Episode 153 | Mining Minerals | Gold Express Mines
The energy industry is hungry for minerals—lithium and cobalt for batteries, uranium for carbon-free nuclear. And those tiny rare-earth metals? More of those as well.
Two years of a wrecked supply chain, combined with inflation and geopolitical pressure from some of these raw materials’ biggest suppliers has some folks looking to start more mining back home.
Gold Express Mines is one of those companies. They formed two years ago and have currently list 10 projects in their portfolio. These mines would produce gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, and uranium.
While most green energy-minded folks might say lithium is in greatest demand, my guest, founder and executive director Howard Crosby, says the most valuable energy metal is copper.
“An electric car uses two to four times as much copper as a conventional car,” says Howard. “And that doesn’t discuss the copper required for charging stations and other infrastructure that would be required to support electrification.”
Goldman Sachs agrees, declaring “Copper is the new oil” last May. Even with new mining on the horizon, Howard says we would have to add a new Escondida mine—the largest in history—every year for the next 28 years to keep up with the copper forecasted to achieve some of these green energy goals.
So, what about the other minerals listed? Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Lithium—Most is produced in Chile (see Episode 106). An untapped, 500-year supply rests in Bolivia, though government makes that challenging. There’s one mine in the U.S. The Salton Sea in California is currently being explored.
- Cobalt—Fifty percent is produced in the Congo, with the rest in Russia and Kazakhstan. There is a small operation planned in Idaho in 2023.
- Nickel—The Iron Range in Minnesota has substantial deposits, but faces tremendous environmental opposition. Think of New Caledonia as the “Wakanda of nickel,” since it essentially rests on a giant deposit.
- Rare-earth metals—There is a defunct operation in California’s Mountain Pass. Round Top in Texas is currently under development. China currently processes 87% of the world’s market.
- Uranium—Gold Express Mines has picked up a lease near the Colorado Plateau. The United States needs approx. 48M lbs. of uranium a year to power its nuclear fleet. Most of that is supplied by Russia and Kazakhstan.
Howard says he used to own a company called High Plains Uranium, which eventually fell into the hands of Uranium One, now Russian-owned and at the heart of the infamous Clinton scandal. He points out that recent moves by China to expand their nuclear fleet could gobble up most of Kazakhstan’s uranium.
“We’re gonna get choked out of the market here pretty fast if we don’t develop our own resources in that area.”
The world wants more of these minerals because it wants cleaner energy. While most of this is focused on CO2 emissions and climate change, one cannot lose focus of the enormous raw materials extracted. Howard says the United States, probably more than any other country, could extract these minerals in an environmentally responsible way.
“If we were more aggressive about developing our properties and production here in the country, we would have significantly less pollution than are being done in other parts of the world.”
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