The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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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...
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...
Researcher Lana Alagha received $875,000 from Rio Tinto to explore gallium and germanium recovery from copper waste streams. In a landmark development for critical minerals recovery, global mining company Rio Tinto has granted Missouri University of Science and Technology professor Lana Alagha $875,000 for a two-year project that seeks to pioneer novel techniques for extracting the highly sought after critical minerals gallium and germanium from waste generated in copper... Full story
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...
ReElement CEO signals the first circular system for recycled rare earths from magnets is in place. One after the other, ReElement Technologies Corp. has been establishing all the links required to build a circular economy for rare earth magnets. Recently partnering with EDPR to recycle its wind turbines and reaffirming with USA Rare Earth LLC to purchase some of those recycled REEs, the company has now announced a deal with major U.S. auto manufacturers to recycle end-of-life...
U.S. Energy Department provides $475M for clean energy in five projects at mine sites across the nation . Looking to revitalize the industry that has supported and continues to support thousands of Americans for over a century, the Department of Energy announced nearly half a billion dollars in funding to accelerate clean energy deployment at five current and former mine sites. DOE has selected five projects in Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia...
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... Full story
Pentagon awards Doe Run $7 million to help scale up a cobalt and nickel processing plant in The Show-Me State. As part of a larger objective to ensure the United States has reliable domestic supplies of the minerals and metals critical to the nation's economy and security, the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded The Doe Run Resources Corp. $7 million to complete a demonstration-scale hydrometallurgical plant for separation of cobalt and nickel at their facility in...
Jet Propulsion Lab rovers will conduct autonomous experiments to test viability of mostly independent robotic work in space. After years of research and development, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that its CADRE mini-rovers will soon arrive on the Moon aboard a lunar lander to test the viability of cooperative robotics in future exploration of celestial bodies. Developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, the Cooperat... Full story
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...
Aussie tech company develops innovative on-the-go charging system for electric mining trucks; collaborating with Hitachi Energy to enhance system. The quest for net-zero carbon emissions has mining companies and heavy equipment manufacturers brainstorming on innovative ways to electrify mining trucks often designed to haul hundreds of tons of rock per load. A dynamic charging system developed by Australia-based BluVein offers a solution that can be retrofitted to all brands...
Recent study shows Exyn drones more safely collect higher quality survey data in half the time compared to traditional mine mapping methods. Exyn Technologies' drone-based mapping system is faster, more accurate, and infinitely safer than traditional underground mine surveying technologies, according to a recent study completed at Northern Star Resources Ltd.'s Pogo gold mine in Alaska. "[T]he data doesn't even compare," said Andrew Loomes, chief mine surveyor at Pogo. Exyn...
New machine learning enhancements make ExoSphere faster and more powerful than ever; Fleet Space joins Stanford's Mineral-X program Already a powerful tool that is being leveraged by global mining companies such as Rio Tinto and Barrick Gold Corp. to discover mineral deposits hidden below the earth's surface, Fleet Space Technologies' satellite-enabled ExoSphere is now more powerful and faster than ever thanks to the introduction of machine learning. First introduced in 2022,...
Investigating the advantages of industrial sites in Pennsylvania and Louisiana ahead of final decision. Industrial sites in Pennsylvania and Louisiana are on Jervois Global Ltd.'s short list of locations to build a domestic refining and recycling plant that will help break the United States' dependence on countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and China for cobalt used in the lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles. Jervois already owns Idaho Cobalt...
SBQuantum and Silicon Microgravity merge cutting-edge geophysics tech into a single drone-mounted platform. The world's first diamond quantum magnetometers, a disruptive gravity sensor technology, are being combined with drones into a platform aimed at accelerating the discovery of minerals and metals critical to the high-tech and green energy future. "We'll be combining two key geophysical surveying methods, gravimetry and magnetics, to quickly identify promising mineral...
European steelmakers are looking across the Atlantic for high-quality iron ore mined on Canada's Baffin Island. Due to the combination of high strength, low cost, and the abundance of the minerals and metals from which it is made, steel is the most used metal on Earth. The making of this alloy that serves as the skeleton of modern society, however, is also responsible for roughly 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. To help reduce the CO2 footprint of this building material... Full story
Prismo Metals brings ExploreTech xFlare technology to world-class copper project Heating up its exploration endeavors at the company's Hot Breccia project in the heart of the great Arizona Copper Belt, Prismo Metals Inc. has enlisted the support of Exploration Technologies Inc.'s xFlare artificial intelligence technology to assess the potential of this world-class copper target. "The Hot Breccia project should be an ideal place to apply xFlare," said Prismo Metals President... Full story
Exyn Technologies unveils a new 3D mapping solution to dock with its industry-leading autonomous drones and other delivery systems. Whether carried in a backpack, on the back of a Boston Dynamics Spot robot dog, or docked with one of its own state-of-the-art autonomous drones, Exyn Technologies' new Nexys modular 3D mapping system offers unmatched flexibility, speed, and accuracy for surveying and inspecting mines, construction sites, and other demanding environments. As a...
Works with ABB to develop prototype that seldom needs a recharge due to innovative trolly assist and regenerative braking system. Heavy equipment staple Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. and electrification and automation leader ABB Ltd. have reached a milestone in their collaboration to develop a battery-powered electric mining haul truck that never needs to break for a recharge. Under development since 2021, with the goal of meeting the growing demand for reducing...
Looking to put some order into the modern mine, Hivekit Inc. has released an operations management system for the mining and metals industry, providing a cloud-based platform able to track individuals, vehicles, equipment, and other data sources– replicated as a three-dimensional digital twin – allowing management in the virtual before taking it to reality. Founded in 2023, Hivekit is the result of five years of research and development into creating a new way of wor... Full story
Six early-staged explorers selected for the innovative mineral discovery accelerator enjoy $500,000 grant, technical experts, BHP's network. As part of its innovative approach to accelerating the discovery of minerals critical to the energy transition, BHP has selected six companies to join the second cohort of its Xplor program. Launched by the mining giant in the fall of 2022, BHP Xplor is a unique program that offers funding and technical support to early-stage mineral...
This week, Norway's parliament, with cross-party support, voted 80 to 20 in favor of opening roughly 108,000 square miles of Arctic seabed to mineral exploration and potential mining between Norway and Greenland near the Svalbard archipelago. Energy transition minerals cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, and manganese can all be found in greater quantities than in our terrestrial mines as potato-sized nodules scattered across the abyssal depths of the seafloor. These accretions are...
Clean tech startup advances method to turn CO2 into rock for geological timescale storage. As mining companies around the world endeavor to meet the rocketing demand for minerals needed to build the clean energy infrastructure to slow global warming, CO2 Lock Corp. is racing to put minerals back into the ground for the same purpose. CO2 Lock was formed by FPX Nickel Corp. in 2022 as a clean technology startup focused on carrying forward research into transforming atmospheric...
Metal Tech News Q&A with Oliver Gunasekara, CEO Impossible Metals. As an entrepreneur and business development executive, Oliver Gunasekara has left his mark on the tech world over the past 30-plus years. His latest project, Impossible Metals, is poised to be a real game-changer in the quest of deep sea mining for minerals critical to clean energy – which can and should maintain equal ESG standards to land-based mining. Rather than dredging the seafloor for precious p... Full story
World's largest copper producer is implementing digital solutions to optimize safety and productivity; lays groundwork for automation. The world's top copper producer, Codelco, has turned to Epiroc to provide digital solutions that will improve productivity, sustainability, and safety at its mines in Chile. State-owned Codelco has long worked closely with Epiroc to provide equipment and digital solutions at its copper mines. Last August, this longtime business relationship...
