The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Collaborates with Oldendorff to install innovative wind propulsion system on vessel that delivers BC steelmaking coal. The pending sale of its steelmaking coal business to commodities giant Glencore has not slowed Teck Resources Ltd.'s push of new technologies that will lower the carbon dioxide emissions footprint of shipping the bulk commodity used to transform iron ore to steel. To lower the CO2 emissions of shipping coal from its mining operations in southeastern British...
Each year in Canada, roughly 200 active mines contribute to billions of tons of mining waste. The estimated number of tailing storage facilities surveyed worldwide is over 12,000. While considered industrial waste, these facilities also contain a number of useful minerals at a concentration deemed too low to be worth extracting-until now. Enter biomining, which covers several biological separation technologies offering eco-friendly recovery of valuable and strategic materials...
U.S. supply chains for critical minerals in energy, automotive, aeronautic and defense markets are up against the challenge of establishing credible "green credentials" amidst sweeping company promises, increased standards and new regulations. The arbitrary nature of voluntary initiatives, combined with ill-defined industry certification, has made it difficult to compare resource provenances and prove against human rights violations and other practices damaging to the...
Colorado School of Mines thesis confirms that the germanium values in Alaska deposit have long been underreported. In addition to hosting 6.3 billion pounds of copper and 88 million lb of cobalt critical to the energy transition, the Bornite deposit in Alaska's Ambler Mining District may also be a significant source of the germanium essential to both clean energy and high-tech. "Germanium is an important metal with numerous applications, particularly in the manufacture of...
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...
Going back to its 2010 rare earths playbook, China will ban gallium and germanium exports without state approval. Reminiscent of export restrictions that sent the price of rare earth elements through the roof in 2010, China has announced that it is placing state-controlled restrictions on the export of two technology metals vital to chipmaking – gallium and germanium. On July 2, China's Ministry of Commerce posted notices that the exports of eight gallium and six germanium p...
First stand-alone zinc processing site in the world to meet high ESG criteria for Zinc Mark certification. Teck Resources Ltd.'s Trail Operations in British Columbia is the first stand-alone zinc processing site in the world to be awarded the Zinc Mark, a certification that the facility meets high environmental, social, and governance standards. Established six months ago, Zinc Mark is an extension of the Copper Mark framework established by the International Copper...
Toward its goal of reducing carbon emissions from its operations by 33% by 2030 and being a completely carbon-neutral mining company by 2050, Teck Resources Ltd. has entered into an agreement with Caterpillar Inc. to develop, pilot, and ultimately deploy 30 zero-emissions large haul trucks to its mines. "Teck is already one of the world's lowest carbon intensity producers of copper, zinc and steelmaking coal, and now we are taking further action to develop and implement the te...
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,...
Glencore plc, one of the world's largest natural resources companies, has entered into a long-term supply agreement to purchase 100% of the products to be produced by battery recycler ACE Green Recycling. "Our partnership with ACE furthers our objective of creating a leading, global circularity platform for battery metals," said Kunal Sinha, head of recycling at Glencore. Intended to intake recycled lead and key battery metals from recycled lithium-ion batteries, this 15-year...
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...
Tech metalloid boasts superior semiconductor, optical qualities From NASA's Gateway space station that will serve as a critical outpost circling the Moon to more down-to-Earth applications such as quantum computers that are millions of times faster than their classical counterparts and fiber optic cables that send data at the speed of light, germanium is among the techiest of the tech metals. "The extensive use of germanium for military and commercial applications has made it...
A blue-collar metal that is vital to weatherizing envisioned green energy future Critical minerals are typically thought of as obscure rare earth elements cloaked in geopolitical intrigue, or exciting metals and metalloids that have risen to stardom due to the special properties they bring to cutting-edge technologies such as quantum computing, smartphones, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. Zinc – a blue-collar metal better known for galvanizing guardrails, light p...
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...
As part of the goal to reduce the carbon intensity of its operations 33% by 2030 and reach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, Teck Resources Ltd. is carrying out a carbon capture utilization and storage pilot project at its Trail Operations metallurgical complex. Located in southern British Columbia, Trail is a zinc and lead smelting and refining complex that also recovers precious metals such as silver and gold, as well as critical metals germanium, indium, and...
The application of antimicrobial copper patches on high-touch surfaces at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Applied Science will help reduce the spread of infection as researchers inside the protected buildings investigate more advanced copper coatings that are even more lethal to viruses and bacteria. Funded through Teck Resources Ltd.'s Copper and Health program, more than 400 Health Canada-registered copper patches have been installed on door handles, railings,...
Teck Resources Ltd. Feb. 25 announced an expansion to its climate action strategy, which includes a new short-term goal to achieve net-zero "Scope 2" greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and an ambition to achieve net-zero "Scope 3" emissions by 2050, building on the Canada-based company's existing commitment to achieving net-zero emissions across its global operations by 2050. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, greenhouse gas emission (GHG) inventory is a list of...
Toward its goal of eliminating 1,000 internal combustion vehicles from its fleet by 2025, Teck Resources Ltd. is piloting a fully electric on-highway transport truck to haul copper concentrates the roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) from its Highland Valley Mine in southern British Columbia and a rail loading facility in the town of Ashcroft. The Canadian miner says this will mark a world's first when it comes to battery-electric truck hauling copper concentrates from a mine....
Teck Resources Ltd. is piloting a project that utilizes the power of blockchain technology to trace responsibly produced germanium from its Red Dog zinc mine in Northwest Alaska all the way to fiber optic cables that leverage the unique properties of this critical mineral. From the transistors in quantum computers that are millions of times faster than their classical counterparts to fiber optic cables that send data at the speed of light, germanium is a little-known semicondu...
In further investigation into the natural antimicrobial properties of copper, researchers at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, have discovered that using a thin-film coating of copper or copper compounds can enhance the metals' natural ability to inactivate or destroy bacteria and viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19, by saturating contamination with nano-copper. In a study that began soon after the pandemic hit in March 2020, University of...
Teck Resources Ltd. has committed to Copper Mark, a voluntary assurance framework to promote responsible production practices and demonstrate the industry's commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Initiated by the International Copper Association, the Copper Mark was founded in 2019 to act as an independent entity and is the first and only comprehensive social and environmental assurance system for copper production. Copper producers that have been...
Teck Resources Ltd. and the British Columbia Institute of Technology Sept. 8 announced the installation of more than 1,000 antimicrobial copper patches on high-touch surfaces at the institute in Burnaby, BC, the first installation of its kind at a post-secondary institution in Canada. Funded through Teck's Copper and Health program, the installation seeks to create a safer environment for students, faculty, and staff due to copper's natural antimicrobial properties. "We are...
On Feb. 22, 2022, Teck Resources Ltd.'s Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska became the largest critical minerals operation in the United States, both in terms of quantity and value of the materials produced at this world-class base, precious, and critical minerals operation. Being catapulted to America's top dog when it comes to critical minerals production is not due to the germanium produced, though this semiconductor metal vital to ultrafast computing and communications is...
From the transistors in quantum computers that are millions of times faster than their classical counterparts to fiber optic cables that send data at the speed of light, germanium is a little-known semiconductor that is a small but extremely important ingredient in the technologies behind the future of ultrafast computing and communications. Germanium traces its technological roots back to the 1950s, when scientists developed the transistor to replace vacuum tubes in the...
The ability to type, tap, swipe, and scroll your way through articles such as this one from a smartphone, tablet, computer, and now even refrigerators is made possible by indium-tin oxide, which is used as a transparent conducting film applied to virtually every flat-panel display and touchscreen on the market. This thin and invisible layer lying just under the glass senses incoming electrical data triggered by the touch of your fingertip and transforms it into an optical...