“US to build $120m rare earth research institute” was the headline that BBC News used to report the latest development in the rare earth elements sector (REEs.) The new Critical Materials Institute (CMI) is going to be based in Ames Iowa, alongside the existing Ames Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. The Ames Lab is the USA’s premier research centre for rare earth materials’ science and technology.
“The new research center, which will be named the Critical Materials Institute (CMI), will bring together leading researchers from academia, four Department of Energy national laboratories, as well as the private sector.
Rare earth metals and other critical materials are essential to manufacturing wind turbines, electric vehicles, advanced batteries and a host of other products that are essential to America’s energy and national security,” said the press release.
At first sight, $120 million doesn’t seem that impressive, this is expensive America after all, and in 2013, a dollar doesn’t buy as much as it used to, even in Ames Iowa. Even worse, it’s supposed to be a 5 year program so it’s really just $24 million a year. But the fact that its being put up at all, as America readies itself for a round of budget cuts and tax increases, underlines the importance of REEs and other critical materials to the modern economy.
To return to the press release again:
“CMI, headquartered at The Ames Laboratory, will be directed by Alex King, also the director of the Ames Lab. The Hub will bring together some of the most advanced critical material research programs in the U.S. today. Other national labs partnering with Ames include Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. University and research partners include Brown University, the Colorado School of Mines, Purdue University, Rutgers University, University of California-Davis, Iowa State University, and Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute. Industry partners that have joined to help advance CMI developed technologies include General Electric; OLI Systems, Inc.; SpinTek Filtration, Inc.; Advanced Recovery; Cytec, Inc.; Molycorp, Inc.; and Simbol Materials.”
In that sense, this 21st century, micro-mini, “Manhattan Project,” just might be able to punch well above its weight. Never underestimate good old Yankee ingenuity once America gets behind a project. Again from the press release:
“The new Hub will focus on technologies that will enable us to make better use of the materials we have access to as well as eliminate the need for materials that are subject to supply disruptions.”
For my part I wish them well and hope that they succeed. I’d rather have a critical materials supply chain based on the highly reliable USA, rather than the corrupt and increasingly erratic China. With luck they’ll come up with more efficient, less dangerous methods of refining and recycling rare earth elements, out witting existing patents too with luck. Not that they need any input from me, but I’ll put my two cents worth in anyway. Since radioactive waste is often a by-product of REE refining, from “Graphene To The Rescue In Gas Production,” an early phone call to Rice University might be a timely place to start.
“The results of new research into microscopic graphene oxide, by researchers at Rice University, Houston, and researchers at Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia, published this week in the Royal Society of Chemistry, journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, came out under the summary: “Graphene oxide far surpasses other materials commonly used to remove radioactive toxins from water.”
The Ames Laboratory to Lead New Research Effort to Address Shortages of Critical Materials
Link.
Someone up there is “finally” starting to get the message.
Looking forward to Ucore’s sp 50usd in 2017.
Except the focus of this enterprise, according to MINING NEWS.com, is to find substitutes for REE’s, not promote them.
120 million USD?
Infinitesimal?
Compared to Chinese Government long term REE investments for decades?
This is another absolutely waste of taxpayers’ money. This is the sort of thing the Republicans can blame the Democrats for if this measure is adopted. There are several REE Co. that have spent millions to come up with precisely what is announced here. Great Western Minerals is ahead of the next Cos (Lynas and Mollycorp) that are closest to producing the final products.
So true, just get the Senate to vote on and pass HR4402 and everything will fall into place.
Depends how they spend it.
If it goes to new offices, new labs, etc, forget it. They’ll burn thru it in a hurry.
If they use existing infrastructure, of which there is plenty….they might be able to do something. Actually spend the bucks on the “jerks in the lab”, as one of my profs used to say (affectionately, because he was one of them). And if they make it a cooperative thing with private business…even better.
We’ll see.
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