The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
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President-elect vows to maximize Alaska's mining potential; an aligned Congress swings political pendulum in industry's favor. With an incoming president that favors "reshoring" over "friendshoring" the nation's critical mineral supply chains and a Congress positioned to pass permitting reform and other mining-related legislation that has stalled in one chamber or the other for more than a decade, America's mining sector is poised for growth following the outcome of the Nov....
The cutoff of gallium and germanium could send America's GDP plummeting by $3.4 billion; antimony a top concern for the Pentagon. In a move that could deal a multibillion-dollar blow to the American economy and impact the nation's military readiness, China has completely banned the exports of gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials to the United States. Gallium and germanium are essential ingredients for semiconductors used to make computer chips; and antimony...
Separation and processing are the master link of US supply chain. From tech devices such as smartphones and computer monitors to clean energy products like electric vehicles and wind turbines, household goods like vacuum cleaners and refrigerators, and military hardware such as F-35 fighters and communications equipment, rare earths have a critical role to play in nearly every facet of America's economy and security. The United States, however, currently relies on China for ne...
Rising demand, lack of domestic supply, and China's dominance. While graphite has not captured the same level of media attention as some of the other mined materials critical to the clean energy transition, the strategic nature of this largest ingredient in lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles is high on the list of concerns for American automakers, Washington policymakers, and the Pentagon's top brass. These worries are based on a trifecta of graphite...
An all-of-government strategy is beginning to unfold in the US. Over the first two years following the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Department of Energy has invested billions of dollars into establishing a clean energy supply chain in the United States. These heavy investments, however, have neglected one vital link – the domestic mines needed to supply the processing facilities, battery plants, and other energy t...
Pentagon turns to Idaho gold mine for a strategic domestic supply of critical metalloid. Falling in the grey area between metals like zinc and nonmetals like carbon, antimony is a semi-metal that possesses some interesting properties that make it a vital ingredient in a wide range of household, industrial, high-tech, and military goods. Despite its widespread uses, many people have never heard of antimony and fewer still realize that this intriguing metalloid is considered...
Import-reliance a top concern for national security officials. America's heavy reliance on China and others for the minerals and metals critical to the nation's economic competitiveness, military strength, and clean energy future is high on the list of strategic concerns for top brass at the U.S. departments of Defense and Homeland Security. While much of this concern is rooted in the fact that the United States' ability to defend its strategic interests at home and abroad...
As China curbs exports of the strategic and critical metalloid, America's Last Frontier reemerges as potential domestic supplier. China's coming state-controlled restrictions on antimony exports has significantly elevated the criticality and price of this semi-metal that is already a top concern from many officials within the U.S. Department of Defense due to its use in military hardware and the dearth of antimony mines in the United States. An element that has properties that...
A graphite supply agreement struck with Lucid Motors provides a key link to forging a mine-to-EVs supply chain. Graphite One Inc. has struck a battery materials supply agreement with California-based electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors that is expected to forge a complete mine-to-EVs graphite supply chain with links in Alaska, Ohio, and Arizona. Alaska's delegation in Washington, D.C., is hailing this battery materials agreement as a win both for America's 49th State an...
Alaska Miners Association celebrates 85 years of service, advocating for growth and sustainability in Alaska's mining industry. As the Alaska Miners Association celebrates its 85th anniversary, the organization's vital role in advancing the state's mining industry comes into sharp focus. Founded in 1939 at the onset of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the AMA was similarly established to advocate for fair labor practices and safe mineral development in the Last Frontier. Over...
Following up on a banner 2023, G1 is accelerating its strategy to build a graphite supply chain in the U.S. Graphite One Inc. Jan. 2 provided a recap of a landmark year in 2023 that positions the company to accelerate its plans to establish an all-American graphite materials supply chain that will include a mine at the company's Graphite Creek project in western Alaska and an advanced graphite processing and recycling plant in Washington or somewhere else in the "Lower 48"...
From breaking ground at Alaska's next gold mine to the advancement of North of 60 projects focused on delivering the metals needed for the transition of low-carbon energy, and an impressive safety milestone at Alaska's only coal mine to a history of the helicopters that make mineral exploration across the North possible, here is a countdown of the 10 most popular North of 60 Mining News articles in 2023: No. 10 - CORE celebrates Manh Choh, Lucky Shot Contango Ore Inc., a...
State's inaugural sustainability report details the ESG advantages of looking North to Alaska for energy transition metals. The global energy transition has steered Alaska to a critical minerals crossroad that will shape the economic future of America's Last Frontier. On the one hand, the push for low-carbon energy is expected to put a dent in the demand for petroleum, which has been Alaska's economic lifeblood for more than five decades. On the other, Alaska happens to be...
From Pentagon's $37.5M grant to Graphite One to emerging nickel deposits, critical minerals are a hot AK mining topic. With Washington investing billions of dollars into ensuring safe and secure critical mineral supply chains, many mining companies are focusing more sharply on unlocking Alaska's potential to be a domestic source of the 50 minerals and metals critical to America's economic well-being and national security. The growing list of critical minerals being sought...
Navigating the tumultuous waters of controversy and impassioned discourse, let us take a step back and embark on a journey through the history of an Alaska copper project that has proven to be as divisive as it is essential. Perhaps by exploring the compelling narrative of the Pebble Mine project, where the pursuit of precious resources indispensable for a zero-carbon future intersects with the call for environmental stewardship to safeguard heritage and a very way of life,...
As the White House continues to dole out hundreds of billions of dollars to position America as the global leader in clean energy and digital technologies, Beijing initiates a strategy to put America in check with the global economy equivalent of pawns. These pawns in the technology chess match between the U.S. and China are gallium and germanium, a pair of semiconductor metals used to make the computer chips essential to every facet of modern life. Before all the major news o...
Every electric vehicle rolling off an assembly line increases the demand for graphite by an average of around 160 pounds. With more than 30 million EVs expected to hit global highways each year by 2030 and upwards of 45 million by 2045, the transition to e-mobility will require up to eight times more graphite than was mined globally during 2022. While graphite has not received the attention of other EV battery ingredients such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel, this highly...
Powering nearly 10% of the world's energy needs and roughly 20% of America for over 50 years, nuclear energy is a highly controversial power provider that ticks all the boxes for zero-emission electricity. Much like most contemporary fuels, running these reactors takes something dug from the earth – uranium. In 2017, the United States Geological Survey was charged with identifying which minerals and metals are critical to the U.S. Its original list of 35 critical minerals, f...
Visual Capitalist infographic shines light on America's heavy reliance on China, others for critical minerals. A recent infographic produced by Visual Capitalist raises both figurative and literal red flags when it comes to America's reliance on imports for the minerals and metals critical to the nation's high-tech sectors, military readiness, and envisioned low-carbon energy future. While the United States' heavy dependence on other countries for critical minerals is not new...
There is nearly a $1 trillion chasm between where the United States' lithium battery supply chain is today and where it needs to be by 2035 in order to build the envisioned green energy future where electric vehicles are charged with low-carbon energy. Roughly 40% of this investment will need to go toward ensuring there is a plentiful supply of cobalt, graphite, lithium, nickel, and other battery materials. Simon Moores, CEO of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence and one of the...
The United States has rich deposits of copper, cobalt, graphite, lithium, nickel, rare earths, and other mined commodities needed to build the clean energy future. The often decade-long mine permitting timeline in the U.S., however, means that many of these domestic critical mineral sources will be hard-pressed to get developed in time to help meet the climate goals laid out by the White House. This extraordinarily long federal permitting process for large projects has global...
From the Pentagon's multi-million-dollar investment in Graphite One Inc. to China's restrictions on the exports of gallium and germanium, Alaska's current critical minerals supply and future potential was in the headlines and subtext of American news stories over the past month. Alaska as a future source of minerals critical to the clean energy transition grabbed headlines after the mid-July news that the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Graphite One Inc. $37.5 million to...
For those in the know, Alaska's resources aren't just some surprise windfall for renewable energy technologies. While precious metals like gold and silver have been the primary focus of more than a century of mining up north, the 49th State is home to 49 of the 50 materials on the United States' critical minerals list and has a history of stepping up to the plate to provide America with critical minerals when they are needed the most. Looking ahead over the next two to three...
From the $37.5M Pentagon grant to a $5M loan from an Alaskan gold mining company, domestic graphite supply chain plan is broadly backed. From the U.S. Department of Defense and policymakers in Washington, DC, to private Alaska companies and the governor of the 49th State, Graphite One Inc. is receiving broad support as it pushes to establish an all-American supply chain that begins in Alaska and ends in the lithium batteries powering electric vehicles, military hardware, and...
Alaska's unparalleled potential to be a major domestic supplier of the minerals and metals critical to the clean energy transition attracted some of North America's top commodities investors and analysts to Anchorage for the second annual Alaska Sustainable Energy conference. The 49th State's rich mineral resources, however, may remain on lockdown due to a "permitting pandemic" that plagues not only Alaska but the entire United States. "Our country is suffering from a...
