The Development of Georgia Critical Minerals Partnerships: An example from Kaolin Mining Operations SE USA. A White Paper Report of the First Meeting of Georgia Essential Minerals (GEMs-1)
Author(s)
Elliott, W. Crawford
Schroeder, Paul A.
Tang, Yuanzhi
Lemke, Lee
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Collections
Supplementary to:
Permanent Link
Abstract
Novel resources of the rare earth elements (REE) were discovered recently in the kaolin ore deposits in the Georgia Coastal Plain. This discovery also showed that it is possible to coproduce significant amounts of REE during the normal course of mining and processing mined kaolin ore. REE are among the 50 critical minerals identified as being vital to technological and economic development and also on which we are dependent on international supplies per the United States Geological Survey. A partnership approach is needed to bring these metals from mine to market. And in doing so, it will address the need for reliable domestic supplies of the rare earth elements.
The coproduction, mining, extraction, and forming a saleable rare earth product is beyond the reach of any one group. A partnership is desirable given the many kinds of tasks involved to bring the REE from outcrop to market. Among the important tasks are the identification of the state-of-the-art mining operations to concentrate the REE and identification of extractive technologies to produce saleable REE materials from coproduced REE resources. The Georgia Critical Minerals Partnership is being created to derive plans to identify and to promote the technological developments needed for the coproduction of REE from mined kaolin, their extraction, and aggregation to form saleable mineral products. This Partnership will necessarily bring relevant academic, government, and industry to derive these plans and strategies to bring the mined coproduced rare earths to market. The Partnership will be a vehicle to derive the needs for funding for accomplish the characterization of REE resources, calculating the resource base of REE, identifying extractive technologies and saleable REE products. The Partnership will highlight the governmental resources needed for resource evaluation and constructive environmental stewardship to permit the mining and extraction of the coproduced REE. It is projected that amounts of the REE resources in the coproduced kaolin mine waste warrants co-oping with industry to bank their concentrates of coproduced REE. Finally, a trained workforce must be in-place to make these plans a reality. The needed workforce includes trade, technical, professional, and managerial ranks. Through this partnership and its plans to mine and create saleable REE mineral products, Georgia will be better positioned to accomplish both the attraction of the high-tech industry needing REE and to be able to provide locally sourced REE to these industries for their growth and development. This Partnership will hopefully serve as a model for other regions to follow.
Sponsor
Date
2024-05-14
Extent
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
White Paper
Rights Statement
Unless otherwise noted, all materials are protected under U.S. Copyright Law and all rights are reserved