America’s clean-energy future depends on critical minerals such as copper, lithium, and nickel and our ability to source these resources safely and efficiently. We need to lessen our reliance on imports from countries that lack sufficient labor and environmental protections and begin developing a homegrown U.S. critical minerals industry.
The recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a good first step. It provides policy and financial support to pursue domestic mining for these precious natural resources. As the Biden Administration works to implement the law, it must speak with one voice throughout the vast array of federal agencies. that engage in critical minerals mining.
Copper and lithium have a broad range of electronic and industrial applications, from batteries and EV motors to wind turbines. They are the most widely used minerals for clean energy technologies.
Today nearly 40% of the world’s copper is mined in Chile and Peru, and most of the global supply is refined in China. The U.S. imports over 50% of its lithium from Argentina. The South American countries are often cited for their terrible environmental and labor records, where workplace hazards and occupational deaths occur frequently. China, as well, is notorious for human rights abuses, environmental degradation, and forced labor.
We can do better. A vast supply of the world’s reserves of critical minerals like copper and nickel lie beneath American soil, especially in resource-rich deposits in Idaho, Minnesota, and New Mexico.
The only way for the U.S. to secure the critical mineral supply chain necessary for future clean energy industries is to mine these resources domestically, whenever feasible, while complying with American standards of labor, environmental, and safety protections.
The first step should be quickly implementing the infrastructure law and removing bureaucratic impediments to begin sourcing these essential commodities in a way that creates domestic job opportunities for Operating Engineers and other skilled craftworkers.
To achieve its stated emissions targets and build towards a cleaner energy future, the Administration must act through the whole of government to ensure a reliable and secure supply of American critical minerals. Accordingly, the Operating Engineers support the development of American natural resources to meet industry’s need for these essential minerals.
What are CRITICAL MINERALS?
The U.S. Geological Survey, within the Department of the Interior (DOI), presented a draft list of 50 mineral commodities proposed for inclusion on the 2021 list of critical minerals:
Aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, cerium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, dysprosium, erbium, europium, fluorspar, gadolinium, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, holmium, indium, iridium, lanthanum, lithium, lutetium, magnesium, manganese, neodymium, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, praseodymium, rhodium, rubidium, ruthenium, samarium, scandium, tantalum, tellurium, terbium, thulium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium, zinc, and zirconium.
The DOI expanded the list from 35 to 50 in 2021 explaining that, "The United States remains heavily dependent on imports of certain mineral commodities that are vital to the Nation's economic and national security interests. This dependency has the potential to create strategic vulnerabilities arising from adverse foreign actions, pandemics, natural disasters, or other events that can disrupt the supply of critical minerals." Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/11/09/2021-24488/2021-draft-list-of-critical-minerals
