From the Colorado School of Mines, August 21:
In new Science article, Colorado School of Mines researchers call for more research, development and policy to increase critical mineral recovery
All the critical minerals the U.S. needs annually for energy, defense and technology applications are already being mined at existing U.S. facilities, according to a new analysis published today in the journal Science.
The catch? These minerals, such as cobalt, lithium, gallium and rare earth elements like neodymium and yttrium, are currently being discarded as tailings of other mineral streams like gold and zinc, said Elizabeth Holley, associate professor of mining engineering at Colorado School of Mines and lead author of the new paper.
"The challenge lies in recovery," Holley said. "It's like getting salt out of bread dough – we need to do a lot more research, development and policy to make the recovery of these critical minerals economically feasible."....
....MUCH MORE
The link to Science is returning a 404, we will update when the paper is available.
Ah, there it is: "By-product recovery from US metal mines could reduce import reliance for critical minerals"
