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(80) stories found containing 'defense production act'


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  • Brilliant firework display with the horizon lit by a line of the sunset.

    Critical titanium is on our doorstep

    A.J. Roan, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 18, 2024

    Reliance on imports for this white metal could darken days. When people see something pristine white, they often think of it as pure or clean – this imagery is plastered everywhere, from unblemished lab coats to sterilized hospitals. Yet, it may be surprising to know that the rich whiteness seen in many consumer products actually comes from a critical metal, titanium. From the whiteness of milk to the foundation used in makeup, if it is used to lighten or brighten, it most l...

  • Massive earthen dam holds back red mud tailings at aluminum mine in Brazil.

    Turning waste into wealth in novel ways

    A.J. Roan, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 18, 2024

    Federal, private, academic, and public sectors collaborate to find critical minerals through unexpected methods. In the quest for a sustainable and secure supply of critical minerals, North America is turning to unconventional sources that promise to redefine the landscape of resource extraction. As the drive toward a green economy intensifies, innovative methods are emerging to harvest essential minerals through atypical means. These efforts, bolstered by significant...

  • Closeup of silver-colored gallium in its crystallized form.

    US looks for domestic gallium sources

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 18, 2024

    China dominates global supplies of future-leaning tech metal. With a growing range of unique properties that are being leveraged in next-generation smartphones, shape-shifting robots, and catalysts that scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, gallium is an uncanny tech metal that teeters on the edge of science fiction and science fact. Gallium's unusual properties begin with its 85.6-degree Fahrenheit melting point, which means it is a solid at normal room temperatures but...

  • A technician sets up fiber optic systems for high-speed data transfer.

    Germanium: the OG Digital Age metalloid

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 18, 2024

    Original computer semiconductor now energizes space ambitions. Germanium is a versatile and powerful semiconductor that traces its technology roots back to the dawn of the Digital Age and continues to lend its superlative semiconducting and optical properties to enhancing computers, smartphones, solar panels, fiber optics, and other devices 80 years later. In 1945, Sylvania introduced the first germanium diode to enhance the vacuum tube computers that launched the Digital... Full story

  • A gold Lucid Air four-door sedan EV at the AMP-1 factory in Arizona.

    Trifecta of graphite disadvantages for US

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 18, 2024

    Rising demand, lack of domestic supply, and China's dominance. While graphite has not captured the same level of media attention as some of the other mined materials critical to the clean energy transition, the strategic nature of this largest ingredient in lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles is high on the list of concerns for American automakers, Washington policymakers, and the Pentagon's top brass. These worries are based on a trifecta of graphite... Full story

  • Gloved hand holding nuggets of nickel.

    Nickel: bringing green tech home

    K. Warner, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 18, 2024

    Nickel's continuing journey toward clean processes and domestic production. Nickel has a complex relationship with the ongoing energy transition: It provides relatively inexpensive energy density and greater capacity to the lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles and storing clean energy, helping to lower the cost of each kilowatt hour. Its properties have been instrumental in untethering the portable electronics we use every day and incorporating clean power...

  • Front of the White House on a spring day in Washington, DC.

    Unlocking America's critical minerals

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 18, 2024

    An all-of-government strategy is beginning to unfold in the US. Over the first two years following the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Department of Energy has invested billions of dollars into establishing a clean energy supply chain in the United States. These heavy investments, however, have neglected one vital link – the domestic mines needed to supply the processing facilities, battery plants, and other energy t... Full story

  • Three fully equipped U.S. Army Green Berets during desert combat training.

    Antimony is high on DOD mineral concerns

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 18, 2024

    Pentagon turns to Idaho gold mine for a strategic domestic supply of critical metalloid. Falling in the grey area between metals like zinc and nonmetals like carbon, antimony is a semi-metal that possesses some interesting properties that make it a vital ingredient in a wide range of household, industrial, high-tech, and military goods. Despite its widespread uses, many people have never heard of antimony and fewer still realize that this intriguing metalloid is considered... Full story

  • Fully equipped army soldier enters area with smoke and fire at night.

    DOD invests in mission-critical minerals

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 18, 2024

    Import-reliance a top concern for national security officials. America's heavy reliance on China and others for the minerals and metals critical to the nation's economic competitiveness, military strength, and clean energy future is high on the list of strategic concerns for top brass at the U.S. departments of Defense and Homeland Security. While much of this concern is rooted in the fact that the United States' ability to defend its strategic interests at home and abroad... Full story

  • Dark grey Lucid Air four-door sedan EV on the beach at sunset.

    Graphite One links Alaska to EV industry

    Shane Lasley, Mining News|Updated Sep 5, 2024

    A graphite supply agreement struck with Lucid Motors provides a key link to forging a mine-to-EVs supply chain. Graphite One Inc. has struck a battery materials supply agreement with California-based electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors that is expected to forge a complete mine-to-EVs graphite supply chain with links in Alaska, Ohio, and Arizona. Alaska's delegation in Washington, D.C., is hailing this battery materials agreement as a win both for America's 49th State an...

  • Heavily mineralized rock with veining and orange, red, and purple colorization.

    US, Canada back Fortune's NICO project

    Shane Lasley|Updated Jul 11, 2024

    Marks first time ever that U.S. and Canadian governments co-invest in development of North American critical mineral projects. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) are investing a combined $12 million into establishing a vertically integrated critical minerals supply chain in Canada that includes a mine at Fortune Minerals Ltd.'s NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in Northwest Territories and associated hydrometallurgical refinery in...

  • A drill tests for graphite on a clear summer day on Alaska’s west coast.

    Graphite Creek 2024 field program begins

    Shane Lasley, Mining News|Updated Jul 5, 2024

    Summer program focused on collecting the final data needed to complete a feasibility for developing a mine at the western Alaska project. Graphite One Inc. June 26 announced the start of a 2024 exploration program focused on collecting the final data needed to complete a feasibility study for developing a mine at its world-class Graphite Creek project in western Alaska. "The 2024 field program is a key milestone for our stakeholders as we advance our feasibility study with a... Full story

  • A battery cutout with a voltage symbol being held up to an orange sunset.

    Graphite One selects Ohio for refinery

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News|Updated May 8, 2024

    Secures former critical minerals stockpile site to build graphite processing and battery materials recycling plant. Graphite One Inc. plans to transform a former national defense critical minerals stockpile site in Ohio into a domestic source of the graphite anode material going into the lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles and storing renewable energy. "Graphite One is delighted to announce that, subject to financing, we will be building our advanced graphite... Full story

  • Lights illuminate Quonset tents at dusk on Alaska’s west coast.

    Graphite One builds momentum into 2024

    Shane Lasley, Mining News|Updated Jan 25, 2024

    Following up on a banner 2023, G1 is accelerating its strategy to build a graphite supply chain in the U.S. Graphite One Inc. Jan. 2 provided a recap of a landmark year in 2023 that positions the company to accelerate its plans to establish an all-American graphite materials supply chain that will include a mine at the company's Graphite Creek project in western Alaska and an advanced graphite processing and recycling plant in Washington or somewhere else in the "Lower 48"...

  • A large Cat mine truck, water truck, and dozer at the Manh Choh gold mine.

    North of 60 Mining News 2023 Top 10

    Shane Lasley, Mining News|Updated Jan 17, 2024

    From breaking ground at Alaska's next gold mine to the advancement of North of 60 projects focused on delivering the metals needed for the transition of low-carbon energy, and an impressive safety milestone at Alaska's only coal mine to a history of the helicopters that make mineral exploration across the North possible, here is a countdown of the 10 most popular North of 60 Mining News articles in 2023: No. 10 - CORE celebrates Manh Choh, Lucky Shot Contango Ore Inc., a... Full story

  • Rainbow next to a large Quonset tent camp on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula.

    Pentagon support accelerates Graphite One

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Jan 17, 2024

    Graphite has not been mined in the United States for decades, which makes the nation largely beholden to China for its supply of this largest ingredient in the lithium batteries that power everything from smartphones and household appliances to electric vehicles and military hardware. On a mission to accelerate the development of a domestic supply chain for the enormous quantities of graphite required for America's green energy and high-tech future, the U.S. Department of... Full story

  • A drill tests world-class Graphite Creek deposit at sunset in western Alaska.

    Accelerating critical Graphite Creek mine

    Shane Lasley, Mining News|Updated Jan 1, 2024

    Backed by DOD, BSNC, Graphite One completes drill program to support study of graphite supply chain critical to US Thanks in large part to substantial backing and support from the U.S. Department of Defense and Bering Straits Native Corp., Graphite One Inc. completed a 57-hole drill campaign at the Graphite Creek project in western Alaska that is focused on accelerating the completion of a feasibility study for developing an advanced graphite material supply chain in the...

  • The Red Dog camp and mill facilities reflect off a pond during a summer day.

    Alaska Standard for mining energy metals

    Shane Lasley, Mining News|Updated Dec 1, 2023

    State's inaugural sustainability report details the ESG advantages of looking North to Alaska for energy transition metals. The global energy transition has steered Alaska to a critical minerals crossroad that will shape the economic future of America's Last Frontier. On the one hand, the push for low-carbon energy is expected to put a dent in the demand for petroleum, which has been Alaska's economic lifeblood for more than five decades. On the other, Alaska happens to be... Full story

  • A U.S. versus China chess board with metallic gold and silver pieces.

    China plays gallium, germanium pieces

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Oct 5, 2023

    As the White House continues to dole out hundreds of billions of dollars to position America as the global leader in clean energy and digital technologies, Beijing initiates a strategy to put America in check with the global economy equivalent of pawns. These pawns in the technology chess match between the U.S. and China are gallium and germanium, a pair of semiconductor metals used to make the computer chips essential to every facet of modern life. Before all the major news o... Full story

  • Silver Cadillac Lyriq EV rolls off a General Motors assembly line in Tennessee.

    Graphite demand outpaces EV sales

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 21, 2023

    Every electric vehicle rolling off an assembly line increases the demand for graphite by an average of around 160 pounds. With more than 30 million EVs expected to hit global highways each year by 2030 and upwards of 45 million by 2045, the transition to e-mobility will require up to eight times more graphite than was mined globally during 2022. While graphite has not received the attention of other EV battery ingredients such as cobalt, lithium, and nickel, this highly... Full story

  • Copper cables used for electrical transmission.

    Copper is critical to almost everyone

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 14, 2023

    Everyone agrees that historically enormous quantities of copper are essential to wiring a world in which low-carbon electricity delivered via powerlines supplants fossil fuels pumped through pipelines as the energy solution of choice. The federal entity charged with compiling the list of minerals critical to the United States, however, disagrees with nearly every company, organization, and person associated with the clean energy supply chain on the criticality of the... Full story

  • Infographic showing US dependence on China and others for critical minerals.

    US minerals reliance raises red flags

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 13, 2023

    Visual Capitalist infographic shines light on America's heavy reliance on China, others for critical minerals. A recent infographic produced by Visual Capitalist raises both figurative and literal red flags when it comes to America's reliance on imports for the minerals and metals critical to the nation's high-tech sectors, military readiness, and envisioned low-carbon energy future. While the United States' heavy dependence on other countries for critical minerals is not new... Full story

  • Golden Gate Bridge disappears into low clouds over San Francisco Bay.

    Bridging the US battery supply chain chasm

    Shane Lasley, Data Mine North|Updated Sep 13, 2023

    There is nearly a $1 trillion chasm between where the United States' lithium battery supply chain is today and where it needs to be by 2035 in order to build the envisioned green energy future where electric vehicles are charged with low-carbon energy. Roughly 40% of this investment will need to go toward ensuring there is a plentiful supply of cobalt, graphite, lithium, nickel, and other battery materials. Simon Moores, CEO of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence and one of the... Full story

  • Underground mine in an outline of Alaska on a critical minerals background.

    Alaska critical minerals take center stage

    Shane Lasley, Mining News|Updated Aug 31, 2023

    From the Pentagon's multi-million-dollar investment in Graphite One Inc. to China's restrictions on the exports of gallium and germanium, Alaska's current critical minerals supply and future potential was in the headlines and subtext of American news stories over the past month. Alaska as a future source of minerals critical to the clean energy transition grabbed headlines after the mid-July news that the U.S. Department of Defense awarded Graphite One Inc. $37.5 million to...

  • A colorful sunset backdrops a drill at the Graphite Creek project in Alaska.

    Strong support for Graphite One project

    Shane Lasley, Mining News|Updated Jul 29, 2023

    From the $37.5M Pentagon grant to a $5M loan from an Alaskan gold mining company, domestic graphite supply chain plan is broadly backed. From the U.S. Department of Defense and policymakers in Washington, DC, to private Alaska companies and the governor of the 49th State, Graphite One Inc. is receiving broad support as it pushes to establish an all-American supply chain that begins in Alaska and ends in the lithium batteries powering electric vehicles, military hardware, and...

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