Twitter

United States Mining

Column: Critical metals will be a key battleground in US-China trade war – by Andy Home (Reuters – December 17, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

It’s clear that critical minerals will be China’s weapon of choice in its escalating trade war with the United States. Every time Washington imposes new restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductor chips to China, Beijing responds by tightening controls on exports of the critical inputs for chip manufacturers.

A third clamp-down on China’s semiconductor industry has drawn a swift response in the form of a full ban on exports of Chinese gallium and germanium to the United States. Exports of antimony, used in photovoltaic glass, are now also banned in what looks like a riposte to US tariffs on Chinese solar panels.

Read more

Lawmakers push critical mineral status for copper, a major Arizona export, which would mean green energy tax breaks and less regulation – by Grace Monos (Cronkite News – December 12, 2024)

Home

WASHINGTON – Roughly 70% of copper produced in the U.S. comes from Arizona. Electric vehicles, solar panels and power cables can’t be produced without it, and for the first time last year, the U.S. government added copper to a list of critical materials.

But that designation in July 2023 only applied to a list kept by the Department of Energy. The U.S. Geological Survey maintains a separate list of critical minerals that comes with tax breaks and speedier permitting. So far, copper hasn’t made the cut. That may soon change under a measure promoted by Arizona lawmakers that sailed through the House recently.

Read more

Time to Reinvigorate the U.S. Uranium Mining Industry – by Duggan Flanakin (Real Clear Energy – December 12, 2024)

https://www.realclearenergy.org/

Duggan Flanakin is a senior policy analyst at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow.

As Donald Trump returns to the White House, his nomination of Christopher Wright to serve as Secretary of Energy points to a major effort to revive domestic uranium mining. That’s especially good news, given the Biden Administration’s recent decision to discontinue importing uranium from Russia.

Further complicating the worldwide uranium supply chain, the military authorities in Niger, who now control that nation’s uranium mining operations, are putting the squeeze on French reliance on Niger’s uranium for its nuclear reactors. Niger, which produces about 5% of the world’s uranium, had been supplying 15% to 20% of France’s uranium imports.

Read more

SSR to be 3rd-biggest US gold miner with Cripple Creek & Victor acquisition – by Staff (Mining.com – December 6, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

SSR Mining (NASDAQ, TSX: SSRM; ASX: SSR) announced on Friday it has acquired the Cripple Creek & Victor (CC&V) gold mine in Colorado from Newmont (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT). With this acquisition, SSR is expected to become the third-largest gold miner in the United States. The transaction includes a $100 million upfront cash payment and up to $175 million in milestone-based payments, for a total of $275 million.

Of the milestone payments, $87.5 million will be paid upon the approval of an amended permit for the CC&V Cresson mine filed by Newmont earlier this year to extend its life by adding leach pad capacity and making operational adjustments.

Read more

China has ‘weaponized’ global critical mineral supply chain, US miners group says – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – December 4, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

China’s ban on U.S.-bound critical mineral exports is “mineral extortion,” Washington D.C.-based National Mining Association (NMA) president Rich Nolan said on Wednesday. The export ban announced a day earlier targets gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite. These minerals are needed for semiconductors, 5G phone tech, defence systems and electric vehicle batteries. Antimony is found in bullets. Nolan described the export ban as a calculated bid for geopolitical leverage.

“China has weaponized the world’s mineral supply chains,” he said in an emailed statement. “We must confront Chinese mineral extortion and recognize that U.S. mining policy is the foundation of our nation’s economic, energy and national security.”

Read more

Navajo communities seek ‘just transition’ for people affected by coal mine closures – by Arlyssa D. Becenti (Arizona Republic – December 6, 2024)

https://www.azcentral.com/

Nearly 20 years after Peabody Mining closed its Black Mesa Mine and five years after the Kayenta Mine and Navajo Generating Station closed on the Navajo Nation, residents are working toward recovery of what’s left of the land after more than 50 years of coal extraction.

The work includes a land use plan that has been 20 years in the making and a proposal for a community center that will also be instrumental as a climate resilience center. While the coal company initiated reclamation efforts, the post-mining landscape has always appeared different depending on whether it’s seen by someone who resides within the community or someone from the outside.

Read more

Rattled by China, West scrambles to rejig critical minerals supply chains – by Amy Lv, Divya Rajagopal and Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – December 6, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING/TORONTO/LONDON (Reuters) – China’s trade restrictions on strategic minerals are starting to hit Western companies where it hurts.

Blaming Beijing’s curbs on antimony exports announced in August, German chemicals and consumer goods heavyweight Henkel told customers last month it had declared force majeure and suspended deliveries of four types of adhesives and lubricants widely used by automakers, according to a Nov. 8 letter to clients reviewed by Reuters.

Read more

North Carolina floods threaten mines key to global electronics industry – by Eva Dou (Washington Post – October 1, 2024)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

The high-purity quartz sand that’s mined in the town of Spruce Pine, N.C., is critical for making everything from semiconductors to solar panels.

Flooding in North Carolina has imperiled the operations of mines that produce the world’s purest quartz sand — an irreplaceable ingredient for manufacturing components at the heart of smartphones and other electronic devices.

The town of Spruce Pine, where these unique mines are located, remains in a dire situation, with power, water and cell service largely disconnected early Tuesday. While the floodwaters brought on by Helene have receded, local residents said many roads remained impassable. Some people were still trying desperately to confirm loved ones were safe.

Read more

The role of minerals in Trump’s energy strategy dominance agenda – by Gregory Wischer and Shubham Dwivedi (Mining.com – December 3, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

President-elect Donald Trump has announced that his administration will pursue a path toward “US energy dominance”. He emphasized that “America is blessed with vast amounts of ‘Liquid Gold’ and other valuable minerals and resources,” declaring, “We will ‘DRILL BABY DRILL.’”

Achieving energy dominance will necessitate substantial quantities of minerals, ranging from tungsten in exploration drill bits to copper in electrical transmission lines. Crucially, this goal also requires secure mineral supply chains.

Read more

Honoring those who built our coal legacy on National Miners Day – by Bobby McCool (Appalachian News- Express – December 2, 2024)

https://www.news-expressky.com/

Bobby McCool is the State Representative 97th District

Electricity, roads, smartphones. What do all these seemingly unrelated things have in common? Their existence is dependent on mined materials, extracted from the earth by hard-working men and women who take pride in the role they play in providing a great quality of life to our nation.

While the products mined can range from rock salt to metals, Kentuckians most often think of mining in terms of the coal industry that accounts for almost 70 percent of our energy portfolio. It is the coal miner that kept our state’s utility rates less expensive than neighboring states.

Read more

China bans exports to US of gallium, germanium, antimony in response to chip sanctions – by Elaine Kurtenbach (Associated Press – December 3, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

BANGKOK (AP) — China announced Tuesday it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications, as a general principle, lashing back at U.S. limits on semiconductor-related exports.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry announced the move after the Washington expanded its list of Chinese companies subject to export controls on computer chip-making equipment, software and high-bandwidth memory chips. Such chips are needed for advanced applications.

Read more

Wyoming and Montana Republicans vow to challenge Biden decision to block coal mining in area – by Staff (Washington Examiner – December 3, 2024)

Home

President Joe Biden’s administration approved legislation blocking new coal mining in parts of Wyoming and Montana due to climate change concerns. Republican politicians in both states vowed to challenge and eventually overturn the decision.

The Bureau of Land Management announced its approval of the Resource Management Plan Amendment for the Buffalo Field Office in Buffalo, Wyoming, according to reports. This amendment will prohibit new federal coal mining leases in the Powder River Basin by 2041. The judgment was made over concerns about the amount of greenhouse gas emissions due to coal mining operations, according to documentation.

Read more

‘Green’ energy needs metal. Can we combat climate change while reducing mining impacts? – by Kate S. Petersen (USA TODAY – December 1, 2024)

https://www.usatoday.com/

More than 2 miles across and nearly 2,000 feet deep, the mining operation in a social media photo has replaced any flora that might have once inhabited the now barren landscape. Nothing but soil and stone is visible until the horizon meets the sky.

In an apparent attempt to disparage the renewable energy transition, the post showcasing the image wrongly asserts the devastation was caused by mining for lithium – a key ingredient in electric car and grid storage batteries. In reality, the post shows a gold mine and is one of a suite of false claims about lithium mining USA TODAY has debunked.

Read more

OPINION: Election plot twist: Trump and Musk to oversee great US battery boom in red states – by Simon Moores (Benchmark Minerals – November 26, 2024)

https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/

In the alliance between President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk stands the pending electric vehicle (EV) battery boom in the US. Lithium ion batteries are a new mega-industry in-waiting sparked by $110 billion of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) money.

Three years ago, while China dominated, the US was a bystander in this global battery arms race with only a handful of gigafactories producing batteries for domestic EV production. Today, 40 super-sized battery plants span the country in stages of construction that will soon employ up to 4,000 American workers and spark over 50,000 related jobs per site.

Read more

Cleveland-Cliffs CEO still keen on acquiring U.S. Steel as uncertainty weighs on Nippon bid – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 26, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. chief executive Lourenco Goncalves says he is still interested in buying United States Steel Corp. to create an American champion, as regulators continue to deliberate over whether to allow Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. to buy the company.

Cleveland-based Cliffs, which recently acquired Canadian steelmaker Stelco Holdings Inc., attempted to buy its Pittsburgh-based competitor U.S. Steel in the summer of 2023. But Nippon Steel swooped in with a higher bid late last year that U.S. Steel’s board backed.

Read more