The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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Rio Tinto, Fortune Minerals team up to recover critical minerals at Nico refinery in Alberta. To bolster the North American supply of critical minerals, global mining giant Rio Tinto and Canadian mine developer Fortune Minerals Ltd. are working together to improve the recovery of bismuth and cobalt from ore and waste streams. "We are committed to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs to grow and decarbonize," said Rio Tinto Kennecott Managing Director Nate...
Working toward improved synergies between its autonomous equipment in the complex hive that makes up mine sites and the connectivity that will be consistent enough to keep all the bees informed of each other, Caterpillar Inc. has completed an in-house validation for Rajant Corp.'s BreadCrumbs LX5 CA radios, which will enable field trials with Rajant's product and Cat's MineStar Command for hauling. "This validation is a key step to provide additional options for our mining...
Provides update on magnet and bauxite recycling pilot plants, and nominates supply chain expert to serve on board. Coming into the final months of 2023, Geomega Resources Inc., a leading developer of clean technologies for the mining, refining, and recycling of rare earths and other critical materials, has released an update for its various operations and construction of the plants that will help fuel the low-carbon future. After announcing at the end of May regarding the...
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy launched a unifying Critical Materials Collaborative this week to "harness and unify critical materials research across America's innovation ecosystem." Building on momentum from the 2023 DOE Critical Materials Assessment, the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office has announced plans to fund up to $10 million to establish a Critical Materials Accelerator Program. Projects funded...
May be the tech for unifying green energy future and the not-so-often green methods of producing lithium. Researchers at Princeton have developed a surprisingly efficient and environmentally friendly method of extracting lithium from brines and seawater using specialized string. While technologies such as direct extraction from lithium-rich geothermal waters is shaping up to be a way to produce the silvery-white critical mineral necessary for rechargeable batteries without...
Collabs with academia, tech firm, with funding from government for future safe, smart vehicles. With 150 years of experience in all things mining, Sweden-based Epiroc has unveiled its next generation in mineral extraction, which will leverage the power of artificial intelligence to make its mining vehicles more autonomous through a new collaborative project called the Realistic Navigation Assistance and Machine Control, or ReNAM. Funded by Swedish government innovation agency...
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...
Mining – especially regarding copper, lithium, and other critical minerals – is one of the most water-intensive industries, and the sector is facing increased operational risks, including community competition for supply. With rising scarcity, industrial utilization of water is typically the first to be constrained, as with the shutdown of aluminum processing in São Paulo, Brazil, during the record-setting 2014–2017 drought. Investor scrutiny of water stewardship has since...
Further solidifying its leadership in the world of multi-platform robotic autonomy for complex and GPS-denied environments, Exyn Technologies Inc. has secured funding that strengthens the autonomous robotics pioneer's strategic partnerships. Founded in 2014 as a spin-out of the University of Pennsylvania's General Robotics, Automation, Sensing & Perception (GRASP) Laboratory, Exyn has quickly grown as the leading contender for autonomous exploration and mapping for industries...
Space Age mineral exploration firm invests in mining company using its cutting-edge tech. Going above and beyond its already well-established commitment to employing space-based mineral exploration technology to accelerate the discovery and delineation of minerals critical to life here on Earth, Fleet Space Technologies is investing in Thor Energy. "This partnership between Thor Energy and Fleet Space Technologies is further testament to what is possible when we fuse world-cla...
At T-minus 25 days until the launch of the Psyche, the technicians behind this first mission to a metal-rich asteroid beyond the orbit of Mars can barely contain their excitement. "It's getting increasingly real," said Henry Stone, Psyche's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "We are counting the days. The team is more than ready to send this spacecraft off on its journey, and it's very exciting." No stranger to playing the long game,...
NASA has selected the geology team for the Artemis III moon flight, the first crewed lunar landing mission since the Apollo missions over 50 years ago. The astrogeology team will help plan geological investigations for the Artemis crew, which includes the first woman, first man of color, and first Canadian on a moon mission. Led by Brett Denevi of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Maryland, the Artemis III geology team is working with NASA to determine the...
Compile national-scale datasets to assist tri-national critical minerals mapping initiative. Part of a larger collaboration to better understand the critical minerals potential across Australia, Canada, and the United States, the federal geological surveys from the three countries have merged national-scale geological, geophysical, and mineral resource information into a single dataset that is expected to enhance critical mineral discovery. "Geology doesn't stop at the border...
Deep-sea battery metals mining has created an ocean-sized rift between those that want to speed regulations, slow the process, to save the planet. Loose legislation and tight deadlines have created a deep-sea mining rift that divides governments, electronics giants, vehicle manufacturers, banks, and scientists across unexpected lines. The mining industry has found itself rapidly transforming into a vital participant in worldwide efforts to reverse climate change due to the...
Mining company installs Hexagon’s operator alert system to monitor for signs of fatigue at underground mine in Tasmania. To enhance the safety of mining truck operators carrying out repetitive tasks over long shifts, global base metals miner MMG Ltd. had Hexagon's MineProtect Operator Alertness System installed in 11 underground trucks at its Roseberry zinc-lead-copper-gold-silver mine in Tasmania, Australia. "Our number one value is we always think safety first, and nothing i...
$2.1M awarded to three companies advancing tech for more sustainable, productive mining The Greater Sudbury region of Ontario is so enriched with deposits containing nickel and other metals needed for the clean energy transition that one of the area's parliamentary districts is named Nickel Belt. Looking to also be an epicenter of sustainable mining technologies, Marc Serré, member of parliament for Nickel Belt, and Viviane Lapointe, member of parliament for the neighboring...
As first step in a 3-phase strategy to upgrade Elk Creek scandium to Al-Sc master alloy at commercial scale. The need for durable and lightweight alloys for electric vehicles, mass transit systems, military hardware, and aerospace is driving increasing interest in establishing commercial production of aluminum-scandium master alloy in the United States. NioCorp Developments Ltd.'s Elk Creek deposit in Nebraska offers an important domestic source of the critical metal...
Alongside critical minerals demand, there's another shortage in the U.S. that has the mining industry just as worried – fresh faces in the labor pool. The global economy is in the midst of a mineral-intensive green energy transition that involves more electric vehicles powered by better batteries, and 2030 is the first self-imposed deadline in many countries for phasing out internal combustion engines. At the start of the new decade, more than half the current mining i...
Large investment aims to reinvent historic Cornwall mining region as a lithium hub to power the UK's net-zero future. In support of domestic sources of lithium that will help power the United Kingdom's green industrial revolution, the UK Infrastructure Bank led a US$67 million (53.6 million British pounds) investment in Cornish Lithium plc. "Our investment in Cornish Lithium perfectly encapsulates a key part of our mission – to drive forward new and emerging markets that t...
Seeking ways to mitigate and reduce carbon emissions, a doctoral postgraduate of mining engineering and management from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology has taken it upon herself to explore a next-generation clean energy strategy at what may seem to many as an unlikely place – a Wyoming coal mine. Recently completing her doctorate at South Dakota Mines, Amy McBrayer held a background in natural resources and management before pursuing the much-esteemed degree. McBra...
One of the northernmost mines in the world, Baffinland's Mary River operation on Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada, has among the richest iron ore deposits ever discovered, and a recent cooperation with German steelmaker thyssenkrupp hopes to turn that iron into low-carbon green steel. Announced July 25, Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. and thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG have entered into a memorandum of understanding to accelerate the development of high-quality feedstock for green...
Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Corp. have teamed up to build a demonstration plant aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the production of aluminum. The A$111.1 million (US$73.9 million) pilot project, the first of its kind deployment of hydrogen calcination in the world, will be built in Australia at the Yarwun Alumina Refinery in Gladstone, Queensland. The project, co-sponsored by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which contributed A$32.1 million (US$21.3 mil...
Martian geologist takes a page from Earth prospectors; collects sample of a conglomerate of rocks that washed down a Mars river. When a geologist must ship rock samples 217 million miles for analysis, only the best specimens will do. This is why Perseverance, and the team of earthbound scientists supporting the Mars rover, were thrilled with the latest sample collected by the six-wheeled robo-geologist. On Sol 832 – the 832nd Martian day of the Perseverance mission, or June 23...
College of Science researchers at Oregon State University have demonstrated an improved carbon capture method using an inexpensive nanomaterial made from aluminum to scrub carbon dioxide from industrial emissions. Recently, at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, 197 countries agreed to the new Glasgow Climate Pact, reaffirming the 2015 Paris Agreement and the need to reduce global CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030, relative to the 2010 levels, with 140 countries...
MOU with Metso lays groundwork for the processing tech to produce lithium hydroxide for EV batteries at a planned plant in Thunder Bay, Ont. In a major step toward its goal of becoming the first vertically integrated lithium producer in Ontario, Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. has signed a preliminary agreement with Finland-based Metso Corp. for the development of a processing plant on the north shores of Lake Superior that would upgrade lithium concentrates from Avalon's...
