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IMAGE GALLERY: Potash ponds in the Utah desert

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To the non-expert eye they may seem a set of mirages, but these turquoise-purple-pink visions are what ground-level potash ponds look like near Arches National Park outside Moab, Utah.

These man-made pools are for collecting potash that is pumped up from underground. The sun then evaporates the fluids, leaving the fertilizer ingredient up for grabs.

IMAGE GALLERY: Potash ponds in the Utah’s desert

Courtesy of Fly Over America.

The spectacular blue is not, however, Nature’s gift. Workers add dye to the water so that it can absorb heat and evaporate more quickly, a process that normally would take about 300 days.

 

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U.S. coal miners owe over $62 million in health and safety violations fines

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U.S. coal miners owe over $62 million in health and safety violations fines

Digging coal by machinery at the Brown Mine in West Virginia, mid-1900s. (Image by Lewis Wickes Hine | Library of Congress)

U.S. coal producers owed the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) more than $62 million in fines for health and safety violations as of late April, a report by SNL Energy shows.

According to the monthly impact inspection list, published by MSHA, most of those sanctions were at least two years old. However recent attempts to curb this sort of offences have not attracted enough backers in Congress, says SNL report.

Two months ago, a couple of Democrat senators introduced a bill that would require mine-wide withdrawal orders for operations that are more than 180 days in arrears on paying fines or do not live up to payment plans.

The regulation also aims to reduce the list of over 6,000 contested violations by setting minimum penalty levels to lower the likelihood of operators trying to reduce fines through the appeals process, SNL notes.

The April inspection, conducted at mines in Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia, shows that the top ten coal miners alone had combined unpaid fines of $18.3 million

The monthly reviews, which began in force in April 2010, involve mines that merit increased agency attention and enforcement due to their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns. Since April 2010, MSHA has conducted 934 impact inspections and issued 14,246 citations, 1,247 orders and 56 safeguards

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Canada-owned oil sands mine in Utah to begin producing in fall

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Canada-owned oil sands mine in Utah to begin producing in fall

It will be the first commercial oil sands operations in the United States.

Canada’s U.S. Oil Sands (TSX-V:USO) is fine tuning details to begin production at its mine in eastern Utah, one of the first commercial oil sands operations in the United States, after receiving final regulatory approvals from local officials late last week.

While the mine had already been approved for construction, the Calgary-based company recently submitted a proposal to expand it. The Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining approved that plan, but ThinkProgress reported it did so on the condition that the company submits a comprehensive strategy to monitor air and water quality.

Environmentalists who have been fighting the project called the decision a victory, despite the fact that both the company and Utah authorities have argued there would be little risk to water contamination from the mine, since the operation doesn’t have any connection to a groundwater source.

But a recent public hearing, community groups presented evidence from a university professor showing that water in the Book Cliffs area would be, in fact, negatively impacted by the project, which is under construction about 300 kilometres southeast of Salt Lake City.

“Unfortunately, every decision that has been made to date is the (same) as looking out at the sky today and saying it is impossible that water can fall from the sky, and I find that infuriating,” University of Utah Geology Professor Bill Johnson said about the project last month. “The conclusions are based on data that was never intended to find a hydrological resource.”

Cheaper than in Canada

Canada-owned oil sands mine in Utah to begin producing in fall

US Oil Sands say their approach eliminates need for tailings ponds, requires 50% less energy input than traditional oil sands projects and recycles 95% of the water used.

U.S. Oil Sands has invested nearly $100 million over a decade to get permits, buy equipment and develop a new technology to extract crude.

The firm says its innovative approach eliminates need for tailings ponds, requires 50% less energy input than traditional oil sands projects, recycles 95% of the water used and has small above ground footprint.

The company's pioneering process uses a citrus extract called d-Limonene as a solvent to separate bitumen from sand. d-Limonene oil from orange rind is used industrial cleansers.

The Utah mine is being built at roughly a third of the capital cost of larger oil sands mines in northern Alberta, where new capacity is added for about $100,000 per barrel.

But U.S. Oil Sands is neither the only nor the first Canadian across the border. MCW Energy Group (CVE:MCW), small Toronto-based energy company, has built a processing plant in northeastern Utah which doesn't utilize water for extracting the crude. 

The firm, however, has not developed its own lease as it is utilizing a nearby resource owned by Temple Mountain Energy, which has total reserves of 89 million bbl on surface to 400 feet, a spokesman for MCW Energy Group told MINING.com.  He noted they have long term contract at a very convenient price, with a life expectancy of about 50 years.

A new report released this week by think-tank IHS predicts costs will negatively weigh on Northern Alberta oil sands production. The study estimates that output will grow by 800,000 barrels per day to about 2.9 million bpd by 2020. That’s down by 280,000 bpd from the 1.08 million bpd growth it estimated last year, when global oil prices were twice as high.

The forecast assumes projects now under construction will be built despite low oil prices.

Longer-term, however, IHS expects oil sands growth to continue. It said the oil sands are economically competitive with resources such as deep-water and North American tight oil but face pressures including project costs, timing of non-rail transportation to new markets and shifting fiscal terms in Alberta.

Canada-owned oil sands mine in Utah to begin producing in fall

Utah may seem an unlikely choice for a Canadian company to have an oil sands mine. However, the state accounts for the lion's share of U.S. oil sands deposits that the U.S. Geological Survey estimates hold 57 billion barrels of oil, only a fraction of which can ever be recovered.

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Canadian oil sands producer ready to begin digging pits in the US

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Canada-owned oil sands producer ready to begin digging pits in the US

The company's pioneering process uses a citrus extract called d-Limonene as a solvent to separate bitumen from sand.

Canada’s U.S. Oil Sands (TSX-V:USO) is fine tuning details to open its mine in eastern Utah, one of the first commercial oil sands operations in the United States.

Beginning this fall, the company will start digging the first in a series of pits, each the size of a football stadium, about 265km (165 miles) from Salt Lake City.

Although the development is being touted as 'the first oil sands mine in the US,'” truth is that another Canadian company, MCW Energy Group (CVE:MCW), already runs a processing plant in Asphalt Ridge in the Uinta Basin, one of Utah’s eight major oil sands deposits. The Toronto-based company is using an alternative technology to the one applied in Canada, as it doesn't utilize water for extracting crude.

U.S. Oil Sands is also developing a new technology and has already invested nearly $100 million over a decade to get permits, buy equipment and develop an unconventional extracting method.

Regardless of its “green” approach, the company has been the target of protests, AP reports:

Demonstrators who have been camping out all summer near the site gathered outside the front gate on a recent day to show their opposition. Some wore chipmunk masks. Other banged drums. Some held signs with messages such as "Dirty Energy Kills."

Opponents also worry the mine will attract more companies to the area, until now a common destination for hikers, campers and hunters.

U.S. Oil Sands claims says its approach eliminates need for tailings ponds, requires 50% less energy input than traditional oil sands projects, recycles 95% of the water used and has small above ground footprint.

The company's pioneering process uses a citrus extract called d-Limonene as a solvent to separate bitumen from sand. d-Limonene oil from orange rind is used industrial cleansers.

The Utah mine is being built at roughly a third of the capital cost of larger oil sands mines in northern Alberta, where new capacity is added for about $100,000 per barrel.

Bad timing?

A new report released this week by TD Securities shows it is not the best time to venture in the oil business. According to the research, more than 75% of Canada's daily output of 2.2 million barrels of crude from oil sands is being produced at a loss at current prices.

Every thermal oil sands player is bleeding cash on every barrel produced with U.S. crude around $41 and the Canadian heavy benchmark, Western Canada Select (WCS), around $24 a barrel, according to a report released by the bank on Wednesday.

That means only around 450,000 barrels per day of oil sands production is in the black, a bleak picture for the region, which holds the world's third-largest oil reserves but is also saddled with high operating costs.

Canada-owned oil sands producer ready to begin digging pits in the US

Utah may seem an unlikely choice for a Canadian company to have an oil sands mine. However, the state accounts for the lion's share of U.S. oil sands deposits that the U.S. Geological Survey estimates hold 57 billion barrels of oil, only a fraction of which can ever be recovered.

The post Canadian oil sands producer ready to begin digging pits in the US appeared first on MINING.com.

Rio Tinto’s Kennecott wins clean air lawsuit in the US

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A US court has ruled in favour of Rio Tinto’s (LON, ASX:RIO) Kennecott in a lawsuit over alleged pollution at its Bingham Canyon copper mine, located in Utah.

The charges were brought forward in Sep. 2013 by a coalition of environmental groups including the Sierra Club, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, Utah Moms for Clean Air and WildEarth Guardians, which claimed the operation was exceeding the maximum amount of pollutants accepted by Salt Lake County under the Clean Air Act.

Bingham Canyon mine has produced more copper than any other operation in history – more than 19 million tonnes.

In particular, they said the state wasn’t authorized to approve a 2011 permit allowing Kennecott to expand operations because such plan violated the mentioned act.

But federal judge Robert Shelby said that the state granted Kennecott all the necessary permits each time it increased the amount of materials at the mine, without violating any laws.

“If Citizen Groups believe either federal or state actors should do more, or are failing to honor their responsibilities, then they may direct their arguments to those actors through the appropriate avenues,” Shelby wrote on his summary judgment.

Visible from outer space, the Bingham Canyon is the world’s deepest open-pit mine. First discovered by Mormon pioneers in the mid-1800s, it is over 1.2 km deep, 4 km wide and covers 7.7 km².

A massive slide at the mine three years ago slowed, but did not stop, Rio’s plans to extend the mine’s life by another decade, to 2029. The company says there’s still as much ore in the ground as miners have taken out of Bingham Canyon since it began production in 1906.

It is estimated that the mine has produced more copper than any mine in history – more than 19 million tonnes.

Rio Tinto’s Kennecott wins clean air lawsuit in the US

A massive slide at the mine three years ago slowed, but did not stopped, Rio’s plans to extend the mine’s life by another decade. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

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Despite funding shortfall, US Oil Sands aiming for Q4 start-up

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Mining oil sands to extract bitumen used to create crude oil is generally a Canadian phenomenon. However, an Alberta company is hoping to change all that with a new project expected to start in the fourth quarter.

US Oil Sands (TSXV:USO) said on Thursday that the firm is holding steady to its Q4 deadline for completing its PR Spring Project in eastern Utah. The oil sands mine is one of the first commercial oil sands operations in the United States. According to the Calgary-based company, construction is 98% complete. The $62.5-million project is about 4% over budget, and that has presented a liquidity problem that US Oil Sands addressed in its Sept. 29 press release.

As a result of project costs having risen by about $2 million and due to "rectification of deficiencies," the firm does not have enough in the kitty to complete the project. It says it anticipates needing another $3-4 million in working capital before the end of the year, and is "actively pursuing funding alternatives in excess of US$6 million in order to meet this working capital deficiency and provide sufficient flexibility during the upcoming few months."

Just over a year ago US Oil Sands started digging a series of pits, each the size of a football stadium, about 265km (165 miles) from Salt Lake City.

Although the development is being touted as 'the first oil sands mine in the US,' the truth is that another Canadian company, MCW Energy Group (TSXV:MCW), already runs a processing plant in Asphalt Ridge in the Uinta Basin, one of Utah’s eight major oil sands deposits. The Toronto-based company is using an alternative technology to the one applied in Canada, as it doesn't utilize water for extracting crude.

US Oil Sands is also developing a new technology and has already invested nearly $100 million over a decade to get permits, buy equipment and develop an unconventional extraction method.

US Oil Sands claims says its approach eliminates need for tailings ponds, requires 50% less energy input than traditional oil sands projects, recycles 95% of the water used and has small above ground footprint.

The company's pioneering process uses a citrus extract called d-Limonene as a solvent to separate bitumen from sand. d-Limonene oil from orange rind is used in industrial cleansers.

The Utah mine is being built at roughly a third of the capital cost of larger oil sands mines in northern Alberta, where new capacity is added for about $100,000 per barrel.

US Oil Sands' stock was up 20 percent on Friday, trading at 3 cents a share on the Toronto Venture Exchange.

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Drone footage of Bingham Canyon copper mine

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Drone technology is advancing so quickly it's hard to keep up with it. From aerial shots of construction projects to surveillance of strategic locations and even heat maps of crops to make farming more efficient, unmanned aerial vehicles are a disruptive technology that appears to have unlimited staying power.

Rio Tinto's (LON, NYSE,ASX:RIO) Matt Key is chief drone pilot at Rio's Kennecott operations in Utah. Key leads a team of 20 certified drone pilots and is helping to improve safety and productivity at the Bingham Canyon copper mine, according to a spotlight on Key by Rio Tinto.

Key says two of the biggest advantages of flying drones at Kennecott are safety and maintenance.

"There are some jobs where it’s better for drones to do it rather than people – for instance high wall mapping or rock fall analysis. By using drones we’re removing people from harm’s way. We can also use drones to identify safety risks – such as cracks and signs of rock movement," he says. "We can see things we’ve never seen before. For instance, we’re using thermal diagnostic capability to identify equipment problems from the air. We can identify high friction rates on equipment in real time and notify the maintenance teams so the issues can be addressed."

Kennecott’s operations include the Bingham Canyon Mine, Copperton Concentrator, Garfield Smelter, refinery, power plant and associated facilities.

In production for over 110 years, Kennecott produces copper, molybdenum, gold, silver and sulphuric acid.

Check out the aerial footage of a drone flying through Bingham Canyon, presenting a bird's eye view of the operation.

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Rio Tinto declares force majeure at Kennecott following fatal accident

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Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO), the second largest mining company, declared force majeure last Friday on shipments of refined copper from its Kennecott unit in the U.S. following the death of a worker earlier in the week.

Albert Lozano died on October 11 as a result of sulfur dioxide exposure at the company’s smelter as he was performing regular work duties to remove debris from a boiler, the company said in a statement.

While the firm has not provided any information regarding to when the measure will be lifted, the Utah-based division said production of refined copper at the smelter has been halted since Oct.8, the day of the incident, Reuters reported.

Rio Tinto declares force majeure at Kennecott following fatal accident

Link for those willing to help Lozano's family: https://www.youcaring.com/thelozanofamily-979821

Rio Tinto Kennecott accounts for nearly 20% of the U.S. total copper production, and its iconic Bingham Canyon mine is one of the world’s top producing operations.

Visible from outer space, the Bingham Canyon is the also world’s deepest open-pit mine. First discovered by Mormon pioneers in the mid-1800s, it is over 1.2 km deep, 4 km wide and covers 7.7 km².

massive slide at the mine three years ago slowed, but did not stop, Rio’s plans to extend the mine’s life by another decade, to 2029. The company believes there’s still as much ore in the ground as miners have taken out of Bingham Canyon since it began production in 1906.

It is estimated that the mine has produced more copper than any mine in history – more than 19 million tonnes. Last year, the mine was responsible for 63% of Rio Tinto’s copper output, generating 156,500 tonnes of refined copper.

The Anglo-Australian giant lowered Monday its outlook for mined copper and said production of the base metal slid in the third quarter, mostly due to lower head grades at Kennecott mine and the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold operation in Mongolia.

Rio Tinto declares force majeure at Kennecott following fatal accident

A massive slide at the mine three years ago slowed, but did not stopped, Rio’s plans to extend the mine’s life by another decade. (Image courtesy of Kennecott Rio Tinto.)

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Trump to shrink Utah national monuments in bid to boost drilling, mining

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will shrink the size of two national monuments in Utah, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said on Friday, a change that will open parts of them to drilling and mining but which Democrats, environmental groups and Native Americans are vowing to fight.

The decision would mark the Trump administration’s most symbolic land designation to date, reflecting its broader effort to boost development on federal land while rolling back Obama-era environmental and conservation efforts.

The two Utah sites, Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, are among several that U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended reducing in size in order to make way for more industrial activity.

Zinke was charged by a Trump executive order in April to review some 27 such monuments that were created by past presidents under the Antiquities Act – a century-old law that protects cultural artifacts and other historical objects but which Trump has said has been misused as a way to put huge tracts of land off limits to development.

Former President Barack Obama designated the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears site – named for its iconic twin buttes – as a national monument during his final days in office.

“I was incredibly grateful the President called this morning to let us know that he is approving Secretary Zinke’s recommendation on Bears Ears,” Hatch said in a statement emailed to Reuters. The statement did not provide details on the exact changes to the boundaries or the legal mechanism the administration might use to make the changes.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, when asked about the monument decision, said she did not want to get ahead of the president’s announcement. “I can tell you he (Trump) will be going to Utah in the first part of early December,” she said.

Trump met with Zinke in the Oval Office on Friday.

Sanders said both Trump and Zinke spoke to Hatch and Utah’s other U.S. senator, Mike Lee, during the course of the meeting. Lee has also supported shrinking the sites.

While national parks are created by Congress largely to protect outstanding scenic features or natural phenomena, national monuments are created by presidents, in recognition of a site’s cultural, historical or scientific importance.

OPPOSITION

Industry groups like the oil lobbying organization the American Petroleum Institute have said in the past that both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante were unfairly designated as monuments and needed to be reviewed.

Green groups and scientists have supported the designations and condemned any move to reduce their size.

“Any efforts to take away protections for America’s lands and waters will be met by deep opposition and with the law on our side,” said Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society, in a statement on Friday.

The Navajo, who consider Bears Ears sacred ground, on Friday followed up their comment in September that they would sue the Trump administration for violating the Antiquities Act if it tried to reduce the monument’s size.

“The Navajo Nation stands ready to defend the Bears Ears National Monument. We have a complaint ready to file upon official action by the President.” Ethel Branch, the Navajo Nation’s attorney general, said in an email to Reuters on Friday.

Grand Staircase, which was designated a national monument by President Bill Clinton in 1996, has drawn concern because an archeological site lies beneath it where two dozen new species of dinosaurs have been discovered. A coal deposit also lies beneath Grand Staircase. Paleontologists are worried the site could be destroyed if the monument’s size is reduced, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday.

A spokesman for Representative Rob Bishop, a Republican from Utah who is chairman of the House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, said on Friday that Bishop was working on legislation “that will protect the antiquities in the Bears Ears region, ensure that local voices are heard and bring some finality to this issue once and for all.”

Reporting by Emily Flitter; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Editing by Andrew Hay and Leslie Adler

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Rio Tinto lifts force majeure at Kennecott copper mine

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World’s second largest mining company Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) has lifted force majeure on shipments of refined copper from its Kennecott unit in the US, 79 days after adopting the measure.

The company, Reuters reports, halted production of refined copper at its smelter at the Utah-based mine on Oct. 8 after a worker was exposed to sulphur dioxide gases at the plant while removing debris from a boiler. The employee died two days later.

Rio Tinto Kennecott accounts for nearly 20% of the US total copper production.

Rio Tinto Kennecott accounts for nearly 20% of the US total copper production, and its iconic Bingham Canyon mine is one of the world’s top producing operations.

Visible from outer space, the Bingham Canyon is the also world’s deepest open-pit mine. First discovered by Mormon pioneers in the mid-1800s, it is over 1.2 km deep, 4 km wide and covers 7.7 km².

massive slide at the mine almost five years ago slowed, but did not stop, Rio’s plans to extend the mine’s life by another decade, to 2029. The company believes there’s still as much ore in the ground as miners have taken out of Bingham Canyon since it began production in 1906.

It is estimated that the mine has produced more copper than any mine in history – more than 19 million tonnes. Last year, the Kennecott generated 125,800 tonnes of refined copper, about 20% less than in 2016.

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The Vancouver junior shaking up the lithium mining industry

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The Vancouver junior shaking up the lithium mining industry

MGX Minerals President and CEO Jared Lazerson

Demand from electric vehicles is blowing up lithium mining.

In 2015, 174,000 tonnes of lithium worth $1.2 billion were mined.

While the lithium-ion battery was invented 25 years earlier, the mineral hardly made headlines and output was controlled by four large primary producers (as it is today) operating largely out of sight in the high Andes and West Australia.

This year primary lithium mining is set to grow to a $4.5 billion industry. Impressive growth but still a minnow.

Now the trillion-dollar automotive industry has descended on the sector. (For context, Toyota does $4.5B every week and according to one report vehicle manufacturers are spending $255 billion to bring more than 200 new electric models to market by 2022.)

Pick any EV demand graph from any investment bank report, consultant white paper or research house forecast from the last year and they are all alike.

They start in the bottom left corner and end in the top right.

Graphs of future lithium supply look much the same.

And the Big 4 – Albemarle, Ganfeng, SQM and Tianqi – will be responsible for the vast bulk of the output expansion. And thanks to joint ventures,  cross-shareholding and downstream connections these companies are likely to only tighten their grip on primary production.

The additional output will also be from largely the same places – brines in Chile and Argentina and hard rock in Australia.

Both of which come with their own set of unique problems. On the salars in South America or basins in Nevada, an 18-month wait for solar evaporation. For Australian spodumene miners a long, costly and often bottlenecked chain from ore to battery grade lithium.

MGX is also playing the green energy boom through a wholly-owned subsidiary called ZincNyx Energy Solutions acquired in December. ZincNyx this week announced the start of manufacturing of zinc-air batteries for modular storage of electricity from renewable sources.

That makes the burgeoning industry ripe for disruption.

MGX Minerals Inc, a mining junior based in Vancouver BC, is doing just that. And it’s already deploying its technology.

MGX, founded in 2012, and its Calgary-based water treatment subsidiary PurLucid, can cut extraction time of lithium from brine to a single day.

A number of Chilean lithium juniors and brine producers are testing the technology to speed up time to market and at the same time slash their environmental footprint (and to stop praying for it not to rain).

But cutting construction and production time for traditional lithium from brine producers is not even MGX's biggest selling point.

MGX produces lithium by cleaning up the oil industry’s wastewater.

The company has integrated PurLucid’s nanoflotation technology with its own rapid lithium recovery process. MGX bought 51% of PurLucid in September 2016 with an option to buy the firm outright.
North America's oil & gas sector pumps an astonishing 80–100m barrels of brine each day
While competitors have emerged, MGX is now in deployment phase with North American oil and gas companies as first customers. The company this week closed on a $15.5m private placement and revenues from its roll-out will flow before the end of the year.

CEO Jared Lazerson tells MINING.com that the company started out as an industrial minerals minor, but early on saw the opportunity in advanced materials:

“We liked the lack of volatility in industrial minerals but quickly segued into battery materials were the outlook is for strong growth for at least the next fifty years.”

MGX Driftwood Creek Magnesium

MGX is advancing its Driftwood Creek Magnesium project in BC, hoping to become only the second producer of magnesium oxide in North America. A preliminary economic assessment for the project outlines a 19-year mine life, a three-and-a-half year payback and $400m net present value.

The North American wastewater treatment industry is worth $29 billion a year and the oil & gas sector pumps an astonishing 80–100m barrels of brine each day.

Recognizing the massive expertise built up in the Alberta oil patch to manage wastewater, MGX started to develop the idea of what it dubs “petrolithium”.

Lazerson says petrolithium enables “a beautiful transition” using robust industrial process to clean up the environment and reduce costs at the same time.

For Alberta, struggling to bring bitumen to new markets outside the US, petrolithium represents energy diversification.

For the Canadian province’s oil giants it provides not only environmental credentials but an on-ramp to the electric vehicle boom (not to mention a new revenue stream from water purification).
Lithium is on the list of 35 minerals deemed as "critical" by the US dept of the interior to promote domestic production
MGX have permits covering 1.7m acres in Alberta where it’s partnering with oil and gas majors and in the US, MGX has acquired leases over 110,000 acres in Utah’s Paradox basin. The company announced a seismic survey program in Utah this week. The MGX process can also be applied to wastewater from other industrial sources where lithium, an abundant resource, may be present.

Lithium is on the list of 35 minerals deemed as "critical" and of strategic importance by the US dept of the interior in an effort to promote domestic production.

Lazerson says the company was careful not to fall into a capex and growth trap, designing its technology to be modular:

“We can put the equipment in a container and ship it off and if you want more, we ship you another. There is a point where you would decide to build a $1 billion centralized plant, but as a company we did not want to be in a position where we spend all this money developing a technology and then have to go to shareholders and the market to raise money for a massive capital expenditure program.”

MGX (CSE: XMG; OTCQB: MGXMF; Frankfurt: 1MG), listed in October 2014 and is worth C$112m on the Canadian Securities Exchange. The spot price of battery grade lithium carbonate in China has declined this year and was assesses at $21,000 per tonne at the end of May according to MetalBulletin data. That compares to $7,700 a tonne in June 2015.

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