Critical minerals are the most important and useful items extracted from the earth in the mining industry. As new ones emerge though, state government is asking how to best utilize and manage these resources.
The question came up at the most recent meeting of the legislative Executive Board this week.
According to Legislative Researching Council analyst Lance Nixon, one new mineral is quickly emerging as a force in the mining industry.
“As you might guess, one of the drivers was lithium," Nixon said. "We’ve entertained bills the past two sessions on whether to tax it as an energy mineral or as a precious mineral. We remember the discussion in which a lobbyist suggested it’s properly considered a critical mineral, that’s because the federal government has been building a list of so-called critical minerals through the past two presidential administrations.”
That list includes 50 rare earth minerals critical for day-to-day functions in America, and includes items like aluminum, zinc, tin and lithium. Along with its use as a mood stabilizing pharmaceutical, lithium also has use in industrial items like car and household batteries.
While most of the states mining industry is found in the Black Hills, Nixon said a significant potion of these critical minerals are found in the Missouri River basin.
“It’s going to be different than say finding a vein of gold and following it into the earth," Nixon said "(The) South Dakota Geological Survey notes that many critical minerals are not found as standalone deposits that can be mined profitably, they’re found as byproducts or co-minerals you might find mining for something else.”
While mining offers adverse effects, especially to the tourism economy of the western South Dakota, Nixon said much of the new permitting efforts are for an old friend of the Black Hills.
“When I started this I was thinking of a significant anniversary – that it was 150 years ago when Custers party found gold in the Black Hills," Nixon said. "Gold is still gold, and when I had the DANR send over their list of active mining projects this summer, 45 total projects: 31 were for gold, four were for lithium, and one was for other critical minerals – tin, tantalum and tungsten.”
Nixon said he predicts critical minerals as a part of the industrial future of the state. The report was ultimately approved by the executive board.