Minerals: Exploration, Mining, Processing, Markets, & Policy

Energy Security: Vulnerabilities are Many and Complex. March 2, 2023. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Energy Security: Vulnerabilities are Many and Complex

New Report from Corporate Watchdog Group Alleges Environmental and Human Rights Violations by Chinese Energy Transition Mining Ventures. July 12, 2023. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: New Report from Corporate Watchdog Group Alleges Environmental and Human Rights Violations by Chinese Energy Transition Mining Ventures

Brine Mining: Mineral Extraction Opportunities from Oilfield and Geothermal Brines. October 30, 2023. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Brine Mining: Mineral Extraction Opportunities from Oilfield and Geothermal Brines

Interesting Graphics of the Month: 1) 2022 Global Mining by Mineral and Weight, 2) The Longest U.S. Lateral Wells: Where Are They and Who’s Drilling Them? 3) The Modern History of Primary Energy Use by Source, and 4) Produced Water Treatment Flow Graphic. November 22, 2023. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Interesting Graphics of the Month: 1) 2022 Global Mining by Mineral and Weight, 2) The Longest U.S. Lateral Wells: Where Are They and Who’s Drilling Them? 3) The Modern History of Primary Energy Use by Source, and 4) Produced Water Treatment Flow Graphic

Graphite Creek Mining Project Will Produce High-Grade Coated Spherical Graphite from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska: Graphite Demand, Geopolitics, and Other Interesting Facts about Graphite. November 30, 2023. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Graphite Creek Mining Project Will Produce High-Grade Coated Spherical Graphite from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska: Graphite Demand, Geopolitics, and Other Interesting Facts about Graphite

Extracting Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Coal Refuse Tailings, Coal Ash, Acid Mine Drainage, Fire Clays, and Tonsteins. February 3, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Extracting Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals from Coal Refuse Tailings, Coal Ash, Acid Mine Drainage, Fire Clays, and Tonsteins

Firepoint Energy’s Pennsylvania Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) Project to Convert Coal into Aviation Fuel, Extract Minerals, Including REEs, from Coal Waste, and Add Carbon Capture. July 21, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Firepoint Energy’s Pennsylvania Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) Project to Convert Coal into Aviation Fuel, Extract Minerals, Including REEs, from Coal Waste, and Add Carbon Capture

Extracting Metals from Magmatic Geofluids: New Early Research to Tap Energy and Critical Metals from the Metalliferous Magmatic Brines of Dormant Volcanoes. August 2, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Extracting Metals from Magmatic Geofluids: New Early Research to Tap Energy and Critical Metals from the Metalliferous Magmatic Brines of Dormant Volcanoes

Decarbonizing the Aluminum Industry: Industrial Carbon Management, Inert Anodes, H2, and Electrification. August 11, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Decarbonizing the Aluminum Industry: Industrial Carbon Management, Inert Anodes, H2, and Electrification

Reserves Evaluation for Oil, Gas, Coal, and Minerals: Price, Tech, Concentration, Rate, and Economics. August 13, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Reserves Evaluation for Oil, Gas, Coal, and Minerals: Price, Tech, Concentration, Rate, and Economics

Australia: Land of Uranium (and Thorium) Reserves: And Significant New Discovery at Edge of Cooper Basin, South Australia During a Uranium Bull Market. August 29, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Australia: Land of Uranium (and Thorium) Reserves: And Significant New Discovery at Edge of Cooper Basin, South Australia During a Uranium Bull Market

Graphics of the Week: Oil & Gas from Frontier Basins Increases, Thermal Plasma Methods for Various Mineral Recovery, Lifecycle Costs of Clean Energy Technologies, U.S. Agricultural Trade Balance, High Valuable Metal Concentrations Found in URO’s Beryllium Project in Australia, Gas Production by Major Oil Companies Continues to Drop, and Percentages By Country of Light Sweet Crude Imported to Europe by Sea. August 31, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Graphics of the Week: Oil & Gas from Frontier Basins Increases, Thermal Plasma Methods for Various Mineral Recovery, Lifecycle Costs of Clean Energy Technologies, U.S. Agricultural Trade Balance, High Valuable Metal Concentrations Found in URO’s Beryllium Project in Australia, Gas Production by Major Oil Companies Continues to Drop, and Percentages By Country of Light Sweet Crude Imported to Europe by Sea

Putin Threatens to Limit Supply of Enriched Uranium, Titanium, and Nickel. October 5, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Putin Threatens to Limit Supply of Enriched Uranium, Titanium, and Nickel

Maps of the Week: Drilling Mud Density, Smackover Lithium Play, LIDAR Finds Ancient Cities in the Amazon, and Geologic Hydrogen Exploration Along the Mid-Continent Rift. October 30, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Maps of the Week: Drilling Mud Density, Smackover Lithium Play, LIDAR Finds Ancient Cities in the Amazon, and Geologic Hydrogen Exploration Along the Mid-Continent Rift

Antimony: A Critical Mineral in High Demand Due to Chinese Commodity Warfare: Domestic Supplies are Desirable and Available According to an article in North of 60. December 1, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Antimony: A Critical Mineral in High Demand Due to Chinese Commodity Warfare: Domestic Supplies are Desirable and Available According to an article in North of 60

Supergiant Gold Deposit Found in China and World’s Largest Iron Ore Deposit Found in Australia: High-Grading Mineral Resources with New Discoveries. December 15, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Supergiant Gold Deposit Found in China and World’s Largest Iron Ore Deposit Found in Australia: High-Grading Mineral Resources with New Discoveries

Reactive Vapor-Phase Dealloying-Alloying Combines Several Metallurgical Processes to Chemically Derive Nano-Structured Porous Alloys from Oxides: Modern Day Alchemy. December 19, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Reactive Vapor-Phase Dealloying-Alloying Combines Several Metallurgical Processes to Chemically Derive Nano-Structured Porous Alloys from Oxides: Modern Day Alchemy

American Resources Corp is Producing Mixed Rare Earth Oxides and By-Products Silicon Dioxide and Aluminum Oxide from Mine Waste in Wyoming County, West Virginia: Synergies with Lithium Extraction and Modular, Scalable, Co-Locatable REE Extraction. December 20, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: American Resources Corp is Producing Mixed Rare Earth Oxides and By-Products Silicon Dioxide and Aluminum Oxide from Mine Waste in Wyoming County, West Virginia: Synergies with Lithium Extraction and Modular, Scalable, Co-Locatable REE Extraction

Wyoming Soda Ash Mines and Tata Chemicals’ Plan to Power Mining with Nuclear Micro-Reactors. December 23, 2024. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Wyoming Soda Ash Mines and Tata Chemicals’ Plan to Power Mining with Nuclear Micro-Reactors

Bismuth: China Uses Minerals Processing Leverage to Counter Trump Tariffs and Bismuth Prices Rise by More Than Five Times. March 22, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Bismuth: China Uses Minerals Processing Leverage to Counter Trump Tariffs and Bismuth Prices Rise by More Than Five Times

Illegal Mining Around the World: Organized Crime, Artisanal Mining, Mining Scams, and Markets for Illegally Mined Commodities. April 16, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Illegal Mining Around the World: Organized Crime, Artisanal Mining, Mining Scams, and Markets for Illegally Mined Commodities

U.S. Uranium Production is Rising After Falling Off in 2019: One Mill and Seven In-Situ Leaching Plants in Operation. April 21, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: U.S. Uranium Production is Rising After Falling Off in 2019: One Mill and Seven In-Situ Leaching Plants in Operation

Rare Earth Mineral Recycling Harvests Used Batteries and Decommissioned Hard Drives from Data Centers to Help Offset Tariff-Constrained Supply from China. April 22, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Rare Earth Mineral Recycling Harvests Used Batteries and Decommissioned Hard Drives from Data Centers to Help Offset Tariff-Constrained Supply from China

China’s New High-Purity Quartz Sand Discovery Can Ease Dependence on the U.S. Where the Spruce Pine Deposit in North Carolina is the World’s Largest HPQ Source. April 28, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: China’s New High-Purity Quartz Sand Discovery Can Ease Dependence on the U.S. Where the Spruce Pine Deposit in North Carolina is the World’s Largest HPQ Source

Frac Sand Mining in the U.S.: Ordovician St. Peter Sand and Cambrian Sands in Wisconsin and Other U.S. Deposits, Including the Cambrian Hickory Sands in Eastern Permian Basin Region and the Cenozoic Monahans Dune Sands Between the Midland and Delaware Basins. May 20, 2025.  Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Frac Sand Mining in the U.S.: Ordovician St. Peter Sand and Cambrian Sands in Wisconsin and Other U.S. Deposits, Including the Cambrian Hickory Sands in Eastern Permian Basin Region and the Cenozoic Monahans Dune Sands Between the Midland and Delaware Basins

Smelter-Free Nickel from Awuraite Ore: Nickel is in High Demand and Discoveries in Newfoundland, Canada Are Significant: First Atlantic Nickel Intends to Mine. June 4, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Smelter-Free Nickel from Awuraite Ore: Nickel is in High Demand and Discoveries in Newfoundland, Canada Are Significant: First Atlantic Nickel Intends to Mine

Sub-Saharan Africa Needs Fossil Fuels to Process Its Critical Minerals – by Ryan Alimento and Seaver Wang. Breakthrough Institute. Summary and Review. June 6, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Sub-Saharan Africa Needs Fossil Fuels to Process Its Critical Minerals – by Ryan Alimento and Seaver Wang. Breakthrough Institute. Summary and Review

Supply Chains of Recovered Elements: The SCORE Consortium and U.S.-Sourced Scandium. June 20, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Supply Chains of Recovered Elements: The SCORE Consortium and U.S.-Sourced Scandium

Vicuña Mineral Resource Discovery in Atacama Region of Chile & Argentina is Biggest Find in 30 Years: Copper, Gold, and Silver. July 7, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Vicuña Mineral Resource Discovery in Atacama Region of Chile & Argentina is Biggest Find in 30 Years: Copper, Gold, and Silver

American Reindustrialization: Uncertainty in Power Markets and Tariff Chaos in Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Markets. July 9, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: American Reindustrialization: Uncertainty in Power Markets and Tariff Chaos in Steel, Aluminum, and Copper Markets

New Process Enables Recycling of Waste Sludges from Steel and Aluminum Manufacturing. July 14, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: New Process Enables Recycling of Waste Sludges from Steel and Aluminum Manufacturing

Copper Smelting Plant in Germany Also Heats Water for District Heating: An Exothermic Reaction Produces the Recoverable Heat Chemically. July 26, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Copper Smelting Plant in Germany Also Heats Water for District Heating: An Exothermic Reaction Produces the Recoverable Heat Chemically

GeologicAI and the AI/Automation Potential for Mineral Exploration, Mapping, and Mining. July 31, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: GeologicAI and the AI/Automation Potential for Mineral Exploration, Mapping, and Mining

Ramaco Resources Brook Mine Carbon Ore Rare Earth Project in Wyoming: First Rare Earth Mine in U.S. in 70 Years is Now Fully Permitted: It Will Also Mine Powder River Basin Coal. August 2, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Ramaco Resources Brook Mine Carbon Ore Rare Earth Project in Wyoming: First Rare Earth Mine in U.S. in 70 Years is Now Fully Permitted: It Will Also Mine Powder River Basin Coal

Mining Critical Minerals from Other Minerals Mine Tailings: The Source Could Be Huge, But Better Processing Tech is Required. August 25, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Mining Critical Minerals from Other Minerals Mine Tailings: The Source Could Be Huge, But Better Processing Tech is Required 

The State of Utah’s Environmental Dispute with Company U.S. Magnesium, the Company’s Chapter 11 Filing, and the Implications for Domestic Magnesium Supply. September 24, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: The State of Utah’s Environmental Dispute with Company U.S. Magnesium, the Company’s Chapter 11 Filing, and the Implications for Domestic Magnesium Supply

Beyond Rock Characterization: Deep Learning in Mineral Classification: AAPG Webinar: September 24, 2025: Summary & Review. September 25, 2025. Blue Dragon Energy & Environmental Blog 2.0: Beyond Rock Characterization: Deep Learning in Mineral Classification: AAPG Webinar: September 24, 2025: Summary & Review

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       This is an interesting blog by a senior geologist specializing in CCS and decarbonization. I have attended one of Jason’s excellent ...