Are Montana’s days as the nation’s Treasure State over? A century ago, the city of Butte was home to “The Richest Hill on Earth,” producing more than 25% of the global copper supply. Immigrants flocked to Butte seeking the opportunity made possible by Montana’s mineral wealth.
Make Berkeley Pit Great Again
Make Berkeley Pit Great Again
"In 25 years, Montana energy companies could be installing wind turbines and solar panels built in Montana, with semiconductors and photonic technology manufactured in Montana, utilizing Rare Earth Elements extracted and processed in Montana, to export clean Montana-made energy to power the nation."
The saying used to go: “Don’t stop in America, go straight to Butte!”
Now, the Richest Hill on Earth’s premier Berkeley Pit is a toxic pond and a quirky tourist attraction. Montana is getting lumped in with “Scenery States” like Hawaii whose economies are becoming dominated by tourism. We just aren’t building and producing enough to live up to our “Treasure State” reputation. But that could change.
Exciting recent discoveries of Rare Earth Elements could place Montana center stage in a 21st century green gold rush, driving economic growth, and potentially once again making our mineral wealth the envy of the world.
Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are a set of 17 elements that have unique magnetic, luminescent, and catalytic properties that make them essential components for many technologies that drive the modern economy, including more than 200 high-tech products. REE’s are necessary for making everything from wind turbines and electric vehicles to cutting edge technologies like semiconductor chips and defense equipment like the F-35 fighter jet.
The prospect of mining REE’s in Montana is a big deal for the United States. Forty years ago, the U.S. had the largest global market share of REE extraction and production. By the year 2000, the U.S.’s market share dropped to 6% while China’s skyrocketed to 85%. Today, China effectively controls the market, making our economy and our national security beholden to a government with far less respect for individual freedom and the environment.
Thankfully, several locations in Montana have recently been identified as high quality sources of REE’s. Exploration near Sheep Creek in the Bitterroot Mountains found REE samples with grades exceeding any other domestic source and purportedly with very low radioactive thorium concentrations, potentially reducing the environmental safety risks involved with mining compared to high-thorium sources in China.
And in a twist of fate, recent reports say the Berkeley Pit in Butte is a “strategically vital” source of REE’s, and groups including the Department of Defense are studying the economic viability of extracting and processing the minerals. Of course, any modern mining would undoubtedly be done with greater environmental precautions than mining a century ago.
While mining REE minerals itself would create many high paying jobs, Montana has the opportunity to think even bigger. REE processing facilities could be built nearby deposits to further reduce supply chain costs. Montana’s burgeoning semiconductor and photonics industries could take advantage of the local mineral supply chain to scale up production. Energy manufacturers producing solar panels and wind turbines, which are highly dependent on REE’s along with semiconductor and photonics technologies, could set up shop in Montana to take advantage of this robust local supply chain. All of this would be accelerated by low taxes and business-friendly regulations.
In 25 years, Montana energy companies could be installing wind turbines and solar panels built in Montana, with semiconductors and photonic technology manufactured in Montana, utilizing Rare Earth Elements extracted and processed in Montana, to export clean Montana-made energy to power the nation.
Of course, there are many barriers to realizing this future. For instance, we need to reform our broken environmental permitting process so we can build again. But the point is, Montana isn’t destined to be a tourism-dependent economy. If we choose to mine and build again, Montana’s days as the nation’s Treasure State are far from over.
This column originally appeared in Lee Newspapers.