That’s the goal of a first-of-its-kind study led by Elizabeth Holley, associate professor of mining engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Fourth, it discloses that the United States is sitting on a goldmine of critical minerals that we’re throwing away. The analysis uncovers a substantial opportunity to recover highly valuable resources such as cobalt, lithium, gallium, and rare earth elements. These valuable metals are frequently discarded as waste tailings in the extraction operations for other minerals such as gold and zinc.
The findings in this report show that we are wasting these critical minerals at mining operations across the country. These minerals used to be crucial components for productive technology as well as defense applications. Holley’s research has shown that by implementing recovery techniques, the U.S. could significantly reduce environmental impacts and meet its own industrial demands without relying on imports.
The Value in Tailings
In fact, many of the critical minerals we need can be found in mine waste produced while extracting more traditionally pursued metals. Germanium—Britain’s Dark Star Germanium is a brittle, silvery-white semi-metal with vital roles in electronics and infrared optics. You’re most likely to encounter it in zinc and molybdenum mines. Amazingly enough, despite all its potential, it is often thrown away back in other tailings.
Holley’s team used new data on discharge records from every federally permitted metal mine in the contiguous U.S. We’ve crossed the Appalachian mountains, the prairies, used a statistical resampling technique to correlate production data with geochemical concentrations of critical minerals. Their findings suggest that by recovering less than 1% of the germanium currently processed, the nation could fulfill its industry needs without further imports.
“Now that we know which sites are low-hanging fruit, we need to conduct detailed analyses of the minerals in which these chemical elements reside and then test the technologies suitable for recovery of those elements from those specific minerals,” – Elizabeth A. Holley
The same goes for cobalt for the exact same reasons. By reclaiming about 9.8% of what is already mined, we’d be able to supply the whole demand for batteries in the U.S. market alone. This further highlights the huge, unrealized opportunity to recover critical minerals in our current mining footprint.
Economic and Environmental Benefits
The implications of enhanced recovery practices are not limited to the costs associated with resource availability, but include economic, geopolitical, and environmental benefits as well. The U.S. can make its supply chains robust by stopping the overreliance on foreign imports. Concurrently, this framework will begin to address and reduce the environmental footprint associated with mining waste.
Holley underscored the importance of investing in policies that will incentivize mine operators to invest in infrastructure and make downstream processing easier and more accessible. The minerals are critical for various industries, but their market value may not currently justify the investment required for new equipment and processes.
“We also need policies that incentivize mine operators to incorporate additional processing infrastructure. Although these elements are needed, their market value may not be sufficient to motivate operators to invest in new equipment and processes without the right policies in place.” – Elizabeth A. Holley
These technologies find applications in consumer electronics, medical devices, renewable energy technologies, and military equipment. The authors estimated that unrecovered byproducts from U.S. mines could meet the demand for all but two critical minerals: platinum and palladium.
A New Perspective on Resource Recovery
Holley’s research offers a refreshing perspective on resource recovery, framing it as an essential opportunity for sustainability in mining practices. The new research pinpoints areas where small incremental efforts toward recovery can make a big impact. It pushes the mining industry to reconsider existing practices.
“This is a brand-new view of ‘low hanging fruit’—we show where each critical mineral exists and the sites at which even 1% recovery of a particular critical mineral could make a huge difference, in many cases dramatically reducing or even eliminating the need to import that mineral,” – Elizabeth A. Holley
Holley’s analogy of extracting salt from bread dough is a compelling one for explaining the critical minerals recovery process. She calls for further research and development to make this recovery economically possible.
“It’s like getting salt out of bread dough—we need to do a lot more research, development and policy to make the recovery of these critical minerals economically feasible.” – Elizabeth A. Holley
