This week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the first comprehensive energy package in nearly a decade -- and its chairman, Sen. Lisa Murkowski wisely included in the bill a measure to jump-start minerals production. Alaska has long been a critical energy producer for the nation. But its rich mineral resources, many of which have been locked up in a protracted federal mine permitting system, offer the state another way to contribute to America's conventional and emerging energy technologies. That's because minerals are key building blocks for auto catalysts and batteries, wind turbines and solar panels. And if Alaska were a country, it would be ranked in the top 10 for copper, lead, gold, zinc and silver. The state's resources are unparalleled and they will play a pivotal role in meeting domestic energy demands.
If passed, this bill would help spur minerals production in Alaska and across the U.S., allowing the U.S. to supply the minerals for the energy boom underway in America.
Minerals are vital to a host of different energy technologies. Zinc is used in hybrid cars and as material in offshore and onshore wind-power plants. Silver helps make solar panels. Gold increases solar cell performance -- just to name a few. These minerals are integral to manufacturing the technologies that supply Americans with an all-of-the-above energy portfolio.
Murkowski understands how the current mine permitting process delays manufacturers' access to the minerals necessary to make our energy strategy a reality, and makes us reliant on imports for energy resources. "We have a real problem on our hands, as a result of our nation's borderline-insidious reliance on mineral imports ... The reality is, the United States now depends on many other nations for a vast array of minerals, metals, and materials," Murkowski said in May when she introduced the "American Mineral Security Act of 2015."
In the U.S., the permitting process takes seven to 10 years; whereas, in Canada and Australia, countries with similar environmental standards, it only takes two to three years. The result is that U.S. manufacturers are completely dependent on imports for 19 key mineral resources and rely on imports for half the supply of an additional 24 mineral commodities, despite having abundant mineral resources at home. Murkowski's bill would require geological surveying of critical mineral resources and would reduce federal permitting delays by requiring coordination among agencies and the establishment of firm deadlines.
Hecla's Greens Creek mine near Juneau is an example of a mine still waiting to realize its full mineral potential. As one of the world's largest silver mines, it has contributed nearly $1 billion to the Southeast Alaska economy in the last five years and maintained an exemplary environmental record. Over its lifetime, the mine has produced enough silver to manufacture 300 million solar panels and has the capacity produce silver for years to come.
However, when Hecla applied for permits to expand the mine in 2010, its request was bogged down for five years in the permitting process, and when it was approved, only a fraction of the requested acreage was granted, truncating both the mine's lifetime and its ability to develop minerals essential to our country's energy and economic security.
With her minerals bill, Murkowski is making progress toward alleviating permitting issues; and by opening up access to domestic minerals crucial to energy technologies, she's putting the U.S. one step closer to a true "all-the-above" energy policy.
Hal Quinn is the president and CEO of the National Mining Association.
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