If the US really wants to expand nuclear to 400GW nationwide by 2050, the US must secure enrichment ~5x-10x of current domestic capacity. This new report explores the potential future US + global nuclear fuel supply chain needs, from uranium enrichment to mining.🧵

Our new report explores potential future US + global nuclear fuel supply chain needs, from uranium enrichment to mining. If the US really wants to expand nuclear to 400GW nationwide by 2050, the US must secure enrichment ~5x-10x of current domestic capacity.🧵 thebreakthrough.org/issues/energ...

As the US debates how to secure critical minerals, some insist that we first must wholly reform mining before we embrace its role in decarbonization The latest @thebti.bsky.social article argues how the stringent standards miners already follow make that attitude counterproductive 🧵

I went hiking in the Mendocino National Forest and think I spotted some volcanics. It's a little hard to see, but the two dark outcrops look like the nubs of a sill that I imagine eroded as the valley formed and cut through it.....🧵

The NRC announced some exciting news for the U.S. nuclear sector on Tuesday DISA received an approval for their license application to collect uranium ore from abandoned uranium mine waste using a method called High-Pressure Slurry Ablation 🧵

The NRC issued a license today to DISA Technologies to use its system to remediate abandoned uranium mines. This is a very positive step toward addressing mines that were improperly handled decades ago, mostly for weapons production.

Geologists typically prefer puns, but today I thought I'd try a limerick: The famous geologist, Bryce just wanted a sample of gneiss. So he picked up a piece from the beaches of Nice and thought it incredibly nice. *not intended to necessarily be geologically accurate

I am very pleased to see @thebti.bsky.social cited and described as the optimistic perspective when it comes to critical minerals thought leadership in a new book by Thea Riofrancos called "Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism."

The U.S. got some great news today and will soon close an essential gap in critical mineral supply chains: antimony mining.🧵 www.investors.perpetuaresources.com/investors/ne...

Traveling to Seattle last week, my flight from San Francisco flew north along the Cascade Range and treated me to a great view of Mount Shasta - a 14,163 foot high stratovolcano. 🧵

I am seeing announcements of a Strategic Mineral Reserve for critical minerals that the Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada will host as a public-private partnership with M2i Global and Volato Group 🧵 www.mining.com/nevada-army-...

Digging through some photos from my time at Nyrstar and found this one of the barite brain Nyrstar had so many great samples in their collection from years of mining. Gem hunters know it as the Elmwood Mine, famous for its fluorite with irregular etching called Carthage Corners

Congress is back from recess and it looks like the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources is wasting no time discussing proposals related to mining. Here's what was on the docket for the legislative hearing yesterday (9/3) 🧵 naturalresources.house.gov/calendar/eve...

Heading to DC for the Abundance event to join my @thebti.bsky.social colleagues and Im already excited to hear what more the Anthropocene has in store But if you are ever pessimistic, a dose of the New York City skyline is always a great reminder of what the human-built world can be like

Kazakhstan has issued some unfortunate news with some concerning implications for nuclear energy. Apparently, Kazatomprom (Kazakhstan’s national company) will lower uranium mine production by 10% in 2026 due to insufficient returns, as they say🧵 www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/kaz...

New from me: political thinkers debating America’s future should avoid too narrowly conflating solar success with good energy policy. The political and technical messiness of the grid will pose complex challenges to both the abundance camp and its critics. 🧵 thebreakthrough.org/issues/energ...

Some may not realize that rare earths are mined together as a combination of elements. The USGS reports the distribution for some prominent mines. I thought it was more striking as a bar chart with some color so I adapted it into the chart shown below 🧵

I’m looking forward to the Abundance event next week in D.C., but will still miss the @thebti.bsky.social's Dialogue. What other conference could you argue about critical minerals then slip out to the Marin Headlands during the lunch break for a roadside outcrop field trip?

I was honored to be part of the planning committee for the recent @nationalacademies.org workshop Pathways for New Nuclear Deployment. There are new opportunities for building next-generation reactors to produce reliable, clean energy. However, significant, but solvable, barriers remain.

For anyone interested in seafloor minerals, the USGS has a great web viewer of different ocean regions based on nodule vs crustal occurrences: geonarrative.usgs.gov/globalmarine...

The value that society places on gold compared to other metals fascinates me given that less than 10% of it sees any type of practical application! But society still benefits even if you dont wear a Rolex because all that money invested into gold subsidizes other metals🧵

Back in May, the Trump administration announced it would phase out production of the penny, citing the curious reality that it takes more to make it than it’s worth (3.69 cents) But I'm more curious about how much metal we'll save🧵

The USGS has a great timeline showing when mines and quarries developed across the U.S. since the late 19th century: mrdata.usgs.gov/usmin/ The quarries and pits for industrial minerals are particularly striking to me...🧵

The U.S.G.S. launched a new web viewer for anyone interested in critical minerals www.usgs.gov/tools/critic... The Critical Mineral Atlas displays some data from their Mineral Commodity Summaries and other reports Pretty useful for a quick fact and the visualization is great

Looks like the Twin Metals Minnesota mine that the Biden admin canceled in 2022 will be getting another chance The Trump admin made moves that signal it will offer the project new leases I think this is the right move 🧵 www.doi.gov/sites/defaul...

Great balanced piece by @alexckaufman.bsky.social on a new @natclimate.nature.com paper and risks of energy mineral shortages. Predicting mineral use to 2100 is hard, with many uncertainties/substitutions that could—and IMO arguably will—avoid mineral exhaustion. www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

This piece of U.S. mining legislation proposed back in June is worth taking a look at 🧵 www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

The 2025 US Critical Mineral list was due in February..... Seriously though, where is it? 🧵

Do you think that Alvin Toffler would have considered "forgetting" stuff the same as "unlearning" it? Because if so I must be already living in the 22nd century

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act phased out tax credits for critical minerals and gave them to metallurgical coal—which the US net exports This is the latest setback for the US’s strategy to secure supply chains against China My @thebti.bsky.social article on why thebreakthrough.org/issues/energ...

The only thing I'm surprised by is how long it took the Trump administration to do this subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, you can only imagine how honored I am that @sierraclub.org used a line from a @thebti.bsky.social article on critical minerals. A citation would have been nice though....🧵

Great to see Alcoa getting into the gallium game in Australia! China controls basically 99% of global gallium production and has not been shy about flexing export controls as a trade tactic. The more gallium producers outside of China the better🧵 www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...

Congress introduced a bipartisan critical mineral bill on July 28 called the Critical Minerals Investment Tax Modernization Act. The bill would raise the depletion allowance for rare earth elements from 14% to 22%. 🧵 adriansmith.house.gov/media/press-....

For anyone interested in tracking the great work done by the US Geological Survey I suggest checking out the progress of their Earth Mapping Resource Initiative with this interactive viewer🧵 ngmdb.usgs.gov/emri/#3.76/4...

This new potential US graphite source totally took me by surprise but great to see! Apparently the Empire State zinc mine in New York stumbled on a graphite deposit back in 2023 and is now expecting to send graphite to market by 2026🧵 www.wwnytv.com/2025/07/10/s...

Flying home yesterday from @thebti.bsky.social's event in D.C. to release our new critical mineral stockpiling report I couldn't help but notice a geological curiosity right in my backyard....... Sutter Buttes 🧵 bsky.app/profile/cook...

Building US critical mineral supply chains is hard enough - market volatility and export dumping only makes it harder So Im excited to release @thebti.bsky.social's report that maps 15 US mineral supply chains and which commodities would be best to stockpile under a strategic reserve 🧵

Should a US national critical minerals reserve program act more like the National Defense Stockpile or more like the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Major new report by my team deep dives into this question, looking at 15 minerals relevant to energy. My thoughts🧵: thebreakthrough.org/issues/energ...

In our new report, colleagues @cookpj.bsky.social @wang-seaver.bsky.social and I outline a policy framework and recommend best practices for a critical mineral reserve that would promote market stability and global competitiveness for US advanced energy industries thebreakthrough.org/issues/energ...

New original analysis by colleague @ryanalimento.bsky.social argues green urea production stays far too pricey for widespread application for Sub-Saharan African countries even at green H2 costs <$1/kg. But low-CO2 blue urea via gas + CO2 capture may prove more affordable. 🧵

🏗️Trilled to finally introduce ACTION, to accelerate nuclear energy deployment. It is a milestone-based program to address the root causes of project risk for advanced nuclear energy projects. 🔌💡

The latest tariff......? 93.5% on Chinese graphite Last I heard, there were 3 upcoming graphite mines in the U.S. Hope we're ready to rock....🤞🧵 finance.yahoo.com/news/us-set-...

Great to see Apple getting into rare earth recycling Im not in the camp that thinks we can recycle our way out of mineral supply shortages But critical minerals pose some different considerations than, say, what we do with old steel scrap.....🧵 www.msn.com/en-us/money/...

🚨New paper out on reconsidering the radiation protection model at the NRC. The paper discusses what science indicates, what it cannot demonstrate, and how policy is separate but informed by science. We recommend a pragmatic, tiered approach that aligns with other hazards. 🔌💡

The US has so far prioritized permitting reform to build more critical mineral mines My latest @thebti.bsky.social article shows why we need to do more on exploration too Remember: permitting is only one stage in developing a mine but even finding a deposit can take just as long!

Pretty cool that the USGS not only makes geology and spatial data available to the public..... .....but also lets the public help revise it! Looks like the National Map Corps is a crowdsource program for white hat geoscientists and spatial dataset good Samaritans.

Wanna know the only thing I like more than a map that shows geothermal prospects? A map that shows geothermal prospects overlaid on top of US congressional districts🧵

Preliminary thoughts: 50% tariffs on copper including imports from Chile and Mexico is misguided policy, inflationary, and counterproductive to any energy dominance or grid buildout agenda. www.reuters.com/business/gol...

Leveling the playing field with China is a big focus of US critical mineral policy Sibanye-Stillwater is calling for price guarantees for western miners to compete with Chinese producers