Critical Minerals Workshop

Thank you, and good morning. 

 

• My name is Brad Crabtree, and I am Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy and Carbon Management at the Department of Energy.  As I mentioned yesterday, I visited Alaska in September and was fortunate to meet many of you while speaking to the Alaska Oil and Gas Association and visiting places like the Kenai and Cook Inlet operations.

 

• So, it’s very good to be back, and following our successful carbon management workshop yesterday, I am very much looking forward to a productive workshop today on critical minerals.

 

• I first want to thank Congresswoman Peltola for her remarks – and for her work on behalf of Alaska’s communities in Congress – and also thanks to Governor Dunleavy for his efforts to turn Alaska into a leader in carbon management.

 

• I want to start by acknowledging that we are meeting today on the ancestral land of the Dena’ina (Deh-Nyna) Athabaskan people. 

 

• And I want to make clear that the Department of Energy is here to support your state’s ambitions to become a world leader in critical minerals production as the world’s demand for these minerals increases in support of clean energy.

 

• Demand for critical minerals is increasing rapidly as the world transitions to a clean energy and industrial economy.

 

• They’re in our computers, our cell phones, and our household appliances.

 

• They are needed for a wide range of strategic industries, including aerospace, medicine and defense, and they are indispensable components in clean energy technologies like batteries, electric vehicles, and solar panels – all of which are essential to meeting our climate goals and achieving economy-wide decarbonization over the coming decades.

 

• Last fall, the U.S. Geological Survey compiled its latest list of Critical Minerals, which now includes 50 metals, minerals, and materials.

 

• I think it’s fair to say that the United States is pretty lucky to have the 49^th State. Alaska has this nation's largest repository of mineral resources, having prospective deposits for 49 of the 50 critical minerals on that list. And you are already producing two of them – zinc and germanium.

 

• The only mineral missing from the state is aluminum, which we can probably find elsewhere.

 

• And while all of these minerals are important, at the Department of Energy, we’re focused most closely on 12 of the materials on that list that are needed to decarbonize our economy – including some rare earths, lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite, among others.

 

• Alaska has all 12 of these minerals within its borders, and some can be produced in abundance.

 

• Global demand for critical minerals is expected to skyrocket over the next several decades, and much more for specific commodities, like lithium and graphite.

 

• For example, the average electric car battery has about 10 pounds of lithium, over 100 pounds of graphite, more than 60 pounds of nickel and about 20 pounds of manganese.

 

• A little more than a decade ago, in 2012, roughly 130,000 electric cars were sold worldwide. Last year, more than 7 million electric vehicles were sold, and that number may reach 45 million per year by 2040.

 

• These numbers alone tell us why Alaska has become so important to the country’s economic security, and it is about national security.

 

• The reality is that, like other parts of our industrial base, the United States, over the past several decades, has offshored minerals production and processing that we were once doing domestically.

 

• We are now playing catch-up to China.
   
• So, in response, the federal government is taking robust, wide-ranging actions to address this challenge and secure domestic supply chains for critical minerals and materials. 

 

• And the Department of Energy wants to play an essential supporting role in helping Alaska thrive as the world’s most efficient, productive and environmentally friendly critical minerals basins.

 

• To do so will take some planning and a comprehensive strategy. Coming from North Dakota, I recognize the recurrent problem of being a resource extraction state that sees these resources exported to other states for high-value processing.

 

• Whether, in the case of North Dakota, it’s farm commodities or oil being sent to Minnesota or Illinois for processing, or in Alaska’s case, oil or metals being sent to Washington, California, and in some cases, Canada, the effect is the same, with tax revenues, higher wages, and young people going to other places, instead of staying at home.

 

• Alaska also has some unique challenges, with infrastructure at the top of the list. By developing a strategy and elevating the processing part of critical minerals, Alaska can overcome what is currently a disadvantage with its relative lack of infrastructure compared to other parts of the country.

 

• A great example would be Alaska’s electrical grid. Alaska’s grid is unconnected to other parts of the U.S. or Canada, which can make electricity more expensive and keeps your state from exporting more of your energy.

 

• But unlike other parts of the country, with many jurisdictions sharing their grid, Alaska controls its entire grid. It does not have to share decision-making or capital investment decision with any other state’s public utility commissions or legislative committees.

 

• And this, in turn, means that Alaska could become a major testbed for decarbonizing the grid in a resource-extractive state within decades, much more quickly than many other domestic grids.

 

• Alaska has other advantages here too. Your state government has taken an active and successful role in infrastructure projects since the beginning of statehood.

 

• And your Native Corporations are better positioned to take advantage of capital markets and investment opportunities than the Lower-48 tribes.

 

• Taking a more complete and strategic approach to critical minerals production and processing will help Alaska take full advantage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act and leverage the anticipated private sector investments toward a more net-zero energy economy.

 

• As many of you know, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents the largest carbon management and critical minerals funding commitment of any country in the world to date, providing $62 billion over five years to the Department of Energy for research, development, demonstration and deployment of clean energy and industrial technologies and infrastructure.

 

• Alaska is receiving nearly $3 billion from the infrastructure law for transportation infrastructure and clean water projects, as well as $50 million for clean energy and grid resilience initiatives. 

 

• And the Inflation Reduction Act establishes 45X, also known as the Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit, so that mining companies can receive a production credit for up to 10% of production costs when mining the critical minerals most needed for the energy transition.

 

• In 2020, DOE launched our CORE-CM Initiative, awarding $19 million in federal funding for 13 regional teams to support the assessment and production of rare earth elements and critical minerals in traditional fossil fuel-producing communities across the country.

 

• Here in Alaska, DOE is partnering with the University of Alaska and others to make a broad assessment of the state’s Carbon Ore, Rare Earth and Critical Minerals endowment.

 

• You will hear a lot more about this subject coming up, so I won’t steal too much of their thunder, except to add that Alaska has appropriated nearly $8 million of its own money to the University to support the development of critical minerals in the state.

 

• And thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys of the Yukon-Tanana Upland and the Kuskokwim River regions are being made. These regions have the potential to show large amounts of antimony, gold, rare earths, tin, tungsten and other critical minerals not yet discovered.

 

• Beyond what we’re doing in these areas, it’s important to recognize that we will still need new mines to increase mineral production and availability.

 

• But past standards of interaction between mining companies and the surrounding communities aren’t a viable option anymore. The environmental, social, and community issues we are now dealing with – in particular, the skepticism with which many communities view the promised local benefits of mining -- negate our current mining models.

 

• Looking ahead, we need to explore next-generation mining, which involves lowering the greenhouse gas footprint of mines through processes like CO2 mineralization and with energy reduction.

 

• Making less waste and allowing for lower-grade production would involve getting more of what we mine for the energy we expend. And this means taking advantage of new sources like legacy mine wastes that you’ll also be hearing more about later today.

 

• As I’ve said in other venues, the amount of funding the federal government is allocating for climate and critical minerals programs in the next several years is so large that we could be challenged by public skepticism of these projects.

 

• A key part of our decision-making regarding which projects we support will be whether those projects will provide tangible improvements in those communities’ environmental and economic circumstances.

 

• We have prepared comprehensive guidance that addresses how we expect applicants for funding to incorporate community engagement, workplace standards and workforce development, and environmental justice commitments into their project plans.

 

• So, we have a full plate today. 

 

• Coming up, Dr. Jessica Mullen will give us an overview of the National Energy Technology Lab’s Critical Minerals and Materials Program, followed by an overview of Alaska’s Critical Minerals resources by Dr. David Le Pain of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

 

• Then Dr. Evan Granite will tell us about the very exciting work NETL is doing recovering Critical Minerals from unconventional sources like mine tailings.

 

• So, to close, we look forward to working with you to bring real benefits to your communities and your state and strengthen the domestic supply changes for critical minerals.

 

• I can say that having done a lot of travel in the past year, people in energy basins around the world – especially in the Middle East and Africa – are spending a lot of time and energy planning to decarbonize their energy industries.

 

• But I can also say that no other region I have come across that has Alaska’s potential to decarbonize both its energy-producing and mining industries at the same time, using the same local infrastructure and under the same regulatory regime.

 

• If done right, DOE’s work with Alaska can become a template for engagement with other energy-producing and industrial states and regions as they evaluate their decarbonization opportunities.

 

• I appreciated your engagement today and look forward to the workshop.

 

Thank you.