16 JULY 2023 WorldWide Drilling Resource® New Technology May Help with Critical Mineral Production Adapted from Information by the University of Texas at Austin New mining technology pioneered by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin has the potential to reduce the amount of energy needed to access critical minerals while capturing greenhouse gases. Modern technology uses tremendous amounts of lithium, nickel, cobalt, and other critical minerals. These minerals exist in low concentrations in the earth’s crust in ultramafic rocks. Mining those elements takes a great deal of energy and produces waste which can negatively affect the environment and create significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2). The plan is to use these emissions as a tool to weaken the ultramafic rocks, reducing the amount of energy needed for mining. The ultimate goal is to significantly reduce the emissions produced during mining by storing them safely in the rocks, and potentially even make mining carbon negative - storing more carbon than is produced - by piping in and storing CO2 emissions from other industrial operations. Storing CO2 is possible because of the way ultramafic rocks react with carbon. The CO2 chemically reacts with the rock to mechanically break its structure, making the minerals easier and less energy intensive to mine. This reaction also partially turns the rock into a limestone, incorporating the carbon dioxide into the mineral structure and storing it permanently. “Mining processes create a lot of CO2 as a by-product,” said Estibalitz Ukar, a research scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the UT Jackson School of Geosciences. “If you can capture what is produced at the mine, then you can come up with a low-emission operation, which is good, but we want to use the CO2-reducing properties of ultramafic rocks to help eliminate even more CO2.” Ukar and his team of scientists are working to perfect the technology, which is supported by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. The threeyear project will work to refine the method in the lab for two years before trying a full-scale field test in partnership with Canada Nickel Company. The field test is planned to take place in one of 20 newly discovered ore bodies near the U.S.and Canadian border forecast to be an important new source of critical minerals in North America. Development of this technology may lead to an increase in the domestic supply of several critical minerals by making low-grade deposits more economically viable. “The demand is high now, but we will see a huge increase in the next three to five years as we transition into lower emission technologies, such as electric vehicles,” Ukar said. “We need to meet the demand by finding creative ways to reduce costs and emissions, find new sources of metals, and make the mines of the future more sustainable. And we need to do it fast.” This is part of the DOE’s Mining Innovations for Negative Emissions Resource Recovery program, a new initiative to develop market-ready technologies for increasing the domestic supply of critical elements necessary to transition to low-carbon or carbon-free energy. MIN Recipe Corner Courtesy of the Texas Ground Water Association Ladies Auxiliary - Women of Water Chocolate Chip Fudge 3 Cups Chocolate Chips Pinch of Salt 1½ Teaspoons Vanilla ½ Cup Nuts 1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler until smooth. Remove from heat and add milk. Then add remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. Pour into 11 x 8 inch pan and chill for 2 hours. ~ Sherri Taylor Friona, TX
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