The Elements of Innovation Discovered

Articles written by Shane Lasley


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 25 of 811

  • Graphic with bubbles depicting hydrogen supply chain against green background.

    DOE to loan Plug $1.7B for green hydrogen

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 15, 2024

    Funds will be used to build out a complete green hydrogen ecosystem in the U.S.; will create new demand for PGMs. To help support the production of green hydrogen to fuel America's clean energy economy, the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office has conditionally committed to loan Plug Power Inc. $1.66 billion to help finance the construction of up to six domestic hydrogen facilities. "Green hydrogen is an essential driver of industrial decarbonization in the United...

  • A smartphone displaying the EXIM website homepage.

    NioCorp takes step toward $800M U.S. loan

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 15, 2024

    Critical minerals company receives preliminary term sheet for mine financing from EXIM. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has extended an offer to loan NioCorp Developments Ltd. $800 million to help fund the development of Elk Creek, a critical minerals project in Nebraska that would provide a domestic source of niobium, titanium, scandium, and rare earths. "Our goal is to make North America less dependent on foreign suppliers for the critical minerals we...

  • Rows of metallic gold, red, and black battery cells.

    Merging lithium battery supply chains

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 15, 2024

    Talon and Argonne National Lab are working to transform iron waste products from nickel mines into a superior LFP battery cathode material. A mix of battery types is needed for a rapid and sustainable transition to electric vehicles. While lithium-ion batteries with nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) cathodes will continue to be the main choice for longer-range EVs in North America, lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) offers an alternative for lower-cost cars used primarily for...

  • A TruScan mobile unit parked and set up to receive drill core for scanning.

    A TruScan of CuMo ore sorting potential

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 15, 2024

    Idaho Copper is utilizing Veracio's digital ore scanning tech to accurately relog drill core in preparation for updated mine study. As the next step in its goal of providing a domestic source of copper to meet the United States' growing demand for this energy transition metal, Idaho Copper Corp. is leveraging Veracio's TruScan technology to digitally analyze more than 60,000 feet (18,290 meters) of core in preparation for ore sorting studies at its CuMo cop...

  • Looking over long stockpiles of coal toward a power plant in Slovenia.

    Turning European mines into batteries

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 14, 2024

    Mining companies look to Gravitricity's gravity energy storage tech as anopportunity to extend usefulness of mine shafts after the ore is gone. Energy storage is the lynchpin of a clean energy future that will rely on enormous quantities of zero-carbon electricity from intermittent sources such as wind and solar. After all, the billions of lightbulbs illuminating a city at night or millions of air conditioners keeping homes and businesses cool on a still summer day do not...

  • US Strategic Metals battery materials recovery facility in Madison County, MO.

    Missouri sparks battery materials collab

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 14, 2024

    Missouri University of Science and Technology, US Strategic Metals; lithium-ion battery precursor cathode active material research. Pioneering a transformative shift in the American battery landscape, US Strategic Metals joins forces with Missouri University of Science and Technology to advance research on precursor cathode active material, leveraging the Show Me State's abundant natural resources and cutting-edge facilities in green innovation. Transforming from humble...

  • Photo of a splash resulting from a droplet of water into a pond.

    More green hydrogen with less iridium

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech New|Updated May 13, 2024

    Riken researchers have developed a green hydrogen catalyst that reduces the amount of rare and expensive iridium needed by 95%. One of the most elementary chemistry lessons taught to schoolchildren is that water is a molecule made up of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. Now, scholars at the highest level of academics are working to find the most efficient and sustainable means of breaking those hydrogen atoms off of water to produce a green fuel that turns back into...

  • Innovation Mining logo with representation of gold atoms.

    Innovative solution for stranded gold

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 8, 2024

    EnviroMetal founder launches new company to advance eco-friendly alternative to cyanide for the recovery of gold from small-scale gold mines. When Duane Nelson stepped down from his leadership role at EnviroMetal Technologies, he had a vision of building a new clean-tech company to continue to advance the eco-friendly gold recovery solution that he had helped to develop – Innovation Mining is that company. Formerly known as DynaVat Technologies, Innovation Mining is focused o...

  • Closeup picture of high-quality pure copper cables.

    BHP makes a bid to buy Anglo American

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 8, 2024

    Megamerger would reshape global energy metals sector. The proposed merger between BHP Group Ltd. and Anglo American plc would create a $200 billion mining behemoth that would control 10% of the global production of copper, a metal that has experienced a 23% price spike since early February on supply concerns. "As part of its strategy to expand its copper assets, BHP intends to acquire Anglo American realizing the significant growth potential for copper in the future, as...

  • Front view of an electric Epiroc underground mine truck connected to a trolley.

    Trolley helps electrify underground mining

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024

    Zero-carbon underground mines of the future take step closer to reality with first electric truck trolley system. Boliden, Epiroc, and ABB are each known for pushing the envelope of mining innovation and electrification. Now, these companies have pooled their expertise into installing the first fully battery-electric truck underground trolley system on an 800-meter-long test track within Boliden's Kristineberg mine in northern Sweden. "Over the past three years, we have...

  • AI rendering of a satellite orbiting over Earth.

    Satellite subscription service for miners

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 3, 2024

    Hypervine launches a service that allows users to receive unlimited satellite surveys and reports for a low monthly fee. From gaining a detailed overhead view of the predevelopment landscape to grabbing a snapshot of current conditions and monitoring changes over time, satellite imagery is revolutionizing the planning and operations of modern mines. However, the cost for a satellite to take a snapshot of a mine can be high, and many traditional technologies cannot image the gr...

  • A scoop pours black graphene onto a pile.

    US graphene to boost Asian solar storage

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 2, 2024

    Volfpack selects HydroGraph graphene for supercapacitors in its hybrid renewable energy storage systems. HydroGraph Clean Power Inc.'s flagship graphene product will soon be a key ingredient in Volfpack Energy Ltd.'s hybrid battery system, which was engineered to help store solar energy and stabilize power grids in Asia. Keeping power grids fed with stable solar is challenging. The best-known and most widely understood of these dilemmas is storing enough energy during the day...

  • View of the colorful Perth cityscape from a walkway looking over a river.

    Seeding a global mining tech hub in Perth

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 30, 2024

    Rio Tinto invests in tech startups, partners with Founders Factory to help establish Western Australia as Silicon Valley of mining tech. Global mining company Rio Tinto has teamed up with world-leading venture studio and start-up investor Founders Factory to help establish the city of Perth on Australia's west coast as the Silicon Valley of mining technologies. As the capital of Western Australia, one of the most productive and diversified mining regions in the world, Perth...

  • Nevada high-desert framed by a lithium-boron mineralized outcrop.

    Nevada lithium project passes milestone

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 25, 2024

    BLM completes draft EIS for Rhyolite Ridge, closing in on final federal permitting decision for energy transition metals mine. Marking a major milestone on the path toward a domestic supply of lithium for nearly 370,000 electric vehicles per year, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has finalized a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for developing a mine at Ioneer Ltd.'s Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron project in Nevada. "This news sets a clear path forward to...

  • Dignitaries shake hands after signing an international agreement.

    Saskatchewan critical mineral partnerships

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 25, 2024

    Canadian province signs strategic minerals partnership with France; Saskatchewan Research Council secures rare earths feedstock for Saskatoon processing plant. Saskatchewan's strategy to become a North American hub for the minerals and metals critical to clean energy and other future-leaning technologies was bolstered by two agreements signed on Monday. The first agreement was a letter of intent signed with France to explore, develop, and cooperate on new strategic mineral...

  • Hydrogen symbol over a satellite view of North America at night.

    Is geological hydrogen dead or alive?

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 23, 2024

    With $20 million in DOE funding, MIT and 15 others are carrying out research that will open Schrödinger's box of potentially low-cost source of abundant green energy fuel. Hydrogen is the Schrödinger's Cat of clean energy fuels – it is both an abundant and affordable clean burning gas that fuels the dreams of a green energy future and a scarce element that comes with a carbon footprint that does not justify the cost to produce it. The U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Res...

  • SpaceX Bandwagon-1 Mission launch at T-plus-two-seconds with telemetry.

    Fleet Space mineral exploration rockets

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 16, 2024

    Centauri-6 delivers upgrades and optimizations to constellation of satellites that enable Fleet Space's ExoSphere mineral exploration tech. The payload of SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 7 included a next-generation Centauri-6 satellite that will upgrade and expand upon Fleet Space Technologies' constellation of low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites that are playing a vital role in exploring Earth for the minerals needed for the clean...

  • Two men in safety gear collect water samples from a stream.

    US offers $1.8B loan for antimony mine

    Shane Lasley|Updated Apr 8, 2024

    Perpetua Resources receives Stibnite Gold Mine debt financing letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has extended an offer to loan Perpetua Resources Corp. $1.8 billion to fund the development of a mine at Stibnite Gold, which would round out an all-of-government effort to establish the historic project in Idaho as a future domestic source of antimony critical to America's economic and national...

  • A vial of gold being held above a pile of discarded circuit boards.

    Extracting green gold, PGMs from waste

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 5, 2024

    Researchers develop a highly efficient and selective method of extracting precious metals from e-waste, catalytic converters, and ore. Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a cleaner and more efficient method of recovering gold and platinum group metals (PGMs) from electronic waste and other discarded materials. Even though it costs anywhere from $925 to $4,500 to buy just one ounce of these precious metals, gold and PGMs have special...

  • Computer rending of large wheel lifting and dumping ore buckets.

    EcoHoist mine tech draws ABB expertise

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 2, 2024

    Global mine electrification and hoisting leader is helping accelerate the commercialization of an innovative underground ore hauling solution. The team behind Economical Energy's innovative Viper underground gravity battery for renewable energy storage has now launched an equally innovative solution for the vertical transport of material out of underground mines. The new Australian startup, EcoHoist, is on a mission to decarbonize underground mines by replacing the trucks...

  • Professors Ukar and Larson in front of a University of Texas building.

    Squeezing hydrogen out of iron-rich rocks

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 2, 2024

    University of Texas researchers are exploring the potential to catalyze geological hydrogen with nickel or PGMs. Hydrogen is a highly combustible gas that only emits water into the atmosphere when it is burned, making it an ideal fuel for the clean energy future. This green fuel, however, has the paradoxical distinction of being the most abundant element in the universe but extremely scarce in its pure form here on Earth. Hydrogen's abundance enigma that stems from the gas'...

  • Outside of a newly built manufacturing plant with landscaping being carried out.

    MP awarded $58.5M for REE magnet plant

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Apr 1, 2024

    Will use federal funds to establish the first fully integrated mine-to-magnets rare earths supply chain in the U.S. In support of the development of a complete mines-to-magnets rare earths supply chain in the United States, the Department of Energy has awarded MP Materials $58.5 million to help build a fully integrated rare earths metals and magnet plant in Texas. MP Materials, which operates the Mountain Pass Mine in California's Mojave Desert, is already a major global produ...

  • A battery cutout with a voltage symbol being held up to an orange sunset.

    Graphite One selects Ohio for refinery

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 30, 2024

    Secures former critical minerals stockpile site to build graphite processing and battery materials recycling plant. Graphite One Inc. plans to transform a former national defense critical minerals stockpile site in Ohio into a domestic source of the graphite anode material going into the lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles and storing renewable energy. "Graphite One is delighted to announce that, subject to financing, we will be building our advanced graphite...

  • Neon green tree sap from a notch in a tree is drawn into a narrow glass tube.

    DOE explores nickel farming concept

    Shane Lasley, Mining News|Updated Mar 29, 2024

    Invests $10 million for PHYTOMINES, a project to investigate the potential of using hyperaccumulating plants to draw nickel from soil. Will we soon be able to farm some of the nickel needed for lithium-ion batteries? The U.S. Department of Energy is investing $10 million to find out. The idea of using plants to extract nickel from soil is not as far-fetched as it may sound. Researchers have identified plants in Malaysia known as hyperaccumulators that thrive in nickel-rich env...

  • Closeup of silver-colored gallium in its crystallized form.

    High-grade gallium confirmed in Montana

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated Mar 27, 2024

    US Critical Materials identifies outstanding gallium grades with the high-grade rare earths at its Sheep Creek project. In addition to showing promise as a high-grade domestic source of rare earths, US Critical Materials Corp.'s Sheep Creek project in Montana shows the potential to be an equally high-grade alternative to China for the gallium used in a wide array of high-tech, green energy, and military applications. "US Critical Materials looks forward to being the primary...

Page Down