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A New Vision for the Mining Company of the Future

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A New Vision for the Mining Company of the Future

A New Vision for the Mining Company of the Future

In 2012, a diverse group of global leaders met at the KIN Catalyst conference in Brazil. With representation from business, academia, nonprofits and government, the group convened and collaborated to discuss the look of the Mining Company of the Future.

Participation in the discussions came from a range of stakeholders. Mark Cutifani (CEO of Anglo American), Ray Offenheiser (President of Oxfam America), and Peter Bryant (Senior Fellow, Kellogg Innovation Network) all co-chaired the discussions. There was also representation from organizations such as Vale, AngloGold Ashanti, The Ford Foundation, Harvard University, Global Indigenous Solutions, and many other organizations.

Together, these different parties identified a set of priorities that could help shift the industry. The consensus was that mining needs to change proactively in order to design their own destiny – or someone or something else will.

Mining companies today face a complexity of problems: spiraling costs, government intervention, deepening pits, lower ore grades, and declining productivity are just some of the issues. Communities are not trusting mining, and this creates additional uncertainty. It is harder to find and start a mine than ever before. Combine this with today’s capital environment and struggling commodity prices, and it creates a very difficult picture.

Since the KIN Catalyst conference in 2012, the working group has developed a much more extensive framework for mining companies, called the Development Partner Framework (DPF). This framework is outlined in the above infographic. If you are looking to get involved, the organization can be contacted at [email protected]

For more information on the KIN Catalyst: Mining Company of the Future at the Kellogg Innovation Network, visit the website: https://www.kinglobal.org/catalyst.php

What do you think? Is this vision possible – and what are the biggest challenges facing the industry?

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Mining

White Gold: Mapping U.S. Lithium Mines

In this graphic, Visual Capitalist partnerered with EnergyX to explore the size and location of U.S. lithium mines.

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Teaser graphic of a map that shows the sizes of the top U.S. lithium mines.

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The following content is sponsored by EnergyX

White Gold: Mapping U.S. Lithium Mines

The U.S. doubled imports of lithium-ion batteries for the third consecutive year in 2022, and with EV demand growing yearly, U.S. lithium mines must ramp up production or rely on other nations for their supply of refined lithium.

To determine if the domestic U.S. lithium opportunity can meet demand, we partnered with EnergyX to determine how much lithium sits within U.S. borders. 

U.S. Lithium Projects

The most crucial measure of a lithium mine’s potential is the quantity that can be extracted from the source.

For each lithium resource, the potential volume of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) was calculated with a ratio of one metric ton of lithium producing 5.32 metric tons of LCE. Cumulatively, existing U.S. lithium projects contain 94.8 million metric tons of LCE.

RankProject NameLCE, million metric tons (est.)
1McDermitt Caldera21.5
2Thacker Pass19.1
3Tonopah Flats18.0
4TLC Lithium10.7
5Clayton Valley (Century Lithium)6.3
6Zeus Lithium6.3
7Rhyolite Ridge3.4
8Arkansas Smackover (Phase 1A)2.8
9Basin Project2.2
10McGee Deposit2.1
11Arkansas Smackover (South West)1.8
12Clayton Valley (Lithium-X, Pure Energy)0.8
13Big Sandy0.3
14Imperial Valley/Salton Sea0.3

U.S. Lithium Opportunities, By State

U.S. lithium projects mainly exist in western states, with comparatively minor opportunities in central or eastern states.

StateLCE, million metric tons (est.)
Nevada88.2
Arkansas4.6
Arizona2.5
California0.3

Currently, the U.S. is sitting on a wealth of lithium that it is underutilizing. For context, in 2022, the U.S. only produced about 5,000 metric tons of LCE and imported a projected 19,000 metric tons of LCE, showing that the demand for the mineral is healthy.  

The Next Gold Rush?

U.S. lithium companies have the opportunity to become global leaders in lithium production and accelerate the transition to sustainable energy sources. This is particularly important as the demand for lithium is increasing every year.

EnergyX is on a mission to meet U.S. lithium demands using groundbreaking technology that can extract 300% more lithium from a source than traditional methods.

You can take advantage of this opportunity by investing in EnergyX and joining other significant players like GM in becoming a shareholder.

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