Tag: minerals

OM in the News: Salvaging Critical Minerals From Old Laptops and Phones Isn’t So Easy

While electronic waste (e-waste) seems almost infinite, from fried computers to dormant BlackBerry phones, securing discarded tech for metals recycling can be quite tricky.

Electronic waste is dropped on to a conveyor belt during a process to harvest rare earth and other metals in France.

Recycled lithium, copper and other critical minerals can find new life in everything from electric vehicles to battery storage. The push to recycle metals in the U.S. comes amid intensifying efforts to compete with China, which dominates the critical minerals market, reports The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 1, 2025).

“It’s like urban mining,”  said one industry CEO, explaining the benefits of reusing metals from old electronics and scrap waste instead of procuring it directly from the earth. “Rather than going into the mines, we go into our communities,” he said.

Collecting e-waste can be tricky because there isn’t a strong infrastructure to retrieve devices directly from homes, scrapyards, manufacturers or collection sites, and some consumers have privacy concerns when handing over old hardware that could hold personal information.

Meanwhile, large quantities of e-waste are being shipped abroad. About 2,000 shipping containers of electronic waste are sent each month from the U.S. to countries in Asia, particularly Malaysia. But the need to increase the domestic supply of critical minerals has become more urgent, as is evident in the U.S.’s near-total reliance on Chinese imports for lithium-ion batteries.

Shipping e-waste abroad rather than recycling it in the U.S. is “a tragic lose, lose, lose proposition,” said a second industry expert. “The country misses out on the value from the critical metals going to waste, as well as recycling jobs for local workers.”

Most lithium-ion batteries on the market are likely to be hazardous when they are disposed of because they could catch fire or explode if not handled carefully. The environmental footprint of lithium-ion battery recycling emits less than half the greenhouse gases of conventional mining and refinement of metals, and uses about one-fourth of the water and energy of mining.

The global consumption of lithium was estimated to be 220,000 metric tons in 2024—a 29% jump from 2023. But tech recycling in the U.S. has a long way to go. E-waste recycling collection, from relying on municipal return sites to retailer take-back programs, is irregular and fragmented, so recyclers often cannot rely on steady, predictable volumes.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Why doesn’t the U.S. recycle all its e-waste?
  2. Could AI help in recycling? (See Supp. 5 of your Heizer/Render/Munson text).

OM in the News: The Transition to Electric Vehicles Sustainability Dilemma

A mining exploration camp in the Ring of Fire

The pace of the global transition to electric vehicles depends on the future of a remote region in Canada known as the Ring of Fire. Located underneath a distant, swampy expanse in Northern Ontario that is cut off from major roads, the Ring of Fire is seen as one of the world’s most important untapped sources of nickel, copper and cobalt—metals essential for making the batteries that power EVs.

But the precious commodities are buried under a vast ecosystem of peat bogs that hold more carbon per square foot than even the Amazon rainforest. Digging them up could trigger the release of more greenhouse gas than Canada emits in one year, turning one of the earth’s biggest carbon sinks into a major source of emissions.

A debate over how, or whether, to tap in to this mother lode, has touched off a fight between mining companies, climate advocates, and indigenous groups as demand for cleaner energy and EVs has surged worldwide, reports The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 29, 2023).

“If I have to hop on a bulldozer myself, we’re going to start building roads to the Ring of Fire,” said the head of Ontario province, which recently signed deals with automakers VW and Stellantis to build battery-making factories in the province. Opponents warn that disturbing the area could have far-reaching consequences.

The Ring of Fire, an area larger than Rhode Island, was formed 3 billion years ago. A retreating ice sheet left sodden, boggy terrain that covers a wealth of minerals. This deposit is “the most valuable nickel deposit, undeveloped, in the world,” said one mining CEO. “We’re not going to be able to switch off fossil fuels, which are destroying the planet, unless we have abundant supplies of nickel.” He estimates the deposits of platinum, palladium, copper and chromite could be worth $67 billion. As EV production has increased, demand has surged for such metals, which are key components in making EVs and military equipment.

Projects like the Ring of Fire represent a new era for the mining industry. Long considered a dirty and often unfortunate legacy of the industrial economy, mining has taken on a green sheen. Extraction is an essential component of the global movement toward electrification.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. What is the pro mining stance?
  2. The anti-mining position?

OM in the News: Demanding a Bigger Piece of the EV Pie

 

Electric vehicles require six times the mineral inputs of conventional cars, and it is estimated that mineral demand for use in EVs and battery storage could grow 30 times by 2040, reports The Wall Street Journal (July 3, 2023).

Across the developing world, mineral-rich nations are demanding a bigger piece of the EV pie, saying they are moving to end the era of extract and export.  Countries with vast deposits of the ingredients essential to making EVs are digging in and trying to take advantage of the boom.

In parts of Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia, governments are restricting the export of raw minerals, demanding that miners build processing plants locally and looking to tighten control over foreign-operated mines. The steps are sometimes described as resource nationalism, and their increasing popularity is reshaping supply chains that underpin the shift toward cleaner forms of energy.
Lithium production in Chile, where greater state control of the resource has become a priority.

Guinea, a major African bauxite producer, has imposed a minimum export price and urged companies to build local refineries. Namibia just banned the export of unprocessed lithium and other critical minerals, including cobalt, manganese and graphite. Indonesia banned the export of unprocessed nickel, pushing foreign companies to build billion-dollar facilities in the country that are turning ore into higher-value materials for EV batteries. Zimbabwe is doing the same with lithium. Chile and Mexico are seeking greater state control over their countries’ lithium reserves. These ore-rich countries are looking to move up the value chain instead of simply providing the primary inputs or commodities.

State actions aimed at that goal bring risks for the transition, potentially deterring investment in new mines needed to keep up supply. They could also raise the cost of critical materials, increase regulatory burdens for companies and lead to shortages in the future. “It’s got to be an all-around negative factor for the energy transition,” said one expert. Indonesia, a mineral powerhouse, infuriated trade partners with its 2020 ban on the export of raw nickel, but it worked. Companies from across Asia and the U.S. are pouring investments into building nickel-processing plants in the country, making Indonesia a significant player in the EV supply chain.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. How does resource nationalism relate to the issue of core competencies that we discuss in Chapter 2?
  2. What keeps the U.S. and other developed nations from mining their own minerals?

OM in the News: The EV Supply Chain and Canada

International giants are investing billions of dollars in Canada’s EV and mining sectors

Multinational companies are pumping billions of dollars into Canada’s electric-vehicle manufacturing sector, lured by government incentives, access to raw materials and cheap renewable energy. VW just announced that it had chosen a site in Ontario to build its first battery-cell plant outside Europe, citing Canada’s natural resources as one of the reasons. VW’s plan follows recent EV and battery-making project investments by GM, Stellantis, Michelin Tires, Brazilian miner Vale, U.K. mining company Rio Tinto, and German chemicals company BASF, among others.

According to The Wall Street Journal (March 23, 2023), Canada is benefiting from a push by the U.S. and its allies to reduce their dependence on China for the critical minerals used in EV batteries and military equipment.  In one example, Stellantis and South Korea’s LG are building a $4.1 billion battery plant in Windsor, Ontario, with 2,400 workers starting next year. As we discuss in Chapter 8 (Location Strategies), incentives are common and Canada has had to pay up to win the investments, scrambling to keep up with the U.S., which has unveiled a raft of subsidies meant to draw investment in its EV industry. Canada gave $732 million to land the Stellantis/LG venture.

Canada is among the most expensive countries in the world to build cars and the highest-cost market for car assembly in the North American free-trade zone. To save money, auto makers in recent decades moved thousands of manufacturing jobs and motor-vehicle assembly capacity to Mexico, dropping auto employment in Canada from 175,000 to 110,000.

The Canadian government is pitching itself as a counterweight to China in the race to develop EV technology. China leads the world in processing metals and minerals like nickel, copper, lithium and cobalt. It also is home to 78% of the world’s cell-manufacturing capacity for EV batteries. Helping Canada’s pitch: It is one of the few places in the Western Hemisphere with the raw materials companies need to make their EVs. Electra Battery Minerals Corp. is the only facility available in North America for processing battery-grade cobalt, a metal used in batteries. Rio Tinto is upgrading an iron-ore and titanium refining facility in Quebec with a $500 million investment.

Access to hydroelectricity was a key reason GM and others chose Quebec. The renewable power helps lower GM’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Quebec also offers the lowest industrial rates for power in North America.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Summarize the reasons more companies in this field are looking to Canada.
  2. What is China’s strength in the EV supply chain industry?

 

OM in the News: China’s Dominance in the Rare Earth Supply Chain

The minerals, metals and rare earths needed for the green and digital transitions are shaping up to be the oil of this century—complete with a race to secure raw materials and production capacity at home or in friendly locations.

China has the early lead, writes The Wall Street Journal (March 9, 2023), dominating production of many critical materials including lithium and rare earths. Over the past years, China secured deposits around the world and invested heavily in the domestic manufacturing of clean technologies such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels. As the graph shows, China has a clear lead in the rare earth supply chain.

Western nations have now made it a top priority to secure a supply of these materials. The West has been tempted by the economic opportunity but also chastened by the recent semiconductor shortages, Europe’s efforts to replace Russian energy imports, and Beijing’s support for Russia after it invaded Ukraine.

Going back to President Trump, the U.S. signed executive orders for critical minerals– and has had recent success in starting to build local supply chains. The European Union’s latest effort—a Critical Minerals Act—aims to kick-start mining, processing and recycling in that region. There is one area where the EU act is right on the money—accelerating permitting. Permitting has been a key challenge for companies investing across geographies and sectors including mining, processing, power lines, solar, wind and batteries. In the EU, ambitious permitting reforms appears to be be the biggest hurdle to getting political agreement on that bloc’s local production of EV batteries. Limiting or overriding local opposition is rarely a vote-winning stance.

We may also get a G-7 critical minerals buyers club of the Group of Seven advanced democracies to secure supply from mineral rich countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Reduced Chinese supply—if it happens—will force Western policy makers and voters to face the trade-off between the carbon benefits of wind energy or electric vehicles and the environmental and pollution costs associated with manufacturing those technologies.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Why are countries and companies so concerned about “rare earths”?
  2. What is the main benefit in dominating the mineral supply chain?

OM in the News: Electric Cars and the Climate

An EV charging at a shopping center in California

Replacing all gasoline-powered cars with electric vehicles won’t be enough to prevent the world from overheating, says a new U. of California report. “The report offers a look at the environmental and economic sacrifices needed to meet net-zero climate goals,” writes The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 13, 2023).

The study notes three problems:

Problem No. 1: Electric-vehicle batteries require loads of minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, which must be extracted from the ground like fossil fuels. If today’s demand for EVs is projected to 2050, the lithium requirements of the US EV market alone would require triple the amount of lithium currently produced for the entire global market. Unlike fossil fuels, these minerals are mostly found in undeveloped areas that have abundant natural fauna and are often inhabited by indigenous people. Mining can be done safely, but in poor countries it often isn’t.

Problem No. 2: Mining requires huge amounts of energy and water, and the process of refining minerals requires even more. Mining accounts for 4% to 7% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. Auto makers have made a priority of manufacturing electric pick-up trucks and SUVs because drivers like them, but they require much bigger batteries and more minerals. More mining to make more EVs will increase CO2 emissions. It will also destroy tropical forests and deserts that currently suck CO2 out of the atmosphere, the report says.

Problem No. 3: Producing EVs is an energy- and emissions-intensive process with high levels of embodied carbon. Electrification of the US transportation system will massively increase the demand for electricity while the transition to a decarbonized electricity grid is still underway.

The report concludes that the auto sector’s “current dominant strategy,” which involves replacing gasoline-powered vehicles with EVs without decreasing car ownership and use, “is likely incompatible” with climate activists’ goal to keep the planet from warming by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial times. Instead, the report recommends government policies that promote walking, cycling and mass transit.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Comment on the report’s recommendations.
  2. What can overcome the three problems cited?