Mineral Exploration Geology – finding value in the world around us

Here in the US we are blessed with both a rich mineral endowment and robust environmental regulations.  However, these two forces that ideally could work together to create a more perfect mineral industry are instead at odds with one another through a series of unfortunate ideological mis-steps.  There is no doubt that legacy mining efforts here in the Western US have left many areas in need of proper reclamation and clean-up, to say the least.  But what the environmental movement chooses to forget is that many of these problems were created prior to the NEPA process and our robust regulations.  So while the US minerals market struggles to navigate modern mining within favorable geologic settings other nations, such as China and Russia, continue to exploit their minerals, and those of other nations, unimpeded and without any true oversight of their methods.  This has created a huge misdirection of efforts to provide the modern world with much needed mining while also conducting this mining in a clean and efficient manner.  Here in the US we can boast robust environmental regulations, yes.  But we can’t boast a robust mining sector that provides for our mineral needs.  We have pushed much of that burden elsewhere and continue to ignore the very real environmental harm done by global mining efforts.

How do we balance this disconnect?  How can we re-patriate our mineral needs while also adhering to our robust regulations?  This step needs to happen while we still have time.  The US, now more than ever, needs to find cooperative ways to satisfy two seemingly opposing forces: mineral needs and the environment.  If you are reading this on a computer, smart phone, or even on paper contemplate the minerals and industrial processes that went into bringing you these words.  We, as humans, impact the very earth we stand upon each day without much thought put behind our every actions.  The amount of minerals required for each person to thrive in this world is greater than most might realize.  And so we need to educate ourselves and others about these realities and then find creative solutions to meet these needs here at home.  An ounce of local stewardship of our natural resources will be worth more than the pound of consumerism culture the US has become in modern times.  We spend more money pushing the environmental impact of our actions onto other nations when we could have instead realized that growth and benefit for ourselves here in our own backyard.

So the challenge becomes an ideological one, not a physical one. We have the minerals, the raw materials to build the bright future available to us all. With the rise of EVs, solar power, and the electrification of our world we will require more and more minerals each year. If the goal is to move away from carbon sources of energy then minerals are the only alternative. This means more mining and more infrastructure required upstream to process these raw materials into products, materials, and energy. But this challenge is won or lost before the first drill rig is mobilized or the first ton of dirt moved. This challenge needs to have buy-in from all stake-holders.

The mineral explorationist needs to see how their actions impact later generations just as much as the environmentalist needs to realize how their obstruction simply pushes the impact onto other jurisdictions. If this mineral production is not done in our own backyard it will be done somewhere else without the oversight our regulations provide. And in the process we will lose out on the economic benefit that comes from producing our own materials for our own needs. The need won’t go away. Humanity will continue to grow. Our only choice is whether or not it will thrive.

So how should we proceed? What lessons can be learned from the past? The paradigm of ‘us vs. them’ needs to be set aside. There are so many opportunities for cooperative development in the world of mineral development. Many of the issues that are decried by the geologist and environmental activist alike could be addressed through responsible mining of the critical minerals needed to build our modern society. For example, many of the legacy mine sites that require reclamation and clean-up still hold many of the critical minerals we need to produce. The most cost-effective way to clean-up these sites is thru active mining. This may seem counter intuitive but it is true. The money generated by active mining would easily pay for the clean-up required. Typically, the chemicals that are contaminating the aquifer or making the soils toxic are directly associated with the critical minerals that need to be produced. Cooperative efforts such as these could help heal the divide between these seemingly opposing groups.

But perhaps such simplistic and naïve hope belies the more realistic forces at work today. Perhaps none of these groups are here to be good stewards of our nation’s mineral endowment. For one, there are few and far between US-based mining companies. The vast majority of the venture capital that makes it to our shores comes from either Canada or Australia. We, as a nation, have forgotten what it means to own and produce our own resources. Instead we have become consumers rather than producers. And then on the other hand, environmental activism is rarely as altruistic as it might seem. These environmental groups rarely go after the mining company themselves. Rather, they litigate with the regulatory agency that issued the permit to explore or mine. They attack the very agency that is doing their work for them and then the agency settles this litigation by paying them off. Thus the obstructionist engine is fueled. Allowing them to find the next species or special interest in need of protection.

This model is unsustainable. If we prioritize mineral production in our backyard we can lead by example. We can realize the rich mineral endowment of the US while also implementing our environmental regulations. This is a true ‘win-win’ that can illustrate our values of self-sufficiency and good stewardship. The alternative is more in-fighting and continued regression into a consumer culture that is blind to the sources of the things we consume. I’d like to say the choice is ours, but realistically these forces are beyond the reach of most of us. The best we can do is to stay educated and strive to educate others. Awareness and intelligent debate will have to take the place of true power until there is such a ground swell to progress past the old ‘us vs. them’ paradigms that the global forces in play choose cooperative compromise in order to realize the bright future already laid out before our feet.