Ancient indigenous people used seven so-called “Metals of Antiquity”: gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, iron, and mercury. Today, our complex societies require a much longer list of metals. We build components for power generation, transportation, health care, consumer electronics, defense, and many more sectors from metals and other minerals that are sourced from around the world. Industries will need to find many new metal and mineral sources, and open new mines, since technologies and societal changes all indicate that the demand for products will increase.
(We define metals as a material that has a lustrous appearance and conducts electricity and heat relatively well; a metal can be a chemical element, such as aluminum or iron, or a combination of elements in an alloy such as brass, composed of copper and zinc.)
Chromium crystals (Wikimedia)
Critical Minerals
Many countries recognize the importance of critical minerals—generally considered as non-fuel minerals or mineral materials essential to the economic or national security of the country and having a supply chain vulnerable to disruption. In 2011, the European Union identified and began updates of a list of strategic raw materials and strategies to ensure a more secure and sustainable supply. In the United States, identifying critical minerals is the responsibility of the US Geological Survey.
The most recent compilation, published by USGS in 2022 and scheduled for review and updating at least every three years, is a catalog of 50 critical minerals, listed at the end of this blog post. Most of these minerals—from aluminum to zirconium — are metals. Reading through this list, I am impressed by the number that are unfamiliar (e.g., dysprosium, gadolinium, holmium, ruthenium, and ytterbium) as well as the variety of their uses (for the five types listed, these include data storage devices, medical imaging, lasers, catalysts, and scintillometers [air turbulence detectors], respectively.) We live in a complicated world!
Tungsten crystals (Wikimedia)
In contrast, the “simple” metals of antiquity were likely used initially because all except iron have low melting points, and ancient people could work them easily. Gold, silver, and copper were probably the earliest metals mined and fashioned. Tracing the history of metal usage by ancient societies in the Andes Mountains as part of the research for my book, The Monumental Andes, (soon-to-be-published!) was fascinating, and some of this information is in my previous blog posts about the region and the cultures that flourished there.
Moving Forward
Using recycled metals instead of newly mined ores can decrease the need for more mining, plus save a tremendous amount of energy. Technologies are available to reclaim many minerals from tailings, or mining waste, that was considered useless in the past. Many landfills contain extremely high concentrations of metals, especially aluminum[*], as well as more rare minerals in discarded electronics. The abundance and lower cost of accessible ores has kept landfill recycling levels extremely low, but this needs to change.
Niobium crystals (Wikipedia)
Abundant deposits of many critical minerals are found in the United States. Operators mined some in the past, but closed the mines when they could not compete with cheaper operations in other parts of the world. So today, many critical minerals are mined in poorer nations where labor is cheap (sometimes with enslaved people, including children) and where environmental laws are lax, rarely enforced, or can be ignored, especially with bribes. Companies also extract minerals like cobalt[**] and tantalum in conflict zones and sell them to finance fighting, similar to “blood diamonds”.
Bismuth crystal (Wikimedia)
Effectively, this means that Americans are outsourcing to other countries the environmental and social costs of our consumer goods.
A compelling article about mining that I recently read has the blunt title “This Dirty Industry is Better Off Operating in America” (Lezak, 2024). The author writes: “A United Nations study found that meeting international climate goals by 2030 could require building as many as 80 copper mines, 70 lithium mines and 70 nickel mines to supply the materials for electric vehicles, solar panels and a host of other low-carbon technologies.” Based on the dismal social and environmental conditions he describes in many mines worldwide, he then states: “The ethical and strategic way to handle this situation is for the federal government and environmentalists to encourage this industry to return to the United States and hold it to the highest sustainability standards.”
As a positive step in this direction, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 contains tax incentives and $250 million in grants to encourage domestic critical mineral production. These include tax credits for EVs when manufacturers source at least half of the minerals in batteries from the US or nations with which we have free trade agreements.
Zirconium crystal bar (Wikipedia)
The mining industry in the US has a dark past, with a long and shameful legacy of poisoning or destroying rural (and especially tribal) landscapes—but these practices don’t have to continue. Tougher laws—requiring monitoring and thorough clean ups of waste – and sharing of economic benefits with local communities, would significantly improve the negative effects seen in the past.
Environmentalists have an important role in accepting the opening and operation of new mines. Many times, intervening groups fight in the courts, through occupations of mining sites, and other activities that delay or cancel a project. And it is a predicament—I’m a lifelong supporter of environmental groups like the Sierra Club, and an advocate of keeping wildlands in their pristine condition.
Yttrium (Wikimedia)
BUT is it okay—in our modern world with sophisticated electronic devices AND concerns about climate disruptions—to turn a blind eye to the damage and suffering we are causing in other parts of the world? Not from my perspective. Changes are needed.
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List of 50 Critical Minerals released by the US Geological Survey in 2022
- Aluminum, used in almost all sectors of the economy
- Antimony, used in lead-acid batteries and flame retardants
- Arsenic, used in semi-conductors
- Barite, used in hydrocarbon production.
- Beryllium, used as an alloying agent in aerospace and defense industries
- Bismuth, used in medical and atomic research
- Cerium, used in catalytic converters, ceramics, glass, metallurgy, and polishing compounds
- Cesium, used in research and development
- Chromium, used primarily in stainless steel and other alloys
- Cobalt, used in rechargeable batteries and superalloys
- Dysprosium, used in permanent magnets, data storage devices, and lasers
- Erbium, used in fiber optics, optical amplifiers, lasers, and glass colorants
- Europium, used in phosphors and nuclear control rods
- Fluorspar, used in the manufacture of aluminum, cement, steel, gasoline, and fluorine chemicals
- Gadolinium, used in medical imaging, permanent magnets, and steelmaking
- Gallium, used for integrated circuits and optical devices like LEDs
- Germanium, used for fiber optics and night vision applications
- Graphite , used for lubricants, batteries, and fuel cells
- Hafnium, used for nuclear control rods, alloys, and high-temperature ceramics
- Holmium, used in permanent magnets, nuclear control rods, and lasers
- Indium, used in liquid crystal display screens
- Iridium, used as coating of anodes for electrochemical processes and as a chemical catalyst
- Lanthanum, used to produce catalysts, ceramics, glass, polishing compounds, metallurgy, and batteries
- Lithium, used for rechargeable batteries
- Lutetium, used in scintillators for medical imaging, electronics, and some cancer therapies
- Magnesium, used as an alloy and for reducing metals
- Manganese, used in steelmaking and batteries
- Neodymium, used in permanent magnets, rubber catalysts, and in medical and industrial lasers
- Nickel, used to make stainless steel, superalloys, and rechargeable batteries
- Niobium, used mostly in steel and superalloys
- Palladium, used in catalytic converters and as a catalyst agent
- Platinum, used in catalytic converters
- Praseodymium, used in permanent magnets, batteries, aerospace alloys, ceramics, and colorants
- Rhodium, used in catalytic converters, electrical components, and as a catalyst
- Rubidium, used for research and development in electronics
- Ruthenium, used as catalysts, as well as electrical contacts and chip resistors in computers
- Samarium, used in permanent magnets, as an absorber in nuclear reactors, and in cancer treatments
- Scandium, used for alloys, ceramics, and fuel cells
- Tantalum, used in electronic components, mostly capacitors and in superalloys
- Tellurium, used in solar cells, thermoelectric devices, and as alloying additive
- Terbium, used in permanent magnets, fiber optics, lasers, and solid-state devices
- Thulium, used in various metal alloys and in lasers
- Tin, used as protective coatings and alloys for steel
- Titanium, used as a white pigment or metal alloys
- Tungsten, primarily used to make wear-resistant metals
- Vanadium, primarily used as alloying agent for iron and steel
- Ytterbium, used for catalysts, scintillometers, lasers, and metallurgy
- Yttrium, used for ceramic, catalysts, lasers, metallurgy, and phosphors
- Zinc, primarily used in metallurgy to produce galvanized steel
- Zirconium, used in the high-temperature ceramics and corrosion-resistant alloys.
[*]Bauxite ore is the source of most aluminum (and gallium). Because this ore is typically found near the ground surface it is strip mined, with Australia, Guinea, China, and Brazil as major producers. Enormous amounts of electric power are required to process the ore to obtain aluminum, but less energy is required when aluminum is recycled.
[**] For several years I’ve collected information about cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – but the situation is so tragic and depressing that I haven’t had the heart to write a post about this metal. Check out this link if you want to learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_industry_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo
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