critical minerals

Well, you won’t see that headline atop of pieces like this one in the Alaskan press, but it’s a logical extension of policy actions like the one proposed to stop a copper/gold/molybdenum mine in Alaska.  In this case, we’re told that we can either allow the mine to proceed – or we can save the salmon.

Is the choice really that stark and simple?  Is the situation so dire that EPA should step in to stop the permitting process, as at least one U.S. Senator now urges – or should we let the prescribed process run its course?  After all, it’s not as if the proposed mine is getting a free pass: As the article indicates, the current permitting process requires approvals from 67 different state and federal agencies.

Two facts to inject here:

1. As documented in the authoritative Behre Dolbear report, the U.S. currently ranks worst in the world – among the so-called mining nations – in the time it takes to permit a mine.
2. Copper – the primary product in this instance – is a critical technology-metal, no less than exotic elements like the Rare Earths.

Case in point:  A typical wind turbine uses between 3 and 4½ tons of copper.  That’s right: 3 to 4½ tons – per turbine.

Copper is also the source for Selenium – a little know metal that is key to next-gen solar power systems.

So would stopping a U.S. copper mine save salmon?  Or would it sacrifice wind and solar power we’re counting on to make the transition to a green economy?

Like so many other metals and minerals that the U.S. is blessed to have but fails to mine, we’re dependent on foreign-sourced supply, with all the attendant strings attached.

If U.S. mining companies operating under U.S. standards are sidelined, where will we get the metals and minerals we need for modern society?  As I testified in the U.S. House earlier this year, there are any number of countries that will be happy to feed our copper fix: We could buy copper from Russia, Angola, Afghanistan, DRC Congo, or China — including in all likelihood copper mined from reserves in the Tibet Autonomous Region.  There’s also copper in Pakistan and Iran.

Are we OK with “blood copper” supporting our windmills, our solar panels and our cellphones?  Do we think these mines would pollute less or be policed more stringently than U.S. mines?

This is the serious discussion we need to have – not feel-good policy-posturing.

In today’s globalized world, it doesn’t take a seat at the decision-making table for one nation to influence another’s domestic policies – a near-monopoly on critical mineral resources will do.  A case in point is India, which, after a seven-year hiatus, is expanding its indigenous Rare Earth Element (REE) production over growing concerns that China may be taking advantage of its rare earths dominance.

Not only is an Indian government panel preparing a strategy paper emphasizing the need for domestic exploration of REE’s (according to a Mineweb.com story), but the country is also reportedly funding a rare earths plant to the tune of 1.4 billion rupees ($32 million USD).

Acknowledging that resource dependency issues stretch beyond rare earths, the Indian public policy debate is zeroing in on the broader critical minerals supply issues.  In light of “the proliferation of trade-distorting measures by emerging economies such as China,” which according to one Indian expert also applies to copper, aluminum, nickel, molybdenum, manganese, magnesium, tungsten, and indium; analysts lament the curtailment of domestic production and call for policy measures to secure supply of these strategic minerals.

As U.S. lawmakers return to Capitol Hill following the August District Work Period, they, too, would be well advised to shift their attention to the global race for resources. That means prioritizing policy measures to alleviate our unnecessary dependence on foreign critical minerals, and turning our focus toward the mineral riches beneath our own soil.

The New York Times’ Keith Bradshear has taken a closer look at foreign manufacturers moving their production sites into China in an effort to mitigate reduced access to and increased cost for REEs – a development we covered on our blog here and here. The article underscores that rather than acting out of environmental concerns, [...]

Can crime be a leading economic indicator?  That’s the question occasioned by a growing number of news stories. Sarasota County’s (FL) Herald Tribune this week features a story of an arrest of 62 people for stealing anything from air conditioners to copper wiring to plumbing parts. West Virginia’s Westport News reports the arrest of two [...]

Two Alaska mining projects may begin production ahead of schedule thanks to priority permits granted by the U.S. Forest Service. As reported by the website ResourcefulEarth.org, the agency approved exploratory drilling permits for Ucore Rare Metals Inc.’s Bokan Mountain site in Southeast Alaska, which is expected to develop rare earths as well as potentially high [...]

If you’ve had to replace a light bulb in your home lately, then you have may have noticed that the price for lighting has gone up significantly. The reason behind the price hike is two-fold: 1) recent legislation that passed, mandating the phasing out of the light bulb as we know it, and 2) the current [...]

On the heels of the discovery of a significant rare earths find in Madagascar announced by Mumbai-based Varun Industries earlier this month, the Indian government has been quick to lock up a purchase agreement with the Madagascar unit of the company, Varun Energy Corp.  According to the memorandum of understanding, Varun Energy Corp. will sell [...]

Chinadaily.com.cn reports that China has discovered its largest molybdenum deposit to-date in the East-Chinese province of Anhui.   At 2.2 million tons, the discovered deposits have a mining life of more than one hundred years and constitute the second largest known quantity of minable molybdenum with the world’s largest mine being the Climax Mine in Colorado. [...]

A critical component for steel manufacturers to produce high strength, low alloy steels, niobium is making an entrance in the United States, as Canada-based Quantum Rare Earths is looking to develop the resource at its Elk Creek Carbonatite Project in Nebraska, which is also rich in rare earths. With niobium not having been commercially mined [...]

While a rare earths find on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean has misleadingly been heralded as a solution to China’s near-total rare earths monopoly (to find out why this claim is misleading, click here), a second rare earths discovery earlier this month was barely noticed, in spite of its greater potential to challenge China: [...]