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United States Mining

Utah has the last conventional uranium mill in the country. What does it do? – by Anastasia Hufham (Salt Lake Tribune – October 7, 2024)

https://www.sltrib.com/

The mill’s owner and regulators say there’s no evidence its uranium processing is causing contamination. But a nearby tribe and others fear the impacts of increased demand.

San Juan County – Trucks filled with thousands of pounds of rock roll up a paved road, the namesake twin buttes of Bears Ears National Monument visible in the distance on a clear day. The dark gray rock is uranium ore headed to the White Mesa Mill in Utah’s rural San Juan County — the last remaining “conventional” uranium mill in the United States.

The country’s other 14 uranium recovery sites solely process rock from the site where they’re located. This leaves White Mesa as the only American uranium mill still accepting ore and other radioactive materials from around the country and the world.

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Massive lithium deposit found across southeastern US could end reliance on imports – by Shane Galvin (New York Post – October 23, 2024)

https://nypost.com/

A new geological survey has discovered enough lithium to meet global demand for the next six years. The study, led by the United States Geological Survey, discovered between 5 million and 19 million tons of lithium reserves in a rock formation in the southern part of the continental US, Fox Business reported.

Scientists derived samples from the Arkansas portion of the Smackover Formation – which spans six states from Florida’s Gulf Coast, through parts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and stretching across Texas.

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1 dead and 23 rescued after elevator issue at Colorado tourist mine left some trapped 1,000 feet underground for 6 hours – by Jeff Winter, Sarah Moon and Dalia Faheid (CNN.com – October 11, 2024)

https://www.cnn.com/

(CNN) One person has died and 23 people have been rescued after an elevator malfunction trapped them hundreds of feet underground at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine, a tourist mine in Cripple Creek, Colorado, officials said Thursday.

At around noon Thursday, the mine experienced a mechanical issue with its elevator system, causing “a severe danger for the participants,” Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell said during a news conference. The cause of the incident remains under investigation. “Accidents happen when dealing with this kind of machinery,” Mikesell said.

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Beijing’s nickel glut leaves America penniless – by Oliver McPherson-Smith (The Hill – October 2, 2024)

https://thehill.com/

Oliver McPherson-Smith, Ph.D., is the director of the Center for Energy & Environment at the America First Policy Institute.

America’s vast mineral wealth has underwritten our nation’s evolution into an economic and military superpower. From the gold rush that fueled the race westward almost 200 years ago to the iron ore and coal miners that powered the construction of bridges, skyscrapers, rail lines and military vessels, mining has been central to American prosperity.

Sadly, America’s commitment to mining its resources has fallen victim to progressive dogma. Now, Beijing’s vast influence over global mineral supply chains poses an economic threat to the United States. While the Biden-Harris administration is hamstringing American mining projects in red tape, Chinese miners are preemptively flooding the global market to keep American minerals in the ground.

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U.S. Ramps Up Hunt for Uranium to End Reliance on Russia – by Ivan Penn and Rebecca F. Elliott (New York Times – September 2024)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Miners aim to meet a growing demand for emissions-free energy, though a failure to clean up old sites haunts the industry.

More than 1,400 feet below an Arizona pine forest, miners are blasting tunnels in search of a radioactive element that can be used to make electricity. Two states north, in central Wyoming, drillers have been digging well after well in the desert, where that element — uranium — is buried in layers of sandstone.

Uranium mines are ramping up across the West, spurred by rising demand for electricity and federal efforts to cut Russia out of the supply chain for U.S. nuclear fuel.

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Saudi Arabia intensifies mining tech push in meetings with US firms – by Mohammed Al-Kinani (Arab News – September 29, 2024)

https://www.arabnews.com/

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia is ramping up its adoption of advanced mining technologies as top minister met with senior executives from the US firms at MINExpo International 2024.

During his visit to Las Vegas, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef held bilateral meetings with these firms to discuss localizing innovative solutions for mining operations and exploring promising investment opportunities in the sector.

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India, US likely to sign pact on critical minerals -by Shivangi Acharya, Neha Arora and David Lawder(Reuters – September 30, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

India and the United States are likely to sign an initial pact for cooperation on critical minerals this week, two Indian government sources said, as the two countries try to bolster trade ties despite diplomatic hiccups.

They are expected to sign an agreement to partner and cooperate in the area of critical minerals during Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal’s visit to Washington, the sources said.

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[Coal Mining] Life today feels tough, but our ancestors faced harder battles – by Gabriela Bereghazyova (Slovak Spectator – September 24, 2024)

https://spectator.sme.sk/

In an age where millennials struggle with mortgages and the cost of living, it’s easy to romanticize the past.

Today, life is not a stroll through a rose garden. But for the purpose of a reality check, it is worth contrasting our current challenges with those of our ancestors who chose to pursue a brighter future in the New World just over a century ago.

Let’s take a look at what life was like for our ancestors at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Countless people in Slovakia, then Upper Hungary, lived in poverty. Their homeland did not offer them a way out of the vicious circle of destitution.

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Deep in the nation’s only nickel mine, industry fights to green its image – by Hannah Northey (E&E News – September 16, 2024)

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Biden officials point to the Eagle mine as proof that mining critical minerals in the U.S. can gain public support while avoiding pollution and trampling Indigenous rights. Not everyone is convinced.

MICHIGAMME TOWNSHIP, Michigan — In the sun-drenched forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula stands the black, gaping mouth of the nation’s only operating nickel mine.

Hundreds of feet below in the darkness, heavy machinery blasts, scrapes and prepares to haul up to the surface rock rich with tiny flecks of high-grade nickel and copper formed more than 1 billion years ago.

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US locks in steep China tariff hikes, some industries warn of disruptions – by David Lawder (Reuters – September 13, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

Sept 13 (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Friday locked in steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports, including a 100% duty on electric vehicles, to boost protections for strategic industries from China’s state-driven industrial practices.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said that many of the tariffs, including a 100% duty on Chinese EVs, 50% on solar cells and 25% on steel, aluminum, EV batteries and key minerals, would take effect on Sept. 27.

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Stillwater mine to cut production, lay off 700 workers as low metal prices drive losses – by Eric Dietrich (Montana Free Press – September 12, 2024)

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Sibanye Stillwater says it needs government support to compete with foreign producers that pay workers less and abide by looser environmental regulations.

Sibanye Stillwater, the South African company that operates the nation’s only major palladium mine in south-central Montana, said Thursday that it plans to lay off about 40% of its Montana workforce as it scales back its operation in an effort to offset losses caused by low metal prices.

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A U.S. senator wants to ban Russian imports of minerals – by Amy Joi O’Donoghue (Utah Deseret News – September 15, 2024)

https://www.deseret.com/

Reliance on critical minerals is hurting the United States, senator says

A U.S. senator wants to ban the import of essential minerals from Russia such as platinum, palladium and copper with legislation introduced this week targeting eight critical minerals, including copper, zinc and palladium.

The bill by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., was introduced after the announcement by Montana’s Stillwater Mine that it is laying off 700 employees.

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Arizona’s battle over crucial copper mine poised to sway US election – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – September 13, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

Sept 12 (Reuters) – Native American opposition to Rio Tinto and BHP’s Resolution Copper mine could prove crucial for the 2024 U.S. presidential vote in the battleground state of Arizona, underscoring the high tension over where best to extract critical minerals for the energy transition.

The mine would, if built, supply more than a quarter of America’s appetite for copper and be a key part of Washington’s efforts to eat into China’s role as the world’s largest copper processor and consumer.

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Indigenous Group Takes Fight Against Rio Tinto Arizona Copper Mine to US Supreme Court – by Ernest Scheyder (U.S. News/Reuters – September 11, 2024)

https://www.usnews.com/

Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit group comprised of Arizona’s San Carlos Apache tribe and conservationists, asked the court to overturn a March ruling from a sharply divided San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the federal government to swap acreage with the mining companies for their Resolution Copper project.

The appeal to the nine justices was delivered in person by a courier after the Apache held a ceremony of prayer and dancing on the court’s steps in Washington, the culmination of a months-long caravan from their Arizona reservation to the capital.

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World’s largest uranium miner warns Ukraine war makes it harder to supply west – by Harry Dempsey and Anastasia Stognei (Financial Times – September 10, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Pull towards Russia and China grows stronger, says boss of Kazatomprom

Kazatomprom’s chief executive has warned that Russia’s war on Ukraine is making it harder for the world’s largest uranium producer to keep supplying the west as the gravitational pull towards Moscow and Beijing grows stronger.

Meirzhan Yussupov, chief of the Kazakh state miner, said sanctions caused by the war had created obstacles to supplying western utilities. Kazakhstan produces 43 per cent of the world’s uranium, equivalent to the market share that the Opec cartel has over oil.

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