WorldWide Drilling Resource

USGS Provides Key Information to Mining Industry by Bonnie Love, Editor, WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to attend the International Society of Explosives Engineers (ISEE) Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique in Orlando, Florida. I’ve always had an affinity for the mining and blasting industries, so I was eager to attend. There were plenty of continuing education classes covering numerous topics, interesting new products, and the trade show floor was packed with vendors and attendees. It was great to see so many people from the industry come out and support the conference. I was especially excited to sit in on the keynote address which was presented by Dr. Steven M. Fortier, national miner- als information center director for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). He gave a very intriguing session on global trends in mineral commodity supplies and their impacts on national security and economics. During his presentation he explained how the U.S. is dependant on more minerals, from more countries, than ever before. In 1984, the U.S. was more than 50% reliant on 38 nonfuel mineral commodities and 100% reliant for 11. By 2014, the number of commodities the country was 100% import reliant on jumped to 19, and the number of minerals we were more than 50% reliant on was up to 47. He went on to discuss the latest Mineral Commodity Summaries Report , which has since been released. According to the report, the United States witnessed a slight increase in raw mineral materials during 2016, producing an estimated $74.6 billion of raw mineral materials. “The mineral commodity summaries provide crucial, unbiased statistics that decision makers and policy makers, in both the private and public sectors, rely on to make business decisions and national policy,” said Dr. Fortier. “Industries - such as steel, aerospace, and electronics - processed nonfuel mineral materials and created an estimated $2.8 trillion in value-added products in 2016, contributing 15% to the total U.S. Gross Domestic Product.” On a global scale, one of the more notable increases was iron production which was up 140%. The unprecidented increase in iron demand is driven primarily by population growth in Asia. “Never before in human history have we mined this much iron ore,” Fortier stated. Australia still leads the world in iron ore production with Brazil, China, India, and Russia rounding out the top five. He also mentioned how technology has become more complex, which has also increased the demand for certain minerals. There are applications for minerals which never existed before. For example, cell phones used to require 30 elements, but today’s smartphones require 75. Some of the commodities the U.S. is 100% import reliant on include rare earths, manganese, and niobium, which are among materials often viewed as critical or strategic because they are essential to the economy and supply may be disrupted. Some other significant findings in the new report include: • Rare Earths : The suspension of rare-earth mining in the U.S. in late 2015, resulted in a significant decline in exports of rare-earth compounds in 2016, while imports increased by 6%. • Aluminum : U.S. production of aluminum decreased for the fourth consecutive year, declining by about 47% in 2016, to its lowest level since 1951. During the year, three primary smelters were shut down, which reduced production. Overall, U.S. imports of aluminum increased by 18% in 2016. • Iron Ore : With six iron ore mines idled, production reduced, or closed permanently, U.S. iron ore production decreased 11% in 2016. • Diamond (industrial) : The United States is expected to continue as one of the world’s leading markets for industrial diamonds into the next decade, and will probably remain a major producer and exporter of syn- thetic industrial diamond, as well. National demand for industrial diamond is likely to be strong in the construction sector as the country continues building, milling, and repairing the country’s highway system. Overall, the trend is clear. The United States has become more reliant on min- erals from South Africa, China, Mexico, and Russia. These mineral commodities form the essential foundation for modern economies and living standards. After such an informative keynote, I was ready to visit exhibitors and attendees, such as Drill Pipe, Inc., Rockmore International, Missouri S&T, Robit, Atlas Copco, and dozens more! I even ran into Evan Thibaud, a former Missouri S&T student working for MAXAM. You may remember he wrote an article in our April and May 2014 issues about how he joined the mining industry as a student ( My Journey into Mining Part 1 and Part 2 ) . Go online and check out the entire photo gallery from this year’s event at: worldwidedrillingresource.info/gallery/2017/ISEE2017/ WWDR photo of Dr. Fortier at the ISEE event. During his career, Tim Connor, CSP (CertifiedSpeakingProfessional) hasgiven over 4000 presentations in 25 countries on a variety of sales, management, lead- ership, customer service communication, and motivational topics. 90% of his business is repeat engagements from previous clients. Call him and ask about his new client “Guarantee”. 704-875-1230 TimSpeaks4u@gmail.com TimConnor.com 50 MAY 2017 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®