The electrification transition, aiming to shift dependence from fossil fuels to electricity, brings a surge in demand for minerals crucial for batteries, renewable energy infrastructure, and electric vehicles. In addition, the nascent small modular reactor (SMR) industry will carry much of the heavy lifting to replace coal-fired power plants with factory built nuclear reactors. This has significant implications for the mineral exploration industry, where Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors are gaining increasing importance. However, without an overhaul of current permitting processes in countries like the USA, these transitions will be greatly stymied if not completely deferred to jurisdictions that are agile enough to pivot in the face of a changing landscape.
Environmental:
Mining Activities: Exploration and extraction can cause environmental damage through land disturbance, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. But this needn’t be true if that mining is conducted within jurisdictions where sustainable, clean, and regulated mining activities prevail. Companies are expected to minimize these impacts through responsible practices, like using renewable energy sources, mitigating water usage, and implementing effective land reclamation strategies. But most current mining for critical minerals and minerals needed for the electrification transition are happening in areas with little to no oversight or safe-guards for the environment.
Climate Change: The electrification transition aims to combat climate change, but mineral extraction itself can contribute to emissions. Companies need to demonstrate clear strategies to reduce their carbon footprint and operate sustainably throughout the value chain. One such avenue would be to use SMRs to provide carbon-free base-load power from nuclear power sources that can feed into electrically-powered fleets on the modern mine site. In this way mineral extraction could close the loop on electricity and mineral production achieved in a wholly carbon-less capacity. But this would require leaps and bounds in both permitting prowess and investor willpower.
Social:
Community Engagement: Exploration often occurs in remote areas with existing communities. Companies must engage with these communities transparently, respecting their rights and cultural heritage, and ensuring fair benefit sharing. Within the current framework here in the USA these systems have been in place for decades. However, self-serving NGOs that label themselves as ‘environmentalists’ find ever-unique ways to obstruct and corrupt a well-meaning regulatory system that provides better protections than anywhere else on the globe. All while China continues to forego any of these considerations to produce the consumer products we here in the West enjoy without a second thought.
Indigenous Rights: Indigenous communities may have specific rights and interests in the land where exploration takes place. Companies need to consult and collaborate with them throughout the process, respecting their rights and traditional knowledge. Many of these communities are able to provide a wealth of knowledge on how best to care for the land and nurture the native plants that must be protected.
Labor Standards: The mining industry has a history of labor abuses. Companies are expected to uphold fair labor practices, ensuring safe working conditions, living wages, and equal opportunities for all workers. On the modern stage of diversity and inclusion, today’s face of mining looks drastically different than those images found in Gold Rush museums and Prospector’s journals of a bygone era. Women in mining are having their day and this bulwark will continue to grow.
Governance:
Transparency and Accountability: Investors, communities, and other stakeholders are increasingly demanding transparency from mining companies regarding their ESG practices. Companies need robust reporting systems and accountable governance structures to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability. But ultimately, the narrative needs to change from one of villainy towards an understand that ‘minerals are life’ and each human life requires a certain base-amount of minerals to be extracted in order to sustain that life.
Regulations and Licensing: Governments are implementing stricter regulations to ensure responsible mining practices. Companies need to comply with these regulations and actively participate in shaping responsible mining policies. But more importantly, the regulatory agencies need to provide a clear path forward for companies and investors alike towards achieving extraction of the sorely needed mineral resources.
ESG and the Electrification Transition:
Responsible Sourcing: As demand for battery minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel increases, ensuring their responsible sourcing is crucial. Other minerals such as uranium, copper, silver, REEs, and many others will have a part to play in the coming dance for mineral extraction. Companies need to partner with suppliers who adhere to high ESG standards throughout the supply chain. And mid-stream processing and enrichment of extracted minerals need to feed the manufacturing industries on the self-same soil that the minerals were extracted. At this time, most raw material processes needs to circumnavigate the globe before it can be used to make anything.
Social License to Operate: Communities and stakeholders are becoming more vocal about the social and environmental impacts of mining. Companies that fail to uphold ESG standards risk losing their social license to operate, hindering their ability to access critical resources. However, the segmented nature of various mining activties divorce the outcry from the ability to impact the end product. In other words, it is nice to decry mining’s ill from the USA while having no direct impact on mining’s impact within China where these criticisms fall on deaf ears and have no real impact. After all, these are completely different nations.
Investor Scrutiny: Investors are increasingly integrating ESG factors into their investment decisions. Companies with strong ESG practices are likely to attract more investment and have a lower cost of capital. But even after nominally identifying the correct company, jurisdiction, or geologic setting, the regulatory hurdles to opening the doors at any “perfect mine” are still quite high and flanked by obstructionist NGOs that care little for the environment they claim to protect and more about the misguided, out-dated narrative they continue to espouse.
In Conclusion: ESG considerations are no longer optional for mineral exploration companies in the electrification transition. But understanding the challenges that mining companies face in this tumultuous terrain needs to be taken into consideration as well. By prioritizing responsible practices, companies can mitigate risks, secure community support, attract investors, and contribute to a sustainable future for the industry and the planet.
The dusty plains and rugged mountains of the western US whisper tales of gold rushes and silver booms. These days we are more likely to see lithium, copper, REE, and uranium booms turning heads with high-tech exploration and proprietary devices humming above the fertile ground. For centuries, mineral exploration has carved its mark on this landscape, fueling economic growth, sparking frontier expansion, and leaving behind a legacy of both prosperity and environmental scars. But what does the future hold for mineral exploration in this iconic region?
Golden Echoes: The history of the West is intertwined with the pursuit of minerals. The California Gold Rush of 1848 painted the region with a frenzy of prospectors, forever altering its demographic and economic trajectory. Subsequent discoveries of copper, lead, and silver cemented the West’s reputation as a treasure trove. These explorations were often rough-and-tumble affairs, leaving behind abandoned towns and environmental concerns. Many of these towns are still lively communities while others are barley visible on a modern road map with over grown roads and rusted out gas stations.
Shifting Sands: The 20th century saw a shift towards larger, mechanized mining operations, focusing on base metals and industrial minerals. While bringing economic stability, these ventures raised concerns about water usage, land reclamation, and pollution. Public awareness led to stricter environmental regulations and a decline in traditional large-scale mining. In reality, the high-minded “save the environment” folks only accomplished pushing those jobs and resource production over-seas, something that is now a big concern for our local supply chain security.
Green Gold Rush: But the Wild West’s geological story is far from over. The 21st century has brought a new wave of exploration, fueled by the demand for minerals crucial for the green revolution. Lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements, needed for batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels, are now drawing prospectors to forgotten corners of the West. This “green gold rush” offers environmental benefits, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, but also poses new challenges, such as ensuring responsible sourcing and minimizing ecological impact. The ‘elephant in the room’, of course, is uranium and nuclear power (the ONLY baseload power capable to replacing carbon sources of energy).
Technological Treasure Hunter: Technology is revolutionizing mineral exploration. Advanced geophysical surveys, data analysis tools, and even drones are helping prospectors identify potential deposits with greater accuracy and efficiency. This can minimize environmental disruption and open up previously inaccessible areas, but also raises concerns about land access and data ownership. Additionally, technological advancements have made current small modular reactors (SMRs) intrinsically safe and quite lucrative for the electrification transition.
The Human Terrain: The human dimension remains crucial in shaping the future of mineral exploration in the West. Communities must have a say in how their land is used, and mining companies must operate with transparency and accountability. Striking a balance between economic development, environmental protection, and community interests will be key to ensuring a sustainable future for both the land and its people. But this has always been the case, the only things that has changed in the last 100 years ago is nearly every aspect of human life. It is naïve to measure yesterday’s faults against today’s norms, but such is the usual criticism.
Looking Ahead: The western US stands at a crossroads in its mineral exploration journey. The lessons of the past, the technological advancements of the present, and the challenges of the future demand a nuanced approach. Collaboration between government, industry, academics, and communities is essential to develop responsible and sustainable practices that not only unearth natural resources but also build a thriving, environmentally conscious future for the Wild West. If we don’t do it someone else will and in a more environmentally costly manner without our oversight.
The Earth’s crust holds a treasure trove of minerals, vital for everything from smartphones to wind turbines. Your local geology holds more under your feet than you will most likely imagine… unless you are a geologist, miner, prospector, or metallurgist. Yet, the buzz of pickaxes and drill rigs exploring for these hidden riches seems muted in recent times. The question begs: where has all the investment for mineral exploration gone?
It’s true, mineral exploration spending has seen a decline in the past decade. Compared to the heady days of the early 2010s, when commodity prices soared, exploration budgets have tightened. Usually, price begets sentiment and with $2,000 gold one would think that investors would be flocking towards producers and explorers alike. So, where’s the beef? But to say it’s vanished entirely is painting an incomplete picture. The story here is one of shifting sands, not barren deserts.
The Green Shift: The tide is turning towards minerals critical for the green energy revolution. Lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements, once niche players, are now rockstars, with demand skyrocketing fueled by electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines. Investment in exploration for these “clean energy minerals” is booming, with lithium exploration spending alone nearly doubling in the past year. This, in the face of a current slump in lithium price. Here price and sentiment have diverged. Weird. Furthermore, even in the face of the “green revolution” our governing bodies and regulatory agencies can seem to pivot fast enough to provide a clear path forward.
The Risk Factor: Mineral exploration is a high-risk, high-reward game. It’s like searching for needles in a vast haystack, with most endeavors ending in dust. I’ve heard in the past, only 1 in 100 prospects will actually find something (this might as well be 1 in 1,000 with current investment levels). This inherent risk has pushed investors towards safer bets, especially during commodity downturns. Additionally, environmental concerns and complex permitting processes further dampen enthusiasm for traditional exploration methods. All while other countries and other ‘Super Regions’ (such as being promoted by Saudi Arabia) could easily surpass more traditional mineral rich nations and producers.
Tech to the Rescue: However, innovation is changing the game. New technologies like drone-based surveys and advanced data analysis are lowering exploration costs and increasing the odds of finding viable deposits. This is attracting renewed interest from investors, particularly in greenfield (undiscovered) areas. Very few patches of ground haven’t seen some level of prospective interest, state-funded geologic surveys, or past exploration and diggings. But usually, if you look more closely, these bygone districts only saw activity when the mule and shovel were the best extraction methods available. Modern economies of scale provide the heavy lift anymore. Perhaps it is time to re-visit these storied districts?
The Geopolitical Puzzle: The global map of mineral exploration is also being reshaped by geopolitical factors. Tensions between major economies have prompted countries to secure domestic sources of critical minerals, leading to targeted investments in exploration within their borders. This trend is likely to continue, adding a layer of complexity to the global picture. In recent months China has restricted export of critical minerals such as graphite, Russian uranium supplies are in unsavory hands, and Kazakh well-fields lack the needed sulfuric acid to keep up in-situ recovery. These are symptoms of coming shortfalls and supply chain issues. Beware!
So, where has all the investment gone? It hasn’t disappeared, it’s simply undergone a metamorphosis. It’s flowing towards greener pastures, driven by the surging demand for clean energy minerals. While traditional exploration faces headwinds, technological advancements and a shift in priorities are opening new avenues for investment. The future of mineral exploration is likely to be defined by a strategic blend of technological innovation, green ambitions, and geopolitical maneuvering. But all will be for not if local governments and permitting efforts continue to find obstruction and uninspired political maneuvering.
The question, then, becomes not just where the investment has gone, but where it should go. A sustainable future demands responsible and efficient exploration practices, coupled with investments in recycling and resource substitution. The battery of today will NOT be the battery of the future. And the coveted energy source of now will inevitably turn more nuclear over time. Finding the right balance between meeting our mineral needs and protecting the environment will be the true test for the future of mineral exploration. And as past sins continue to the poster child for how not to mine, these same deposits and districts hold the key for future, sustainable extraction. Only through modern mining can we properly clean up the past wrongs. Taxing your way into reclamation is the most inefficient use of tax-payer funds when that same populous needs the minerals locked up in fought-over, legacy mining areas. The only reason the ski bunnies of today are able to easily access Colorado slopes is due, quite literally, because of mine roads carved into some of the steepest terrain within the North American cordillera.
This post, of course, merely scratches the surface of a complex and evolving issue. Further research into specific regions, policy issues, mineral districts, and technological advancements can paint a more nuanced picture of where the investment is heading and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. But one take way from this is clear: we need to get out of our own way!
Uranium is a radioactive element that can be used as a fuel for nuclear power plants. Nuclear power is a form of low-carbon energy that does not emit greenhouse gases or air pollutants. In this way it is uniquely qualified to be the primary source of energy for the electrification transition.
One of the main advantages of mining uranium for use in nuclear power is that it can help reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and mitigate the effects of climate change. According to the World Nuclear Association (2021), nuclear power provides about 10% of the world’s electricity and 29% of the low-carbon electricity. With electric cars requiring four-times the metals and mineral resources for a conventional vehicle, they will also require abundant, clean, and reliable base load power to recharge every day. This will in turn require a significant increase in electricity generation from current levels.
Nuclear power plants can operate continuously and reliably, unlike some renewable sources that depend on weather conditions and storage capacity. Nuclear power can also complement other clean energy sources, such as wind and solar, by providing backup power and grid stability. By using uranium as a fuel, nuclear power can avoid the emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter that are associated with burning coal, oil, and gas. These emissions contribute to global warming, acid rain, smog, and respiratory diseases.
Therefore, mining uranium for use in nuclear power can support the transition to a low-carbon economy and help achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Unlike renewable that require the sun to be shining and the wind to be blowing, the base load power provided by nuclear power will be the only power source avail to the average consumer who wish to charge their EV in the evening or overnight.
Another advantage of mining uranium for use in nuclear power is that it can enhance the energy security and diversity of countries that have limited or no domestic fossil fuel resources. Uranium is widely distributed in the earth’s crust and can be found in various regions and continents. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (2020), the total identified uranium resources amount to about 7.6 million tons, which can sustain the current level of nuclear power generation for about 130 years.
But as the need for clean electrical power increases these resources will be more quickly consumed. In order to replace coal-fired power plants (which current provide 80% of world’s electricity), new nuclear reactors will be built and they will need new sources of uranium in order to refuel. At which time, the current uranium resources will only provide fuel for less than 20 years.
Moreover, uranium has a high energy density, meaning that a small amount of uranium can produce a large amount of energy. For example, one kilogram of uranium can generate about 20,000 times more energy than one kilogram of coal (World Nuclear Association, 2021). This means that uranium can reduce the transportation and storage costs and risks of energy supply.
Furthermore, uranium can be enriched and fabricated into fuel rods that can last for several years in a nuclear reactor, unlike fossil fuels that need to be constantly replenished. Therefore, mining uranium for use in nuclear power can improve the energy independence and resilience of countries that rely on imported fossil fuels.
Producing uranium for use in nuclear power has many advantages, such as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the enhancement of energy security and diversity, and the support of low-carbon development.
Therefore, mining uranium for use in nuclear power will quite easily be able to follow the new ESG standards that aim to ensure the environmental, social, and governance performance and responsibility of the nuclear industry. By doing so, mining uranium for use in nuclear power can contribute to the sustainable development and the global common good.
Current estimates might have humanity’s control of fire dating to nearly 1 million years ago. Carbon combustion, in all its various forms and sophistications, is still our main energy source today. The car you drive today, with all its bells and whistles, is still, quite simply, a very sophisticated campfire. And it is this burning of carbon-based fuel that seems to have run its course of usefulness, or more importantly its welcome… as we wrestle with climate change and the need to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. Within this context, uranium and nuclear energy have the ability to give humanity a new fire, a new energy source… and one that is free from the carbon-cycle.
Uranium might have started its time with humanity in infamy, but its usefulness as a dense fuel source will redeem itself in due time. 1,000,000 : 1 is the ratio of energy per unit of uranium to unit of carbon-based fuel sources. For every unit of coal, natural gas, or petroleum it takes 1,000,000 more units of that fuel to equal just one unit of uranium. This math will win out all cost/benefit analysis thought experiments thrown at it. It is a monumental, gigantic, herculean (even) orders of magnitude greater fuel source than all carbon-based fuel and it is clean as well.
Nuclear energy is the cleanest form of baseload power that we already utilize as a reliable source of energy. Here in the US there is a fleet of 120 reactors that have been quietly producing 20% of our nation’s baseload power for decades. It is clean not only because it is carbon-free, but it also contains 100% of all its waste products within the reactor and this material can be stored safely long-term. The same cannot be said for coal-fired power plants that continually release not only CO2 into the atmosphere but many other toxins, volatiles, and yes, even naturally occurring uranium and other radioactive elements are emitted from coal-fired power plants.
This is not an unknown statistic for those that study these effects on the human population. In this regard it would be safer to live next to a nuclear power plant than to live next to a conventional, coal-fired power plant, where deaths are accounted for by the tera-watt per hour. In fact, by contrast, those living next to a nuclear power plant would receive their equivalent annual dose of radiation from that power plant by simply eating a banana (which has Potassium-40 in it, did you know?)
Ionizing radiation needs to be respected not feared. Radiation dose needs to be understood not irrationally demonized. And NORM (naturally occurring radioactive material) needs to be normalized, since anyone living in the Western US quite literally live atop ground that emits gamma radiation everyday. The uranium and its daughter products, that make up the majority of all radioactive isotopes, have been with us for millennia and will continue to be here long after we’ve decided to educate ourselves about it or not.
It is in our geology, our bones, and in our environment… down to a certain parts per billion in sea water. And it can be mined cleanly here in the US and processed to be put into modern, small modular reactors that address previous design short-comings to ensure 100% safe power for our future. These deposits come in many forms but most can be traced back to a granitic or volcanic source within the basement rock of the continent we live.
The most abundant source of uranium that is currently mined within the US is called “roll-front” uranium. These deposits occur in aquifers and fluvial sandstones beneath your feet in places like Central Wyoming and South Texas. You’ve probably driven by the “mines” that produce these ore bodies, but you probably wouldn’t have noticed. The in-situ mining method doesn’t move any dirt, it is a well field of injection and collection wells that add oxygen to the reduced aquifer environment to mobilize the uranium.
Roll-fronts were first called “geochemical” fronts, referring to the redox boundary within the aquifer that defines them. A roll-front uranium ore body is quite simply where the uranium found naturally within the aquifer drops out of solution due to a reducing environment. In cross-section the system is a “C-shape” due to natural permeability found within the middle of a fluvial sandstone, where the aquifer is able to ‘push’ the roll-front further into the reducing side. The lower and upper limbs (or the “tails”) of the roll-front are where the permeability decreased due to a facies change from fluvial sands to perhaps a mudstone, siltstone, or shale.
Between the 1950’s and 1980’s uranium production came from numerous mines in the Western US and supplied fuel for baseload power for decades. But these reserves have dwindled and new production will be needed to power the nuclear reactor fleet already in use. But what will happen as we continue to transition away from carbon-based fuel. Renewables will only be able to replace coal-fired power plants so far. In fact, renewable energy within the current energy mix can’t replace coal-fired power plants.
The future of energy production, transportation, and the electrification of our world requires an “all-of-the-above” energy mix. And uranium is a key component to that energy mix and should be considered as a ‘critical’ mineral (though it is not currently listed as such by the USGS). All of the elements required to implement the transition for the energy and transportation sectors need to be part of that list and we need to exploit each one of those resources that are found within our borders. Uranium, gold, silver, lithium, REEs, PGEs, base-metals (Cu, Co, Zn, Sn, etc.) will all be required to make the electrification transition a reality. And all of these elements are found right here in the US where domestic production of these minerals is not only possible but needed for our economic and energy security.
There is a global shift to the domestic production of minerals. This is happening across the world and is having ripple effects both up stream and down stream in this forward looking economy. It might seem somewhat backward to look inward for stable economic pillars for the global economy. But I might argue the opposite in the face of the ESG (economic social governance) paradigm we, as a species, seem to be self-implementing in this post-pandemic world. It is a natural step to draw from domestic natural resources, should we want to have a greater say in how those resources are produced. It might be the hallmark of the Dotcom boom that most of the materials that built it came from a supply chain wholly opaque to the consumer. And perhaps that system was built with the exact purpose of keeping such machinations obscured from the public eye. Nonetheless, it is perhaps an outdated mode given the current global climate. Imagine the backlash in today’s global economy. Imagine if all companies adhered closely to the transparent ESG paradigm.
As a quick re-cap, the Environmental/Social/Governance paradigm is a global movement for business to be conducted in a transparent way that responds to the socially responsible investor. But in reality it is a current day risk mitigation that takes into account “non-financial” factors when assessing sustainability. In a mineral industry context, the days of a mine’s sustainability equaling its mineral resource or mine life is long past. In truth, this reality has been long-coming and began decades ago here in the U.S. with NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act, 1970). While NEPA is a laudable step towards sustainability, it’s main problem is it’s scope; it only affected the U.S. In short, NEPA was one step forward, two steps back for domestic production of minerals here in the U.S. While the U.S. implemented what is known today as the “NEPA process” other jurisdictions, such as China or Russia, continued business as usual. In this way, the U.S. has continually become less a producer and more a consumer, not only when it comes to mining but across all sectors.
Why does this shift matter? And how could this global transparency and awareness bolster a budding domestic mineral industry? In a way, the ESG paradigm could be harnessed to level the playing field between the un-regulated, “Wild West” mineral producers and the well-regulated non-producers.
We stand at a crossroads. Should the U.S. source it’s resource needs from within or continue to push the social/environmental liability elsewhere? If COVID taught us anything, global supply chains can be swiftly eroded and being self-reliant, even within an ever-expanding global economy, will pay dividends. And in the context of the socially responsible investor & ESG, we should all be able to pull the veil back and see exactly how the sausage is made.
In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as part of their Vision 2030 initiative, they are pivoting towards a future that is diversified to include domestic production of green metals, energy metals, and other precious & base metals production. The Kingdom is most obviously known for its hydrocarbon production, but there is a long history of gold and copper production as well. The Arabian Shield is geologically very old and host to untold riches that have yet to be exploited. In fact, the USGS during the 1950s thru 70s had numerous field mapping campaigns to try and encapsulate these resources outside of the scope of oil & gas.
If a key player within the supply of current fuels has the wherewithal to begin to pivot towards the future, surely the U.S. can find the backbone to do the same. But there is one question that would need to be answered before that could happen: Can we reconcile the fact that, in order to build the green future of the electrification transition, we will need to mine minerals? Current policy from the Biden administration seems keen to promote domestic production of minerals but actual investment from the Dept of Defense is looking beyond our borders to non-domestic mineral resources. This is quite discouraging given the vast endowment of natural resources the U.S. already has within its borders.
I’ve seen this bumper sticker, found in many a mining town, that goes something like: “If it’s not grown… it’s mined.” There’s nothing like some bumper sticker wisdom to solve any problem, right? Seriously though, this might seem like an over simplification of a complex problem, but is it? Resources, by their very definition, are something that must needs be exploited. Now. This exploitation can be done ethically, with all stakeholders at the table, or we can continue to allow other countries to do our dirty work for us. In short, if we don’t mine it cleanly (per our own NEPA regulations) then someone else will mine it however they see fit (without regulatory oversight, most likely). To be honest, unregulated mining is the most profitable (for the mining company)… that’s why it was done that way historically. So then, what is the point of ESG (or any set of standards, for that matter) if we are not all playing by the same rules?
The domestic production of minerals (aka, mining) is ultimately the logical conclusion of the green energy thought experiment. Don’t shoot the messenger when you find out that in order to transition away from carbon you will need to invite some other elements to the party. As Hunter S. Thompson encapsulated so eloquently, “Buy the Ticket… Take the Ride!” If the goal is to electrify our energy and transportation sector by means of transitioning away from carbon sources of fuel, then the only alternative is a suite of other elements/minerals. These minerals have be enumerated in the critical minerals list put out by the USGS. And here is the good news: all of the elements found on the critical minerals list can be found here within the U.S.
It’s no secret to those who’ve been paying attention. Minerals equal life. And in order to produce said minerals, they must be mined. The only true debate left is when, where, and how. When will we start to mine these minerals that are required to move forward? Where will we decide to mine these minerals so we can have a say in how they are produced? And how will we do so in an ethical, socially responsible, and sustainable way?
It’s not a giant feat by any stretch. Many of these questions can be answered by visiting your local phosphate, lithium, copper, or gold & silver mine found thought out the Western U.S. They have been quietly producing these vital minerals for decades. The problem now, of course, is there are precious few of them opening up anew. Many of these deposits have a long, battle-worn history of achieving the hard-won state of “in production,” and perhaps rightly so. But it’s it about time we found a more cooperative solution to guiding the mineral producer through the NEPA process and onto actual mineral production. I can see more opportunities to help the miner and the conservationist alike through cooperative permitting. But that sort of “kumbaya” moment doesn’t make for sexy headlines for the 24 hour media cycle to sell. And few environmental activist firms would be able to set up shop with that kind of business model.
Dating to 1865, this historic silver camp in the geographic center of the Silver State has an interesting history and continued interest in today’s silver mining legacy. Within the context of current electrification efforts, it is important to secure domestic silver production for the transition of the energy and transportation sectors. Silver’s single largest industrial consumer is photo-voltaic solar panels, raking in a total of 11% of annual silver supply. The Silver Institute estimates this figure could rise to 50% in the coming years.
Nevada will have a big role to play in mining domestic sources of critical minerals, and among those minerals critical to the transition is silver. Nevada has numerous historic and producing silver districts. Many of these precious metals systems can become metal-dominant to either gold or silver. Historically, the silver-dominant systems have been overlooked by the gold explorationist. So in a counter-intuitive way there is more silver to be exploited within the Silver State than ever before.
Belmont is located 45 miles Northeast of Tonopah, NV in northern Nye County. It is located on the Southeastern flank of the Toquima Range of central Nevada; located 20 miles Southeast of Round Mountain gold mine. The historic mining district is centered within some Private Patented mining claims from the original mining in the late 1800’s.
There are 10 precious metal deposits across complex geology along the Northumberland – Tonopah Silver-Gold Belt. This Belt runs Northeast from Tonopah in the south to Manhattan, Round Mountain, and Northumberland mines in the North. Within this trend there are both gold and Silver-dominant systems that are hosted within both Tertiary volcanics and Paleozoic sediments.
There still stands today, the original Nye County seat courthouse in the middle of town at Belmont, NV. Established as the county seat in 1867, Belmont served that role for the county until 1905 when Tonopah was gathering more than a little attention. There are still several surviving store fronts and original buildings within Belmont town site today, such as the archways of an old bank building that you pass on your traverse thru town on NV State Route 82.
The Belmont silver mining district is attributed with 20 years of original production from 1865 thru 1885. This was during the height of the Nevada Silver Rush within such famed districts as the Comstock in Virginina City, NV. Other names for the Belmont district were: Philadelphia, Silver Bend, Barcelona, & Spanish Belt. It is commonly confused with the Belmont mine and mine-fire in Tonopah, NV. As is common in mining culture, successful names get re-used in other districts, such as the well-known name of ‘Belmont’ by the time Tonopah was coming on line after the turn of the century.
There are various reports that publish estimated silver production numbers anywhere from $4 million to $15 million (citing Kral, 1951 & Lincoln, 1923, respectively). Ore was reportedly produced at $80 per ton and grades of 25 ounces per ton. With these numbers we can calculate the estimated amount of mined silver ounces between 1.5 and 4.7 million ounces. Considering that these numbers come from primitive underground drift and stope mining methods it is impressive nonetheless as this represents at least 50 tons of mine muck per day stretched over 20 years.
Continued interest over time saw revitalization of the Belmont district since first mining. The Monitor-Belmont Mining Co. built a 20 stamp flotation mill on the site of the old Highbridge Mill. Purportedly, these same bricks were used in the original mill or stolen from surrounding mill ruins such as the Combination Mill located closer to Belmont town site. Again in the 1960’s, Summa Corp., a subsidiary of Howard Hughes, backed exploration and sampling efforts at Belmont. Followed up by with a heap leach facility ran in the 1980’s to treat old mine dumps.
Until the 1860’s, silver was at a set price of $1.29 per ounce due to the Mint Act of 1792. At this time, the US was on a bimetallic monetary system that backed the dollar against both gold and silver. Civil War debt was the orginal stressor that saw silver price nearly triple within a short period of time. Even before this price spike there was a fair amount of gold and silver interest and mining within Nevada such as the Comstock. Several governmental policies successively undermined and drove down the price of silver such as the Coinage Act of 1873 that effectively demonetized silver. Followed up by the Sherman Act of 1890, that saw buying and minting of silver to the Federal government resulting in the Panic of 1893. And then the final nail in the coffin, the Gold Standard Act of 1900 where gold became the sole monetary precious metal.
There was a brief-lived rebound in silver price during war-time again with war debt from World War I. At Belmont, this saw the building of the new Highbridge mill and brought electicity in from Manhattan, NV to help dewater the old underground workings. Even still, the renewed effort was short-lived as silver price continued its slump until its nadir during the Great Depression. The first US-led effort that helped silver price was the Bretton Woods agreement of 1944, where President Franklin Roosevelt signed with other european nations to set the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, backed by gold. Gold price was set at $35 per ounce for this agreement, which was a devaluation of the metal by 70% at the time.
Several Nixon Era policies completely dissolved the Gold Standard and decoupled gold from backing the dollar. So by the time the Hunt Bros. caused a run on physical silver bullion in 1979, silver was long overdue a significant price increase and re-valuation. If you adjust for inflation, the silver price set during the Hunt Bros time is nearly $45 per ounce. This throughline of history for silver price can be seen through the lens of the Belmont silver district with it’s own ups and downs.
In the context of Belmont history some key take-aways can be summarized thus; producing years coincide with the Nevada Silver Rush, it was the Nye County seat from 1867 until 1905, the district mined in decline, constantly chasing down a declining silver price, the district was forced to mine more narrow & high-grade each subsequent year, all while using primitive mining methods with simple tools and manual labor.
The physical town site of Belmont is located Northwest of the mining district by about a mile or more. Some mill sites were located in Belmont itself, but most of the larger scale mills and all underground workings and mining occured in the main part of the district Southeast of the town. Geographically, the Belmont mining district runs along a North-South set of hills that defines the line between Ralston and Monitor Valleys. There are numerous adits, shafts, declines, and associated dumps and tails thru out the district. Additionally, there are several old stone-built cabins that presumably prospectors lived out of during mining or perhaps before the town of Belmont got fully established.
District geology consists of Cretaceous Granite and Paleozoic strata along a structurally complex axis bewteen two larger mountain ranges. The Belmont Pluton is the name of the Cretaceous Granite that lies in the Southwest of the Belmont District. This pluton underlies the Paleozoic carbonates, argillites, and quartzite of Ordovician age. These sedimentary rocks dip East to Northeast into Monitor Valley on the Southeast flank of the Toquima Range. In addition to complex structure, involving both thrust faults and basin & range normal faulting, the Belmont Pluton has associated contact metamorphism with the Paleozoic strata. Throughout the district can be found aplitic dikes and sills as well as base-metal porphyritic alteration in the southern end of the district.
The vein mineralization style at Belmont is a silver, lead, zinc quartz vein system. Other metals associated with the system is copper, antimony, and bismuth. Two historic vein trends extend North-South thru-out the district separated by about 1,000′ (1 kilometer). The Highbridge/Transylvania vein system is on the East side of the district, whereas the Arizona/Eldorado vein system sits on the West side of the district. Historic workings have relatively shallow workings in the North with progressively deeper workings going South. Presumably this progression correlates relative to time, with the earliest diggings in the North and the youngest shaft and headframe in the South (still “standing” today) that reaches 1,000′ (1 kilometer) deep into the earth. Initial mining focused on the supergene enriched silver ores found near surface. Vein width within the quartz vein system varied from 2 feet up to 30 feet wide.
Many of the quartz veins and “pay zones” were found in fault gouge parallel with the vein system. The syn-bedding structures and veining dip shallow to steep across the district from West to East. There is right-lateral vein offset along East-West striking faults, presumably youngest. This youngest set of faulting would most likely be associated with regional Walker Lane tectonic motion. Recent mapping in the district suggests that there could be isoclinal folding of the Paleozoic strata, especially on the Eastern side along the Highbridge/Transylvania vein system. The recent mapping also confirmed base-metal porphyry alteration in the south end. However, copper mineralization can be found along with quartz veins throughout the district.
The silver-bearing quartz veining carries silver chlorides such as cerargyrite. Sulfide, pyrite, and arsenopyrite along with other lead or zinc minerals are found throughout the system. One refractory copper mineral, Covelllite, was found in recent core drilling.
Nevada Silver Corp. conducted exploration work at the Belmont project area including: IP/Res geophysical survey, geologic & structural mapping, initial exploratory core drilling, and surface sampling. The IP survey identified twenty-four discreet targets across the project area. Mapping identified the vein system footprint and favorable geology. The first-pass drilling completed six core holes with an average depth of 550′ (180 meters). And the surface sampling collected 40 plus samples from old workings, dumps, vein outcrops, and open cuts.
The IP/Res survey was collected on seven lines spaced 200 meters apart. The survey identified a potential zonation of altertion or differing host rocks. The twenty-four targets were chosen from the interplaying anomalies across the survey. The survey helped to highlight the vein systems at depth and the breadth of the mineralizing system.
The surface geologic & structural mapping included lithologic units such as: limestone, siltstone, sandstone, shale/schist, quartzite, as well as aplitic dikes and granite. The mapping includes detailed structural data for use to unravel the complex structural story. All of this information was brought into 3D modeling software to digitize the mapping, highlight the fault and vein trends, integrate with IP survey data, and visualize the system in 3D and at depth.
The recent exploration drilling is unwittingly the first exploratory core drilling completed on the property. All previous exploration was during original prospecting and mining efforts in the 1860’s, prior to any modern-style drilling or exploration. This was the first half dozen core holes to test ground that has seen an estimated 5 million ounces of silver produced within a precious metals belt (Northumberland – Tonopah Ag-Au Belt) that has nearby silver deposits of 50 million ounces or more.
All drilling utilized private patented ground wherever possible and each hole was designed to intercept the vein system or IP survey target across a two square-kilometer area. The average dept of each hole was 550′ (180 meters), generally drilling West with a moderately steep dip to cross-cut the lithologic units. The entire hole, after logging, was sent to an assay lab for analysis. Each hole came back with silver mineralization. Two holes encountered bonanza grades at shallow depths (holes BS-22_002 & 003). Hole BS-22_003, located along the Highbridge vein system encountered silver mineralization from 0′ to 150′ deep at 28 grams per ton silver with 25′ of 90 grams per ton therein. Hole BS-22_002, located along the Transylvania vein system, encountered 20′ of 107 grams per ton silver with a high-grade core of 440 grams per ton silver at only 90′ deep.
In addition to the geophysics, detailed mapping, and core drilling program, there was also some surface sampling completed as well. The surface sampling effort makes up 40+ samples from vein outcrop, old mine dumps & tails, plus open cuts. About 25% of the samples came back with bonanza style silver mineralization. One sample in particular assayed to 1,061 ppm Ag (or nearly 35 ounces per ton silver). These results confirms the silver-dominant system with a base-metal signature. The bonanza grades also confirm the historic production reports that cited a grade of 25 ounce per ton.
In all, the recent exploration results at Belmont have been positive. Initial drilling has yielded positive results. The IP survey and mapping have illustrated a complex but favorable mineralizing system. Interpretation of drill results in 3D have put things in context such that follow-up targets can be developed going forward. In the coming years this old district could see a revitalization and reevaluation of the true size and scale of the silver-dominant metal system in place.
Leading up until the 1860’s silver had a set price, about $1.29 per ounce. And it had stayed that price since 1792 with the inception of the Mint Act. What changed in the 1860’s to bring about the first drastic price change? And what effect did that change have on the Western US?
Historically speaking, the price of precious metals has been a currency base and set price by the government. Of course, until Nixon fianlly floated the dollar and removed the gold standard altogether in the early 1970’s. But that is later on in the story, so let’s rewind to the start again.
The first significant change in silver price after setting it’s price with the Mint Act at $1.29/ounce was the US Civil War. The debt from war drove the price of silver up. In tandem with this was budding silver mining in Nevada, which became a state at the same time that the Comstock Lode in Virginia City was taking off. Seemingly over night, silver price had tripled ($2.94/ounce) and supergene silver ores in Nevada were ripe for the picking. Not only did Virginia City take off at this time but other towns such as Belmont, Eureka, and Austin in Central Nevada were getting their start during this era as well.
The bimetallic monetary system from the 1792 Mint Act began to unravel with Coinage Act of 1873 which effectively de-monetized silver. This in turn created weakness in demand and with increased silver production in the Comstock and elsewhere throughout Nevada this led to a steady declining price. Still more government policy, in the Sherman Silver Act of 1890, attempted to correct for a price that had dipped below its previous fiat of $1.29/ounce thru the purchase of silver and minting of coins. However, this policy ultimately resulted in the Panic of 1893.
The complete abandonment of silver within a bimetallic monetary system came about thru the Gold Standard Act of 1900. Gold became the sole precious metal where paper notes could be exchanged for gold on demand. Thus, silver continued its decline in price lasting nearly until the end of WWII but seeing a nadir during the Great Depression.
One noteworthy price rebound was a brief spike centered around the war debt from World War 1. During this time the Monitor Belmont Mining Company built a flotation mill on the site of the orginal Highbridge Mill at Belmont, NV (circa 1915). This brief episode capitalized on the price rebound of silver and reprocessed some of the old mine dumps as well as dewatered some old mine level for additional underground mining efforts.
The turning point for silver came about thru the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944, where countries adopted the dollar as the world’s reserve currency backed by gold, which was set at $35/ounce by FDR (a devaluation of the metal by 70% at that time). Again, throughout Nevada there was a brief lived interest in silver district such as Belmont, Tonopah, Austin, and Eureka during this war time era.
Interestingly enough, the majority of the silver mining that put Nevada, “the Silver State”, on the map, came from the period of time when silver price was at historic lows. Aside from the initial spike in price due to the Civil War, silver mining was continually chasing down a declining silver price until the Great Depression. Any and all silver mines and deposits from that time would have suffered from a continual need to mine more and more high grade ores. This continual pressure would have driven many out of business and forced many to leave much that is economic today still in place.
By the time Nixon completely dissolved the Gold Standard in the early 1970’s, silver had already benefited from several decades of rebound. So by the time the Hunt Brothers caused a run on physical silver bullion by 1979 we still haven’t seen its equal. When you adjust for inflation, peak silver price in 1979 is nearly $42/ounce in today’s money.
So it would seem that silver has seen a long-lived macro bull market from its nadir in Great Depression era. And this would be true at face value except for one important fact. Silver’s base price of $1.29/ounce, when adjusted for inflation, is closer to $6/ounce in today’s money. This means that since the end of the Civil War until the end of the Gold Standard was simply one big silbver price trough. And realistically, in today’s electrification future since the Dot Com era and now with solar panels and EVs becoming so much more prevalent, we are finally in an era where a) the government is not price fixing silver’s value and b) the industrial worth of the metal can be freely expressed in terms of it’s value outside of a monetary system.
Additionally, silver is mined moreso as a byproduct theses days; chiefly from gold mines that aren’t mining for the white-colored metal. In the Silver State there are several abandoned silver-dominant districts that has been entirely overlooked by gold exploration companies time and again. And as I’ve written in a previous article, these silver-dominant systems could also be an excellent source for other critical minerals.
Below are some charts for reference with links to the source of this data. Each chart is logrithmic and inflation adjusted with recessions marked out in grey. These are 100 year charts, so they don’t reach as far back as my original data set above, but they tell the story nonetheless.
The US has a challenge to face: balancing regulatory oversight with mineral needs and the ability to realize those needs in our backyard.
The US has ample critical minerals, precious metals, base metals, and other natural resources needed for the electrification of the energy and transportation sectors. The US also has robust regulatory oversight and a permitting process (NEPA) that, in theory, should provide a predictable, timely path for a deposit to become a mineral asset for the electrification transition. This is, of course, based on the assumption/need to decarbonize the energy and transportation sectors. In this light, it is a potentially bi-partisan, progressive issue that could provide many collaborative ‘win-wins’. However, in reality this has failed to play out.
The mineral industry across the US has experienced, instead, a protracted permitting process troubled with last-minute changes, litigation, and back-tracking of previously made decisions. This is unsustainable within an industry that already endures a 10 year permitting process whereas other nations with similar environmental laws are seeing this done in a 2 – 3 year window. Current worse case scenarios are seeing permits taking 15+ years with hundreds of millions of dollars spent to only have it all taken away with last-minute, frivilous litigation and back-tracking.
Recently, the US military has been looking to invest in Canadian mining projects, banking on the fact that US permits are more risky than investing in “friendly” neighboring countries. US tax payers are seeing their tax revenue spent to bolster other nation’s mineral wealth. It would be better to keep that money here locally and invest in our own home-grown natural resources. It is a true indictment of our US permitting process when the US military is strategically investing across the border instead of on our own soil.
How can we find common ground and opportunites to mutually benefit from critical mineral production?
Current legislation, such as the Infrastructure Law, CHIPs and Science Act, & the Inflation Reduction Act, are collectively providing $135 billion to build the US electric vehicle future, including critical mineral sourcing and processing and battery manufacturing. And most recently, on October 19th, the White House announced $2.8 billion in grants for domestic critical mineral projects.
So, there is money available, but will mineral projects be able to capitalize on these opportunities in time? There is money available, but will that money actually reach the ground where it is needed? Only time will tell as more often than not the exploration and mineral sector is subject to the whims of one political administration to the next and the already cyclical nature of the sector also has to pay attention to the 4 year election cycle as well.
Nonetheless, the NEPA process already has some baked-in streamlining with MOUs between key federal agencies that in theory provide for non-duplicative work when reviewing a permit. But this is not always followed or policed by a lead agency. And this isn’t helped either by the venture capital markets that tend to bring in outside money from Australia and Canada into the Western US. There are few and far between US-based mining companies and even less of these companies are actively exploring for the next generation’s mineral wealth.
This is a long-term, systemic problem that comes from a simple truth about the mineral industry: a single deposit will be owned by, explored by, & peddled by numerous companies over numerous cycles before it may ever see actual production. These mineral deposits have to run the gaunlet of economic cycles, political cycles, commodity-needs cycles (one cycle’s trash is the next cycle’s treasure), as well as benefit from sound exploration geology to expand upon known mineralization. It doesn’t help if on top of all these systemic challenges the permitting process has become increasingly mired in special interest and unpredictability.
Is it time to play the long-game like China?
Our global competition for these minerals and the ability to process them and make a useful end product is very stiff. China has out-paced and out-performed the US at every turn, all while we continue to be grossly reliant on their mining and manufacturing prowess. We are a consumer nation with little production to call our own. How will we fare if relationships abroad continue to sour? Where will we turn for our resources if we haven’t invested in our own backyard?
China is able to play the long game. They can see the long-term worth in something, take a loss on the project for years, in order to realize long-term gains decades from when they began the project. Where is our will as a nation to come together on such projects? This sort of longview is impossible if we can only plan as far as the next election cycle.
Setting these myriad global/political issues aside we need to come together as an industry, as a nation, and as a people to find common ground between ideological difference. The US can truly benefit from sourcing our mineral needs from within our borders. And no one need lose out in the process. We have the resources, the regulations, and the self-determinating spirit. If we stopped wasteful in-fighting and educated ourselves and the public about our home-grown natural resources we could realize true wealth here in the US.
The current 2022 USGS list of Critical Minerals includes 50 minerals (updated from the 2018 list to exclude some curious selections, for sure) that have some implications on exploration efforts within the US. Inclusion or exclusion from the list is variably important to actual exploration efforts as many ore systems include a number of elements found on the list irregardless of inclusion. One example of this is a silver-dominant district (and most likely many others too) found in Central Nevada.
The critical mineral pie chart above puts all fifty elements into six categories for simpler evaluation. Chief among these categories is the base metal group where one can find such critical minerals as aluminum, antimony, cobalt, manganese, nickel, and zinc (to name a few). Second, the rare-earth and lathanides (seemingly a co-mingled designation with many overlapping elements therein) make up sixteen critical minerals. Third, the platinum group contains five critical minerals. Alkali and alkali earth metals includes evermore important lithium. Lastly there are a handful of metalloids (arsenic & tellurium) and light elements (fluorspar & graphite (Fluorine & Carbon in specfic forms)).
Silver-dominant ore systems here in Nevada (aka the “Silver State”) can be defined as a precious metal system where the silver to gold ratio is at least 20:1, but more often 100:1, such as Tonopah, Belmont, Austin, Eureka, or the Comstock of Virginia City silver camps. All of these camps date to the 1860’s or thereafter and hearken both to the first days of Nevada statehood as well as Nevada’s historic silver rush. Since this era many of these systems have been overlooked, ruled out, or re-worked as gold systems even though the orginal silver-dominant designation still fits best.
Geologically, these silver-dominant ore systems are found within volcanic or sediment hosted systems. The style of emplacement can vary between low-sulfidation to high-sulfidation epithermal systems and can also very between inclusion or exclusion of base metals as part of their overall geochemistry. But there seems to be a trend towards base metal inclusion within the sediment-hosted silver-dominant ore systems. These type of ore systems found typically within Paleozoic carbonate sequences across Nevada tend to either epithermal veins, carbonate replacement, or skarnoid.
The above image was taken while prospecting in one of these silver-dominant carbonate replacement ore systems with inclusion of base metals. Eight critical minerals foudn within this silver-dominant system are included in the current critical mineral list from the USGS. The above picture is a “quartz after calcite” vein texture common in these ore systems. The drusy quartz texture is infilled quartz-bearing fluids that came along after earlier calcite veining within the host carbonate rocks. In this case the host carbonate is actually a dolomite, suggesting a much longer history of alteration of the Paleozoic units.
More commonly these systems have been called silver-lead-zinc deposits. This is due to the relative importance historically for this smaller list of historically critical minerals, especially arising in need during war time. In conjunction with these periodically significant eras, there is more broadly a cyclical nature to these metal markets. The ‘boom/bust’ cycle of precious metals leaves its mark upon the landscape and it mosttly to blame for the fragmentary development of these historic camps across the Western US.
While prospecting within the un-named silver-dominant ore system in Central Nevada there were found numerous critical minerals either directly associated or adjacent to the silver endowment. One assayed sample came back with a stunning 19.5% aluminum kick. Within this same sample was found manganese, copper, arsenic, nickel, barium, cobalt, zinc, and antimony in anomalous to higher grade values. This could in turn be considered a polymetallic system or even a poly-critical systems (if there is such a term).
This begs the question of whether or not many (if any) of these systems have ever truly been looked at in this context. From unrealized value within historic districts, to the processing challenges for polymetallic ores, to revitalized exploration for new value chains found within similar to adjacent systems; these aspects of the search for critical minerals within the US open up endless possibilities for the mineral exploration geology field.
The “new eyes on old rocks” idiom is again reinforced. Many of these legacy districts could benefit from simple re-processing of old tails and dumps, though realistcially such re-processing would only be worthwhile if new mining were to occur in tandum. However, this discussion for me has more to do with a larger picture of mineral development in the US. There needs to be a more predictable path for these mineral endowments to achieve production. Minerals need the support and backing of the US government regardless of politics or cyclical economics. Our competitors, such as China and Russia, are playing the long game. They see the need for and fund a project that might lose money for decades before realizing the long-term gains. Without this level of support it will be difficult to impossible to realize the critical mineral endoment found under our own feet. Until regulations and the NEPA process become streamlined, these ore systems will continue to be overlooked and under-funded.
These silver-dominant ore deposits can be pathfinders for the critical mineral endowments that the US need at this moment. The only question is whether or not a simple list will turn into an inventory of value for us all.