The National Center for Energy Analytics hosted an event this week to discuss their latest report, “Energy Delusions: Critical Minerals Forecasts The NCEA report argues that the IEA’s latest “Critical Minerals Outlook” report understates the difficulty of expanding global mining supply chains to meet projected demand and recommends that the U.S. create a national minerals policy framework, including incentives to innovate. The NCEA writes that they are “engaged in a mission to help ensure that policies are anchored in reality rather than aspiration” because, as writer Philip K. Dick once observed: “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” First, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee joins Peter Bryant to discuss the expansion of domestic mining and minerals policy reform needed to reshore America’s industrial manufacturing base. Lee warns that the U.S. will need to rely on allies to fill the gap if we want to wean ourselves off of Chinese production. Lee says China’s mining industry operates in a way that, under U.S. law, they would be “well into the territory of criminal cartel behavior.” “Not only that, but it’s all under one roof. At least with OPEC, you’re talking about multiple sovereign countries. It’s not concentrated,” Lee said. “With China, you’ve got a huge, heavily populated country that is its own cartel, with a high degree of concentrated economic and political power within its government. That’s a real, significant threat to us.” After that, Brandon Craig, President of BHP Americas, the world’s largest mining company, offers a view from the industry. “The number of mines that have to be developed to meet global demand between now and 2035 is about ten million tons,” he explained. “To try to contextualize that, the world’s largest mine is the one we operate at Escondida in Chile. That mine produces just over one million tons a year. We would have to build the equivalent of ten of those over the next ten years.” Finally Peter Bryant and Satish Rao discuss findings from NCEA’s new report, “Energy Delusions: Critical Minerals Forecasts
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