We could get most metals for pure energy without opening new mines

The remaining ore discarded by American mines is packed with key lines – enough to deliver virtually all the raw material needed to build clean energy technologies. To recover just a fraction of these minerals could meet the country’s growing demand for green energy without demanding imports or environmentally devastating new mines-but it is easier to get them than done.

“We need to get better at using the material we mines,” says Elizabeth Holley at the Colorado School of Mines.

Currently, most individual mines focus on extracting only a few types of minerals, such as copper or gold. It involves digging up ore, crushing it and then separating the main product using various metallurgical processes. Everhything back then is tailings. “Most of what we are mining is waste,” says Holley.

These residues often contain other useful materials, included dozens of critical minerals that the US government has identified as important to military and energy technologies, such as solar cell panels, wind turbines and batteries. But the supply chains for some of these minerals are controlled by China, triggering urgent concern among the United States and its allies, they could be practiced for geopolic leverage. It has spurred a search for alternative mineral sources, included mining of by -products and tailings.

However, most mines do not know exactly what they are throwing out. “Many of the elements we currently consider critical were not of great use in the past, so no one analyzed for them,” says Holley.

Holley and her colleagues looked at thousands of ore tests and production data representatives for mines around the United States. They used this information to estimate the amount of other minerals that could be extracted from 54 active hard rock metal mines if new refining steps were added.

For some minerals, they found that extraction only 1 per day. Hundreds of what is found in mining of by -products could replace all the current US import. Nother minerals required higher recovery rates ranging from 10 to 90 percent to replace imports. And a few metals, included gold, platinum and palladium, still had to be imported, even if 100 per day. Hundreds could be extracted from by -products.

These numbers suggest that the United States could most of its increasing demands on critical minerals without building new mines, says Holley. It would help secure supply chains as well as reduce the environmental impact of mining. “It would be a bet to get more out of what we already mines,” she says.

Brian McNulty at the University of British Columbia in Canada says this shows that “the opportunity is huge” – but much more research is needed to translate estimates of the total amount of minerals out there for actual improvement. “Hopefully, it gives energy in the government as well as the industry to take a closer look at what we are mines,” he says.

Just known where these minerals are found is hardly the only barrier. The current refining technology is not suitable for these small, complicated waste streams, and implementing the necessary technology is too expensive for most American mines, says Megan O’Connor at NTH Cycle, a start-up that focuses on extracting critical minerals from unconventional sources.

Mines can also hesitate to invest money in extracting new types of minerals when the future demands is so uncertain, says McNulty. Whether it is electric vehicle batteries or solar panels, “the change in technology happens exponentially quickly than how we mines,” he says.

Despite its hostility to renewable energy, the Trump administration has increased American critical mineral production an important part of its agenda. Last week, the Department of Energy (Doe) began almost a billion dollars in financing for unconventional mining, which included $ 250 million, which focused on recovering minerals from mining by by -products.

A spokesperson for Doe says these mines are “an important domestic opportunity” and can help the United States diversify its sources of critical minerals and materials.

However, this does not exclude support for new mines, said agency secretary P. Wells Griffith III during a workshop on DOE’s strategy on August 20. “We should never apologize for our modern lifestyle or our Abunance of Natural Resources,” he said.