The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 629
High concentrations of REEs occurring near coal could improve domestic supply. "The model is if you're already moving rock, could you move a little more rock for resources towards energy transition?" said co-author Lauren Birgenheier regarding a study of rare earth elements (REEs) found in conjunction with coal-producing regional mines across the Uinta coal belt of Colorado and Utah. This research seeking out alternative sources of rare earths was conducted in partnership...
German, US scientists work to commercialize energy storage systems designed to offset fluctuations in renewable power production. Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany are developing a high-temperature heat storage system that employs liquid-metal technology to enhance the use of renewable energy sources. Highly conductive liquid metals can be heated to more than 700 degrees Celsius (1,290 degrees Fahrenheit) using green electricity to flexibly...
International Energy Agency says significant investments are still needed for critical minerals supply to keep pace with clean energy demand. While encouraged by the billions of dollars that has been invested in developing new supplies of the minerals and metals critical to the energy transition, the International Energy Agency (IEA) cautions that the current well-supplied market may not be a good guide for the future of critical minerals. "The world's appetite for...
Materials breakthrough improves the timeline of plasma stability, brings endless energy closer. This month in France, a donut-shaped fusion reactor the size of an eight-foot box called WEST has upgraded from a carbon interior to one made of tungsten, an improvement which successfully contained plasma hotter and longer than ever. Compared to this latest result, our own sun burns at temperatures 30% less while still powering grid-scale systems running on solar panels whose...
Reports demonstrate how growing demand, international cooperation, and social change are shaping the mining sector for the better. The continuing surge in critical minerals demand, anticipated to easily double by 2040, has significantly impacted the global mining sector while several world powers struggle to slip out from under geopolitical pressures on the battery industry and develop domestic supply chains. Propelled by technological expansion, the rate of demand growth for...
High-grade REE concentrate previously destined for China is now on its way to Saskatchewan for further processing. As home to the first rare earths mine in Canada, Vital Metal Ltd.'s Nechalacho project in Northwest Territories grabbed national headlines as the initial link of a burgeoning rare earth supply chain that would be completely independent of China. With this being hailed as a major milestone for Canada and its allies, Vital's announcement late last year that it...
Steady demand and Cyclone Megan supply disruptions are giving the metal market its day. The recent uptick in manganese prices resulting from Tropical Cyclone Megan causing significant damage to South32's Groote Eylandt Mining Company (GEMCO) manganese mine in Australia has prompted Jupiter Mines to release an update on the manganese market landscape, preempting its usual quarterly update. "We are expecting manganese prices to be higher than the historical average for the...
Energy Fuels begins commercial neodymium-praseodymium production at White Mesa Mill; has sights set on world-class expansions. On the path to toward establishing its White Mesa Mill as a world-class hub for at least six of the metals critical to the energy transition, Energy Fuels Inc. is now producing commercial quantities of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), a pair of rare earths widely used in electric vehicle motors at the uranium production facility in southeastern Utah....
Adds silicon metal, high-purity iron ore, and phosphorous to 31 materials already on the list. Toward the goal of positioning itself as the "global supplier of choice" for the minerals and metals essential to modern technologies, especially the enormous quantities of raw materials being demanded by a world transitioning to clean energy, Canada has assembled an updated and expanded list of minerals critical to the northern nation. "By updating Canada's Critical Minerals List, w...
Partnership with Pyxera successfully tested a "circular logistics" model to upcycle critical minerals from electronic waste. Following a successful pilot program at the end of last year in Tennessee, FedEx, Pyxera Global, and several other companies have launched the Circular Supply Chain Coalition (CSCC) to boost the domestic supply of critical minerals for new tech hardware in the United States by "mining" discarded consumer electronics. CSCC's vision is to strengthen and ex...
Auto manufacturers take sides on the question facing the industry – are deep sea resources necessary to compete in the global EV race? A proposal to limit the use of minerals pulled from the seabed has been making its rounds in boardrooms from Tesla to GM, asking big names in the electric vehicle game to commit to a moratorium on minerals sourced from the deep sea. It lost in a landslide, with 78% of Tesla shareholders voting against the proposal and 6% in favor. While c...
Solution-focused NGO agrees to help manufacture and sell tellurium-based thermoelectric generator with green potential. Amongst the rarest of stable elements on the periodic table, tellurium has quietly emerged as a secret ingredient of the clean energy future. This includes serving as a semiconductor in thermoelectric generators – solid-state devices that transform waste heat from vehicle engines and industrial processes into clean electricity. This promising green energy t...
Returns to a Yukon property with the same advantageous nickel mineral as is found at its Baptiste project in B.C. FPX Nickel Corp.'s search for a unique mineral that offers a cleaner source of the nickel that is in high demand due to its use in lithium-ion batteries has led the company back to Canada's Yukon. FPX is best known for its work at Baptiste, an advance-staged exploration project in central British Columbia that shows the potential of being a significant future...
Pentagon awards $20 million to jump-start the production of battery-grade manganese at South32's Hermosa project in Arizona. The Department of Defense (DOD) has announced a $20 million grant awarded via the Defense Production Act Investment (DPAI) Program to South32, a globally diversified mining and metals company, for accelerating the upcoming Hermosa zinc-manganese project in Arizona. Located in a historic mining district in the Patagonia Mountains, Hermosa was chosen for...
New legislation heralds anticipated domestic nuclear energy transformation. With the signing into law of bipartisan legislation that effectively bans the import of uranium products from Russia, the Biden administration has signaled a monumental shift for America's civil nuclear energy sector. Signed by President Biden on May 14, the bipartisan Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act has finally been enacted into law. "This bill limits the importation of uranium from Russia....
Idaho National Lab tests Sheep Creek samples; one rock from Montana project contains 17.8% rare earths and 350 ppm* gallium. Recent analysis by Idaho National Laboratories confirms that US Critical Materials Corp.'s Sheep Creek project in southwestern Montana hosts extremely high concentrations of gallium alongside the high-grade rare earth elements found there. "The gallium and rare earth grades, calculated and verified by Idaho National Laboratory, are higher than any that...
Company ramps up recycling facility, operates at over 115% capacity. In a triumph of innovation, American Battery Technology Company announced a groundbreaking milestone: its lithium-ion battery recycling facility has been operating steadily at over 115% of its designed capacity, showcasing the efficacy of its proprietary recycling technology. Established in 2011, ABTC began its journey with a handful of mining claims out of Nevada. Stemming from a former Tesla employee's ambi...
International Battery Metals and US Magnesium agree to install world's first modular DLE plant. This May, International Battery Metals (IBAT) and US Magnesium announced their partnership to install a first-of-its-kind modular direct lithium extraction (DLE) plant that can rapidly be deployed to a site and efficiently extract lithium from a variety of brine resources. The portable, modular design provides both a smaller footprint and scalability. The mobile facility is...
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...
Latest budget's resource search focuses on battery metals and rare earth elements. Over the coming decade, Australia is prepared to spend A$566 million (US$373 million) to map out deposits of minerals critical to high-tech manufacturing and the green energy transition. "The critical minerals space is one of the reasons why there is so much attention from global and domestic investors, but we need to make sure we can attract and deploy that," Australia Treasurer Jim Chalmers...
Without investors, the future of South Africa's rare earth elements enriched Phalaborwa site may depend on Washington support. Bordering South Africa's renowned Kruger National Park stands Phalaborwa, a mine sporting two rare earths-enriched phospho-gypsum waste piles that could mean over a billion in critical minerals for the U.S. – if the project can get enough support to run. To challenge China's near monopoly on rare earths, Washington has committed funds to a little-known...
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...
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...
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...
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...
