s — but today, we find ourselves import-reliant for scores of materials that are indispensable components of the tools and gadgets that support our livelihoods – at home and at work.

Meanwhile, technological advances have gone hand in hand with the materials science revolution, and have provided us with new and improved extraction methods, so that the wealth of mineral resources beneath U.S. soil could help alleviate our over-reliance on foreign mineral imports — if it wasn’t for an outdated and duplicative permitting structure for mining projects that has so far hampered domestic resource development.

Thankfully, there is an increasing awareness of a need to reform laws and regulations to encourage more domestic mining, as evidenced by the latest poll commissioned by the National Mining Association (NMA), and conducted by Morning Consult:

“The poll found that 57 percent support regulatory and legal reform to support domestic mining, 26 percent did not know or had no opinion, and just 18 percent opposed reform. The poll was conducted from April 5-7, 2018, of 2,201 adults nationwide carrying a margin of error of +/- 2 percent.”

NMA President and CEO Hal Quinn explains:

“Made in America should also be made from American resources. At a time when the U.S. is looking to bolster our domestic manufacturing industry, leaving the stability of our supply chain subject to the whims of foreign sources is dangerously shortsighted. That’s why most Americans support regulatory and legal reform to encourage domestic mining.”

The poll comes at a critical juncture in time, as stakeholders have – finally – begun to take steps to formulate a comprehensive mineral resource strategy.  First steps to untangle the web of duplicative and redundant regulations have also been taken, however, with our competitiveness and national security at stake, much more remains to be done.

Against the backdrop of an increased focus on critical minerals at the federal level, North of 60 Mining News — an Alaska-based trade publication covering mineral resource issues for Alaska, northern British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut — has started a new series of articles ARPN followers may wish to bookmark.

As Lasley pointed out in a precursor article that discussed USGS’s late 2017 study identifying 23 minerals deemed critical to U.S. national security and economic wellbeing and set the stage for the series:

“At least 15 of the 23 critical minerals identified by the U.S. Geological Survey – antimony, barite, beryllium, cobalt, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite, indium, platinum group elements, rare earth elements, rhenium, tantalum, tellurium, tin and vanadium – are found in Alaska.”

Lasley kicked off the series with an article on Graphite, followed by a piece on Rare Earths, and another one on Tin – with more to follow.

Consisting of more than 663,000 square miles of land—more than a sixth of the total area of the United States—Alaska has “considerable potential for undiscovered mineral resources, including critical minerals,” according to USGS, and any discussion of ways to alleviate the United States’ over-reliance on foreign mineral imports should include Alaska, and how to safely and responsibly harness this potential.

Articles in the series published to date: 

Alaska’s critical mineral potential
Critical Minerals Alaska – Graphite
Critical Minerals Alaska – Rare Earths
Critical Minerals Alaska – Tin

Since its inception, ARPN has advocated for more robust domestic resource development. The U.S. mine permitting process has long inhibited domestic development, and has exacerbated U.S. dependence on foreign metals and mineral supplies.  As the pace of technological change accelerates, driven by advances in materials science, these ever-deepening resource dependencies are weakening the U.S. economy [...]

The Critical Materials Institute (CMI), a Department of Energy research hub under the auspices of Ames Laboratory, is expanding its research on tech metals “as rapid growth in electric vehicles drives demand for lithium, cobalt.” According to a recent Ames Lab press release, the Institute will focus on maximizing the efficiency of processing, usage and [...]

In a new piece for The Hill, American Resources Policy Network principal Daniel McGroarty zeroes in on the intersection between trade and resource policy. Against the backdrop of the current negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), McGroarty argues that one of the metals ARPN followers have come to know as a [...]

Our friends from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence – formidable experts when it comes to battery tech and the mineral resources driving it – are returning to the U.S. in May for another round of their World Tour. This year’s tour will “focus on the supply chains for the next generation of battery technologies,” and seek to [...]

As the race for the metals and minerals driving the electric vehicle revolution heats up, and China continues to jockey for pole position, Sweden is tossing its hat into the ring.  According to recent media reports, the Swedish government has earmarked 10 million kronor ( roughly one million Euros) to explore the option of digging [...]

In a new piece for National Review, geoscientist Ned Mamula, who is an adjunct scholar at the Center for the study of Science at the Cato Institute and a member of the ARPN panel of experts and Heritage Foundation senior fellow Stephen Moore offer up their take on the current – and long overdue – [...]

Presidential Executive Order (EO) 13817 on a Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals, was issued on December 20, 2017. Pursuant to the EO, the Department of Interior, in coordination with the Department of Defense, was tasked with compiling a list of Critical Minerals within 60 days. The DOI List was [...]

Visual Capitalist has put together a great visualization of Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s draft list of 35 metals and minerals deemed critical to U.S. National Security. The list was released earlier this month, pursuant to Executive Order 13817 issued on December 20, 2017, “A Federal Strategy To Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of [...]