A WSF rant concludes this post. You have been warned!
What may become a new job source for Wyoming, and a blow to
China’s economy, was recently announced.
The project sounds like results may be years out, but it is
a start. For sure, this project wouldn’t happen under a Democrat
Administration. Wyoming is the largest coal producer in the USA.
Lithium.
80% that we use is imported, mainly from South America.
This extracted from Lithium today.
Rock Springs deposits (Wyoming)
The
latest Lithium development in US comes from researchers at the University of
Wyoming. They’ve found lithium in Rock Springs Uplift, a geological feature in
southwest Wyoming. Data so far suggests that brines from a 25-square-mile area
could contain 228,000 tons of lithium. That’s enough to meet annual U.S.
demand.
Production
of lithium from brines requires soda ash (sodium carbonate), and importation of
soda ash to lithium production facilities often represents a large expense.
However, the Rock Springs Uplift CO2 storage site is located within 20 to 30
miles of the world’s largest industrial soda ash supplies, so the costs of soda
ash delivery (by rail, truck or pipeline) would be minimal.
Magnesium
must be also removed from brines before they can be used for lithium recovery,
which makes the entire lithium recovery process more expensive. Fortunately,
the brines from the Rock Springs Uplift reservoirs contain much less magnesium
than brines at existing, currently profitable lithium mining operations.
As
a last step brines must be heated and pressurized before lithium can be
extracted from them. However, because the Rock Springs Uplift brines lie so far
underground, they are already at a higher pressure and temperature than brines
at existing lithium operations. This would allow operators to essentially
eliminate this step in the process, resulting in significant cost savings.
When I let my
conspiracy theories run amok, I speculate much of the earth hugger activity is
funded by foreign interests focused on two separate goals. Always in first
place, one world assholes. Second, eliminate or curtail domestic USA production
to enhance imports from the producers.
Say your country has a
mineral that the USA needs but you are barely competitive price wise. Spend a
quarter million or so funding domestic saboteurs (excuse me, concerned
citizens), kill or cripple your competition, and reap a bonanza.
Cobalt
The irony of
social justice warriors driving hybrid cars is lost on them. Most of the 60
lbs. of cobalt in their car’s batteries was mined by child slaves in Congo
mines owned and operated by the Chinese.
In spite of all
the regulatory roadblocks, our country’s needs for this critical element may
be, partially, coming home. Information two years old – most current I can
find.
Perhaps the
biggest problem with mining is this; it is ugly. Undisturbed land is suddenly
torn asunder. Then, having scooped up the profits, the operators cut and
run. That needs to stop.
Land reclamation
is feasible. I would direct people’s attention to coal strip mining in the
Yampa River drainage in Northwest Colorado where the land is reclaimed. It may
not be Ansel Adams pristine, but the land isn’t ugly, and provides forage for
the local fauna.
Personal
Years ago, Steamboat
Springs, CO had a sawmill that burned their scrap (common practice at the
time). The smoke sometimes drifted into town. One day, my father was stopped by
a resident who said,
“Bob, isn’t
this smoke terrible!”
My father
paused, sniffed the air, and said,
“I smell a
payroll”.
This is where I
come in hard. Jobs! Much of my extended family is involved in mining, oil, or
associated businesses. The same can be said for many of my friends. Keep, and
bring back, these jobs. Keep the rural areas economically viable.
A welfare state
needs cities to corral and control the population, IMO. I will defer to those
readers from Appalachia because I don’t know how things work there, but I
suspect, not too well.
Come November,
we will find out if progress will continue, or our way of life will be gone.
As always, YMMV