Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023 | 2 a.m.
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Rich Nolan is president and CEO of the National Mining Association.
Editor’s note: As he traditionally does around this time every year, Brian Greenspun is turning over his Where I Stand column to others. Today’s guest is Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association.
Many Las Vegas policymakers and residents take great pride in being the first large city to run on 100 percent renewable energy, including massive solar and wind installations, hydropower from the Hoover Dam and an extensive electric vehicle charging infrastructure. But it’s how Las Vegas and Nevada are leading on the front-end of America’s advanced energy supply chain that’s arguably far more notable.
As one of the nation’s major mining states, Nevada is providing the resources that will be crucial for 21st-century advances in renewable energy. Nevada is blessed with a unique mix of raw materials, including gold, silver, copper, lithium and molybdenum, among other minerals. These are the irreplaceable building blocks for America’s high-tech energy supply chain.
Nevada is one of the few states that is both deploying advanced energy and building the supply chains — from mines to battery manufacturing — to support the nation’s energy future. In fact, more than 41,000 Nevadans work directly in the mining industry or are supported by it. The U.S. needs far more of this top-to-bottom supply chain model, and it needs even more from Nevada.
Unfortunately, even as climate advocates increase their calls for a broad transition across America’s energy and transportation portfolio, promising mines capable of offering secure, domestic supplies of these crucial metals and minerals remain in a virtual standstill. Much of America’s mining industry continues to be stuck in bureaucratic quicksand. While steps have been taken to streamline the mine-permitting process and reduce delays, the impact of this reform remains to be seen. It regularly takes a decade to permit a new mine in the U.S.—if approvals are gained at all. Despite soaring mineral demand and record mineral import reliance, the Biden administration has yet to approve a single major mining project. That must change.
America’s dependence on other countries for mining has now hit an all-time high, and we depend on imports to obtain more than 50 minerals essential to our energy future. Particularly disturbing is that China is the leading supplier for 26 of them. In fact, there are now 15 key elements for which the United States is 100 percent reliant on imports. The White House has warned that mineral supply chains could be weaponized in the same way oil was in the 1970s, and that natural gas was in Europe in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
We simply don’t have the luxury of not energetically pursuing domestic mining projects right now to build the massively expanded supply chains we’ll need tomorrow. According to the International Energy Agency, global supplies of key metals must expand many times over in just the next two decades—if we’re to keep up with mineral demand. For example, lithium demand is poised to jump 40-fold. Demand for nickel, cobalt and graphite is set to soar 25 times by 2040.
If the U.S. fails to address our alarming mineral import reliance and bring new mineral supplies to market, we risk not only handcuffing our ability to deploy key energy technologies but also risk ceding key industries to rivals.
China’s dominance of mineral supply chains has already given it a huge lead in the race to an electric vehicle future. China is home to more than 70 percent of lithium battery production and has built an auto industry from the ground up nearly overnight. Remarkably, after exporting no cars just a few years ago, last year China exported more cars than Germany.
U.S. supply chain security, national security and our economic competitiveness have converged on the future of American mining. We have the resources — from lithium to rare earth metals — to meet many of our mineral needs. But what we are sorely lacking is the political leadership to boost mining. Every delayed mine approval or blanket land withdrawal is a gift to our competitors. If we’re serious about a made-in-America future, we’ve got to get serious about mined-in-America — where the materials we need are produced under world-leading safety and environmental standards.
Nevada is one of the key states that holds the promise of America’s green energy future — both in its deployment of advanced technologies and its ability to provide building blocks that are the very foundation of tomorrow’s industrial base. If America is going to win the great industrial competition of the 21st century, and build the energy economy of tomorrow, it’s going to take leadership from states like Nevada to do it.
