The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 82
With the world-class deposits already found within its borders, the United States has the potential to be a major global producer of copper, lithium, and the other minerals and metals critical to the clean energy transition. Realizing this potential, however, will require reserves of political will in Washington, DC, that match the nation's domestic energy metals endowment, according to R Street Institute. "Despite political rhetoric and policies promoting the use of domestic...
The last few years have seen big industries' social accountability come to the fore, with growing pressure to engage more holistically with the workforce, local communities, and environmental concerns. Evolving from this, a new business model of corporate performance has arrived in boardrooms, comprising a trifecta of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) responsibilities. Keeping pace is the mining industry's collective push to be more sustainable and accountable,...
At first glance, it appears that mining giants have been slow on the uptake during the booming market for battery materials. This may demonstrate an unusual lack of forethought, or over the next few years, may actually prove they've been two steps ahead. In less than a decade, the likes of lithium, cobalt, and graphite went from minor materials to a demand so intense that several electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturers are jumping the usual supply chain and investing...
A mine that could suck billions of tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and turn it to stone while also producing the nickel, cobalt, and other metals needed for zero-emissions electric vehicles would be the ultimate prize for Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk. Carbin Minerals and Carbfix, two companies developing just that type of technology, have been awarded $1 million from XPRIZE, a global future-positive movement envisioned by Musk and supported by his foundation. XPRIZE...
Using a technology initially intended to recover rare earths from recycled magnets, Geomega Resources Inc. subsidiary Innord Inc. has received sizable funding toward an unexpected benefit of the technology, to extract value from and reduce the environmental footprint of aluminum waste from refineries. Awarded a C$1.5 million funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, this accelerates Geomega's plans toward the construction of a pilot plant and the completion of a...
Canadian tech company EnviCore and nickel mining company Talon Metals are teaming up to pioneer a "full value mining" technology that converts mine waste into products for the building, construction, and infrastructure industries. This new technology has the potential to transform waste from nickel mining – called tailings – into additional products with added value for stakeholders. The resulting byproduct would replace primary raw materials in legacy cement and concrete prod...
OZ Minerals, Rio Tinto and Boliden launch initiative that encourages entrepreneurs to reimagine mining and mine tailings. Setting aside professional rivalries for the greater good, OZ Minerals, Boliden, and Rio Tinto have joined forces to nurture new technologies that will reduce the environmental risks posed by mine tailings and extract value from these materials currently considered waste after the targeted metals are extracted. "It isn't very often that competitors come...
Demonstration of Cat 793 Electric mining truck; new mine site of the future to be built at Tucson test site. With executives from some of the world's largest mining companies on hand to witness the historic event, Caterpillar Inc. carried out its first demonstration of a battery electric 793 large mining truck prototype at the heavy equipment company's proving grounds south of Tucson, Arizona. Roughly as tall as a two-story building and capable of carrying nearly 500,000...
Rio Tinto, Ottawa to invest C$737M in lowering GHG emissions, upping critical minerals output in Quebec. Mining giant Rio Tinto and the Canadian government have committed to investing up to C$737 million (US$537 million) into significantly reducing the greenhouse gas emissions at Rio Tinto Fer et Titane (RTFT), a metallurgical complex in Quebec that produces titanium, scandium, steel, and other metal products critical to electric vehicles, 3D printing, and aerospace. "Rio...
Rio Tinto, Scania are reimagining mining with more agile and efficient self-driving truck. Will the automation and electrification of mining trucks shrink the size of equipment used to dig up and haul ore and waste rock at mines around the globe? Rio Tinto believes it could and has teamed up with Scania to develop more energy-efficient and agile autonomous haul trucks at the Channar iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. "Rio Tinto is excited to partner...
From flashlights to supercomputers, tin is the glue for an electronic age Lost in the clamor for lithium, nickel and other metals needed for the batteries powering electric vehicles and modern electronics, or the rare earth elements that turn stored energy into motion, is the enormous need for a much more modest metal that is so fundamental to the advancement of technology that it almost goes unseen – tin. While other technology metals are critical to certain products and s...
To speed the discovery of nickel needed in enormous quantities for the lithium-ion batteries powering the electric vehicle revolution, Talon Metals Corp. is piloting Fleet Space Technologies' ExoSphere satellite-enabled geophysics system. Fleet's ExoSphere system utilizes a combination of lightweight earthbound geophones, edge computing, and a constellation of low-earth-orbit nanosatellites to quickly and efficiently scan the Earth for potential mineral deposits buried...
Rio Tino to supply low-carbon metals, Volvo offers low-emissions trucks Global mining giant Rio Tinto and European automaker Volvo Group have agreed to forge a partnership that will help both companies achieve their climate ambitions. "We look forward to partnering with Volvo to progress our contribution to a net-zero future, as we collaborate to deliver sustainable outcomes from the mine to the showroom floor," said Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm. Under a...
Tesla and other automakers clamor for nickel suppliers with low CO2 footprint Tesla CEO Elon Musk's 2020 appeal to "please mine more nickel" served as a rallying cry for mining companies with projects positioned to deliver this critical battery metal into global markets. Going into 2022, however, the electric vehicle trailblazer's words were echoing in nearly empty warehouses as the lithium-ion batteries that power EVs are demanding more nickel than global miners can supply....
Shining a light on a metal used in nearly all today's economic sectors Used in everything from beer cans to spacecraft, aluminum is a metal most people interact with nearly every day. What many people don't know is this lightweight metal is also a candidate for next-generation rechargeable batteries with the potential to outperform the lithium-ion cells in use today. The major uses for aluminum metal are generally found in: • Transportation – automobiles, aircraft, tru...
Coal ash, acid drainage, and tailings for future green economy As the world continues to prime itself for the global energy shift, academia, governments and the private sector are scrambling to extract the valuable minerals and metals necessary to power the low-carbon renewable future – resulting in some truly innovative and unconventional methods. In addition to the rare earths, cobalt, lithium, and other technology metals that capture headline attention, this list often miss...
Rare metalloid key element of CdTe thin-film solar cell tech The rising popularity of thin-film solar cells as a highly effective means of converting sunlight into electricity is creating increased demand for tellurium, amongst the rarest of the stable elements on the periodic table. Tellurium is a metalloid, one of seven elements with properties that fall between metals like aluminum and tin and non-metals like carbon and phosphorus. These semimetals, which also include...
Investing US$29 million (C$35 million) to build a new aluminum recycling center at its Arvida plant in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, Rio Tinto hopes to expand its offering of low-carbon aluminum solutions for customers in the automotive, packaging, and construction markets. This future facility will make Rio the first primary aluminum producer in North America to incorporate recycled post-consumer aluminum into aluminum alloys. "Investing in new recycling facilities in...
Launches $20M consortium to boost American-made CdTe cells Increasing federal backing of American-made thin-film solar technologies is likely to increase the demand for tellurium, a key ingredient of cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells. Tellurium is a metalloid, one of seven elements with properties that fall between metals like aluminum and tin and non-metals like carbon and phosphorus. These semimetals, which also include silicon and germanium, have natural semiconductive...
CO2 reduction path for mines is difficult but not impossible Aligned with global climate goals agreed upon in international pacts such as the Paris Agreement, most of the major mining companies that will supply the raw materials required to build the low-carbon future have declared their own targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 to 40% by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. How likely is it that this industrial sector known for its enormous diesel-powered digging and hauling...
Looking to secure the materials required for the lithium batteries that will deliver power to more than 2 million electric vehicles per year by 2026, Ford Motor Company is adding the clout of its Blue Oval emblem to mining companies and projects that can offer low-carbon supplies of the aluminum, battery materials, and copper needed to build its envisioned e-mobility future. "Ford's new electric vehicle lineup has generated huge enthusiasm and demand, and now we are putting...
Global mining and metals company Rio Tinto has entered into a strategic partnership that includes a roughly US$10 million (C$12.5 million) investment in Nano One Materials Corp., a British Columbia-based company that has developed a technology equivalent to the "Instant Pot" of lithium battery cathode materials. While there has been a lot of buzz about the hundreds of factories being constructed around the globe to manufacture the lithium batteries needed for the electric...
Rio Tinto is leveraging the safety and productivity advantages of Sandvik's autonomous mining equipment as it heads underground at the enormous Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in the South Gobi Desert region of Mongolia. Oyu Tolgoi, which began operations as an open pit mine in 2013, produced 359.4 million pounds of copper, 468,000 ounces of gold, and 977,000 oz of silver last year. Turquoise Hill Resources, a company that is majority-owned by Rio Tinto that operates Oyu Tolgoi,...
As part of a wider initiative to recover critical minerals as byproducts at its current mining operations, Rio Tinto is now producing the tellurium used in thin-film photovoltaic solar panels at its Kennecott copper operation in Utah. "We are proud to deliver a new domestic supply of tellurium to support the manufacturing of solar panels and other critical equipment here in the United States," said Rio Tinto Copper Chief Operating Officer Clayton Walker. This key ingredient...
After receiving C$4 million in funding toward a pilot plant and feasibility study for the sustainable recovery of iron and critical minerals from aluminum waste, Geomega Resources Inc. has entered into a development agreement with partner Rio Tinto that provides C$1 million to complete proof-of-concept work being carried out by Geomega subsidiary Innord Inc. As the largest aluminum producer in North America, Rio Tinto has agreed to begin evaluating in parallel with Innord,...
