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United States Mining

US opens new cobalt mine as EV battery needs grow – by Claire Bushey and Aime Williams (Financial Times – October 7, 2022)

https://www.ft.com/

Recently passed climate law boosts incentives for electric cars with domestic materials

The first new US cobalt mine to open in decades is ramping up production in Idaho, buoyed by the carmakers’ increasing demand for battery raw materials and legislation designed to foster a battery supply chain.

The mine is located in the state’s Salmon River Mountains at 8,000ft above sea level. Owned by Australia’s Jervois Global, chief executive Bryce Crocker said it will reach full production in February, extracting 2,000 tonnes of the bluish ore a year. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was scheduled for Friday.

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‘Good Samaritan’ bill aims to allow cleanup of abandoned, leaking mines – by Emilee Miranda (Cronkite News – September 30, 2022)

https://news.azpm.org/

A bill in Congress could help Arizona clean up old mines.

Arizona could have as many as 100,000 abandoned mines, many leaching toxic minerals into the state’s waterways, but state environmental officials said cleanup has been hampered by the fear of litigation.

That’s why Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Director Misael Cabrera was testifying Thursday in support of a proposed federal “good Samaritan” law aimed at addressing the issue. The bill would let organizations step in and clean up long-abandoned mines without fear of the legal liability that could have attached to their now-absent owners.

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U.S. steps away from flagship lithium project with Buffett’s Berkshire – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – October 5, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

Oct 5 (Reuters) – In a February meeting with mining executives, President Joe Biden laid out an aggressive goal for the United States to produce more of its own minerals for the electric vehicle revolution in ways that respected the environment.

A “big part” of those efforts, the president said, was a plan by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc to filter lithium from superhot geothermal brines swirling beneath California’s Salton Sea, something that had never been done before.

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Canadian-based International Battery Metals claims to have better way of extracting lithium – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – September 27, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The head of a Canadian-listed company that’s developed a new system for extracting lithium, a critical mineral for electrification of the global economy, says it has proven it can tap smaller concentrations of the substance with minimal environmental disturbance.

International Battery Metals Ltd. said on Tuesday an independent engineering review has concluded the company’s modular, mobile lithium extraction plant obtains more than 65 per cent of the lithium from brine, which is saline groundwater enriched with dissolved lithium. It also recycles and reuses 94 per cent of the water in the process, according to a report by SLR Consulting Ltd.

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Pollution From Florida Mining a Concern With Hurricane Ian – by Curt Anderson (Associated Press – September 28, 2022)

https://www.usnews.com/

Environmental groups say the polluted leftovers of Florida’s phosphate fertilizer mining industry are at risk for leaks or other contamination triggered by Hurricane Ian.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The polluted leftovers of Florida’s phosphate fertilizer mining industry, more than 1 billion tons in “stacks” that resemble enormous ponds, are at risk for leaks or other contamination when Hurricane Ian comes ashore in the state, environmental groups say.

Florida has 24 such phosphogypsum stacks, most of them concentrated in mining areas in the central part of the state. About 30 million tons of this slightly radioactive waste is generated every year, according to the Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute.

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How the U.S. fell behind in lithium, the ‘white gold’ of electric vehicles – by Jeniece Pettitt (CNBC.com – January 15, 2022)

https://www.cnbc.com/

The United States has a lithium supply problem. Nearly every major automaker has announced a transition to electric vehicles, Tesla delivered almost one million cars in 2021, and a handful of new electric vehicle companies like Rivian and Lucid are rolling new models off the line.

In order to power all of these EVs, we will need batteries — lots of them. Electric vehicle growth will be responsible for more than 90% of demand for lithium by 2030, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. But lithium is also in our phones, computers, ceramics, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, and is essential for solar and wind energy storage.

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Russian Aluminum Imports Are Hurting US Market, Rio Tinto CEO Warns – by Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – September 21, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Rio Tinto Plc’s top executive is raising the alarm that the unfettered flow of Russian aluminum into the US is making North American producers less competitive.

Russian imports, which remain exempt from US sanctions, are flowing into the country unrestricted when allies like Australia continue to face restrictions left over from the Trump administration, Chief Executive Officer Jakob Stausholm said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. His comments are the most candid about the aluminum industry since taking the helm of Rio at the start of 2021.

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Biden admin eyes funding Canadian mining – by Jael Holzman (E&E News.net – August 23, 2022)

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The Biden administration is looking at funding Canadian mining and metals companies, as the new climate law sends U.S. automakers scrambling to find new sources of raw materials for electric vehicles.

Manufacturing low-carbon energy and transportation products like electric vehicles can call for a set of unique raw minerals and materials that are often produced and processed in China, and are not mined in the U.S. at all. It’s an import imbalance that security hawks believe will be a strategic vulnerability in a decarbonizing world.

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Column: U.S. hits the EV accelerator to cut Chinese metals ties – by Andy Home Reuters – August 16, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) – The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes the “largest investment ever in combating the existential crisis of climate change”, according to President Joe Biden, who will sign the bill into law later on Tuesday.

Around $369 billion of federal funds will flow into climate change and energy security, boosting domestic capacity to produce wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles. However, the green investment comes with a metallic sting in the tail. The IRA extends and expands the existing electric vehicle (EV) subsidy of up to $7,500 but conditions the tax credit on the sourcing of the mineral content of the battery.

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Canada eyes cash for critical minerals in Biden’s big new climate bill – by Alexander Panetta (CBC News World – August 16, 2022)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/

Canada is keen on accessing a pot of money for critical minerals in soon-to-be-signed U.S. law

A historic climate bill just passed by the U.S. Congress could have implications in entrenching Canada’s role in the shift toward clean transportation. The legislation that passed last week established preferential tax treatment for electric vehicles assembled anywhere in North America.

That made-in-North-America approach generated some news headlines by bringing an amicable resolution to a months-long Canada-U.S. irritant. Less noticed in the bill was a pot of money containing hundreds of millions of dollars to jump-start a new domestic industry in components for electric-vehicle batteries.

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The Inflation Reduction Act delivers a mixed bag of successes and failures for EVs and the green economy – by Melissa Sanderson (Investor Intel.com – August 15, 2022)

https://investorintel.com/

Did anyone besides me hear happy hollering last week? Probably so – the Democrats in the U.S.A. unexpectedly delivered a piece of legislation which, in the current conflicted context, can reasonably be called a win for the so-called green economy.

Also known as Build Back Better’s Baby Brother in disguise, the bill does contain some important, and even some surprisingly positive provisions, such as: tax credits to encourage further deployment of wind and solar power, as well as development of geothermal (one of the surprises);

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Obama ban on coal leasing on public lands reinstated by judge – by Bobby Magill (Bloomberg News – August 12, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg Law) — Coal leasing is temporarily banned once again on public lands after a federal judge on Friday reinstated an Obama-era moratorium.

The ruling reinstates a 2016 order by then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell banning coal leasing on federal lands pending further environmental review because of coal’s contribution to climate change. That order was scrapped in 2017 by Ryan Zinke, the Trump administration’s first Interior secretary.

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Talon Metals to explore 400,000 acres of Upper Peninsula for nickel deposits – by Riley Beggin (The Detroit News – August 10, 2022)

https://www.detroitnews.com/

A metal mining company has acquired rights to explore around 400,000 acres of Upper Peninsula land for nickel deposits near the nation’s only nickel mine.

Talon Metals Corp. announced the land acquisition Wednesday from UPX Minerals Inc., which has owned it since 2013, when it was sold by Rio Tinto Group. Before that, it was owned by Ford Motor Co., whose founder Henry Ford first bought it for lumber and iron ore to build early Model Ts.

Talon aims to use the area once again to fuel American autos — this time with a crucial mineral for electric vehicle batteries.

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Toxic mine pollution has turned Ohio rivers orange. Now it’s being made into paint. – by Chelsea Lee (CNN.com – August 2, 2022)

https://www.cnn.com/

(CNN)With rolling hills, forests and hiking trails, Southeast Ohio is a haven for lovers of the outdoors. Yet cutting through the landscape are countless orange-stained streams, colored by the iron oxide pollution that has seeped into them from abandoned coal mines.

These streams are contaminated with a toxic sludge known as acid mine drainage (AMD) — the overflow of highly acidic wastewater from underground mines, created when water comes into contact with exposed mining rocks.

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Mining giant Rio Tinto hit by legal battle over sacred Apache site at Oak Flat in Arizona – by Francesca Washtell (Financial Mail/This Money – August 6, 2022)

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/

The serene Oak Flat upland lies in the heart of Arizona. With its beautiful peaks and forest, it is a beloved spot for campers, hikers and rock climbers. Above all, it is the centre of the San Carlos Apache tribe’s religion, a place of devotion where their gods dwell and they still perform traditional ceremonies.

But it is now at the centre of a dispute between the tribe and FTSE 100 giant Rio Tinto. It is also shaping up to be an acid test of the mining group’s claims that it is determined to respect sacred sites.

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