The U.S. Department of Energy announced last week it was dedicating $45 million toward advancing the domestic supply of critical minerals. $7.5 million of that will go to the University of Alaska Fairbanks for research into Alaska’s critical mineral potential.
Coming in the wake of China’s new export restrictions on several critical minerals, the grant is part of the federal government’s push to become more resource-independent. Critical minerals — like gallium, antimony and germanium — are essential for most modern technology components.
Grant Bromhal, a science advisor for the DOE, says half of the United States’ critical mineral supply comes from other countries. But he says all but one of the 50 different types of critical minerals are present in Alaska.
“I think Alaska has incredible potential to support these critical mineral material needs that we know are coming,” Bromhal said. “Alaska has incredible natural resources that we’re looking to help use to support this need for cleaner, more environmentally friendly materials for our defense and national security and economic and energy security.”
The university’s Institute of Northern Engineering will use the funds to build off its ongoing survey of Alaska mines and start mapping out the Pacific Northwest for critical mineral deposits.
“This is a chance to evaluate what resources we have inside the US that can be brought in,” Bromhal said. “Particularly from secondary and unconventional sources.”
Finding critical minerals in tailings
The grant will help sustain UAF research on mine tailings, which are the leftover materials that pile up during mining activity. Some tailings contain trace amounts of critical minerals that could be extracted for commercial use.
Brent Sheets, who directs the project, says his team is sending researchers all over the state to test samples for critical minerals.
“We’ll collect the samples and then take a look at it with a handheld x-ray fluorescence XRF — it’s a screening tool,” he said. “It tells us whether or not it’s worth investigating that core through more sophisticated means.”
He says the research has already yielded interesting results for several mines across Alaska. Samples from Healy’s Usibelli Coal Mine, the state’s only operating coal mine, showed exceptionally high levels of tungsten, germanium and yttrium.
And the Greens Creek Mine, near Juneau, was flagged for having the greatest potential for extracting critical minerals from tailings out of all Alaska mines. Sheets’ team estimates the value of all metals in the Greens Creek tailings pile at $2.8 billion, with most of that coming from gold and silver. The zinc alone could be worth $395 million.
Getting minerals to marketplace
Sheets says the scope of the project is much larger than just finding the minerals. His lab is also trying to solve some of the huge logistical problems that stand in the way of extracting them.
Alaska's size and geological diversity makes it as obstacle-rich as it is opportunity-rich for mineral development. He says the state’s remoteness and extreme terrain makes getting critical minerals out of Alaska difficult.
“What can we do to get those minerals into the marketplace?” he said. “Antimony is very big right now on the list of minerals. We’re working very closely with Alaska Range Resources down in the south central part of the state, but there’s antimony right here in the Interior too.”
He says the next step is to tackle the first item on their laundry list of logistical problems. Researchers at the Institute of Northern Engineering will speak with communities and Tribes about ways to recruit employees and invest in local infrastructure to support critical mineral mining projects.
As a note of disclosure, Usibelli Coal Mine is a corporate sponsor of KUAC.
