Overview

• An analysis by Elizabeth Holley and colleagues in Science mapped 70 elements at 54 active U.S. metal mines, showing most critical minerals are already present in tailings and other byproducts.
• The study estimates one year of waste contains enough lithium for 10 million electric vehicles and enough manganese for 99 million, far exceeding current U.S. imports for those metals.
• Modeling indicates that recovering about 1% of byproducts would substantially reduce import reliance for most elements, and roughly 4% recovery of lithium could offset current imports.
• The Department of Energy announced nearly $1 billion for unconventional mining efforts, including $250 million for byproduct-recovery pilots, and the Pentagon acquired a $400 million stake in the operator of the nation’s only rare-earth metal mine.
• Significant hurdles persist as current refining technologies struggle with small, complex waste streams and costs remain high; priority targets include Red Dog in Alaska for germanium and Stillwater/East Boulder in Montana for nickel, while platinum and palladium would still require imports.