EMIP: Essential Minerals Industrial Planning

Introduction

North America's essential minerals industry is at an inflection point. Reshoring, reindustrialization, and population growth are driving unprecedented demand for continental mineral production. The industry can meet this moment by integrating environmental stewardship with economic opportunity from mine to market—making efficiency and sustainability a competitive advantage. This requires whole systems planning: full lifecycle accounting of environmental and economic impacts, and transportation infrastructure that leverages rail's efficiency for heavy mineral movements. This Essential Minerals Industrial Planning invites all stakeholders to think through issues and plan entire mineral supply chains, including:

• Essential mineral companies;
• Mineral-related companies;
• Rail, truck, barge, and ocean carriers, and;
• The industries and communities they serve.

The Essential Minerals IntelliConferences

Existing forums and methods for stakeholder engagement rely on competitive debate at best, creating barriers to honest communication and consensus-building. Previously, rational idea generation and problem-solving concerning mineral production, use, and logistics has been almost impossible. A new way for stakeholders to engage is needed.

Essential Minerals Industrial Planning begins with the most important dialogues for advancing North America’s essential mineral supply chains. This IntelliConference Series has been conceived with the input of key essential mineral stakeholders.

Essential Minerals Alignment IntelliConference

Background Statement:

The key to progress beyond the long-standing battles of mining vs. communities and mining vs. environmental groups is to first illuminate and clarify what truly are "Essential Minerals" as a shared perspective. Citizens, environmental advocates, and their elected leaders will rally around a realistic essential minerals surge, if conducted consciously and respectfully of their concerns and well-being.

Core Question:

Which minerals and in what volumes do stakeholders agree are "essential" to our sustainable quality of life?

Round One: Determining Essential Minerals

1. What factors do we apply to determining which minerals are “essential?”
2. What factors do we apply to determine how much of each mineral we need and want?
3. What volumes of mineral supply are needed to support the clean energy transition?
4. How does an intelligently redesigned future for North America, including reshoring and reindustrialization, point to needed essential minerals?
5. What are the current volumes of each essential mineral supply?
6. What are the current locations of each essential mineral supply?
7. Where do we need additional essential minerals and at what volumes?

Essential Minerals Environmental IntelliConference

Background Statement

Mineral extraction and processing require heavy industrial activity that can be disruptive to the natural environment and community quality of life. The ongoing friction between industry and community has gone on long enough. It must and can be addressed by bringing rationality to where and how we produce the minerals that are key to maintaining a healthy economy. Mineral producers will benefit by shorter and less expensive discovery-to-production timelines. Communities will benefit from a smarter approach to mineral production that lowers the impacts of these activities.

Core Question:

What are the real impacts of mineral production at each step in the production supply chain and how can the entire system be conducted with the optimal set of impacts, including conservation of consumption where appropriate?

Round One: Assessing Environmental Impact

1. What environmental concerns do we want to address in how minerals are mined?
2. What environmental concerns do we want to address in how minerals are processed?
3. What environmental concerns do we want to address in how minerals are used and recycled?
4. How do we best assess the environmental impacts of each step in each mineral's supply chain?
5. What are the opportunities for more sustainable production of each essential mineral?
6. What factors have to be addressed for mineral companies to use "Best Available Technology" throughout the life of the mine?
7. Which minerals have been determined to have a limited supply globally and therefore need to be conserved or addressed in some way?
8. When harmful environmental impacts are deemed unavoidable for a supply chain activity, how do we mitigate them?
9. Which minerals are candidates for logical reduction due to the level of environmental harm caused by their production or consumption?
10. What has to happen to accommodate reducing the consumption of individual minerals when deemed necessary?

Round Two: Aligning with Communities

1. What community concerns must be effectively addressed?
2. How can potential health risks to communities be mitigated?
3. What steps can be taken to minimize or eliminate aesthetic degradation?
4. How can communities maintain their sense of "place attachment?"
5. What approaches enable citizens to accurately assess risk?
6. How can mining companies relate productively with communities and community leaders?
   1. How can mineral companies increase openness and transparency?
   2. What strategies promote the acceptance of new mines?
   3. What steps must be taken to communicate anticipated environmental impacts with transparency and trust?
   4. How can mining companies and community leaders agree on development implications and responsibilities?
   5. How can mining companies and community leaders develop a "Community Benefits Agreement?"
   6. What decision-making protocols have been used effectively?
7. What steps can mitigate citizens' concerns around mine and facility closures?

Essential Mineral Logistics IntelliConference

Background:

[In Progress]

Round One: Production and Consumption Logistics

1. What volume and location data on the relevant mineral production is available and helpful to our thinking?
2. What volume and location data on the relevant mineral consumption is available and helpful to our thinking?
3. What level of GIS mapping of the facilities and data would be helpful?
4. What are the volumes and locations of each essential mineral supply chain component for production, processing, and consumption?
5. What volumes of these minerals are moved by rail?
6. What share of minerals transportation is moved by truck versus rail?
7. What logistics services are provided to the components of the essential minerals supply chains?
   1. What are the gaps and shortcomings of these services?
8. What concerns for the transportation of minerals, ores, and products must be addressed?
9. For which minerals are we aiming to improve logistics?
10. What new mining, production, and processing locations are in construction or on the drawing board?
11. What role can location play, both of individual mines and facilities, and their relation to each other, in creating efficient mineral supply chains?
12. What areas of the market for sourcing or distributing minerals are challenging to access due to logistics dynamics?
13. What industrial growth opportunities from re-shoring and reindustrialization need specific transportation improvements?
14. What market expansion opportunities would benefit from logistics improvements?
15. Which import opportunities need new logistics approaches?
16. Which export opportunities need new logistics approaches?
17. How can we address the needed transportation logistics improvements?

Essential Minerals Regulatory Excellence IntelliConference

Background Statement

Regulations and permitting processes evolve over time among public- and private-sector actors without important levels of trust, free-flowing engagement, and common sense. Consequently, both public interests and private sector progress are handicapped. A new approach for updating the regulatory and planning framework for the essential minerals supply chain is needed.

Core Question:

What regulations can stakeholders agree on that are either outdated, de minimis, redundant, or counterproductive, and can be improved, replaced, or eliminated in support of the growth and safety of essential mineral production and delivery?

Round One: Policy and Regulation

1. Which federal laws regulate mining?
2. Which federal agencies might be enrolled in participating and supporting this initiative?
3. Which state and local agencies might be enrolled in participating and supporting this initiative?
4. What are the concerns of the government agencies that interact with the mineral industry?
5. What policy and regulatory issues are essential mineral companies concerned with?
6. What policy solutions will support the development of increased processing capacity?
7. What behaviors by mineral companies do government agencies want to see improved?
8. What antitrust and other laws and regulations must be amended to accommodate more robust collaboration with and among the private sector?
9. What regulations on essential mineral supply chain activities must be improved or eliminated?
10. How can government agencies improve mining permitting inefficiencies?

Essential Minerals Capitalization IntelliConference

Background:

(Placeholder) New supply chain efficiencies, improved relations with communities and government, and [...] can lead to new opportunities for businesses to expand operations.

Core Question:

In what ways can an expanded and improved essential minerals supply chain enable further capitalization and opportunities for growth and sustainable business?

Round One: Capitalization Opportunities

1. How do Wall Street and private equity investors view the mineral industry?
2. What commercial and economic development opportunities are stimulated by this redesigned future?
3. What opportunities for expanded new investment does this redesign generate?
4. What opportunities for enhanced capitalization might be opened by this initiative?
5. What goals, measures, and structures are needed to support the capitalization of these opportunities?