Minerals, Critical Minerals, and the U.S. Economy (2008) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
5 Mineral Information and Possible Initiatives in Research and Education
5 Mineral Information and Possible Initiatives in Research and Education
Pages 169-204
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From page 169... ...
, and disseminate the data and analyses in a publicly accessible format. The chapter begins with a historical overview of the federal context for statistical data collection and mineral data collection, and follows with a catalogue of public and private mineral databases that can be used 169
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From page 170... ...
MINERAL DATA AND THE FEDERAL STATISTICAL PROGRAM The decision by the federal government to collect mineral data is founded on two themes: (1) public understanding of the importance of collection, analysis, and dissemination of statistical data and information about mineral use and demand, mineral production and supply, and other aspects of mineral markets; and (2)
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From page 171... ...
As presented in previous chapters, the need for mineral data is no less important today than several decades ago. In fact, the need for more frequent and detailed 171
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From page 172... ...
Similarly, to the extent that private entities have a greater degree of risk aversion than society as a whole, analyses of some critical minerals is at present more acute due to the highly global nature of the mineral market and increased global competition for mineral resources. As part of this commitment to federal collection of mineral data, very competent mineral data collection and public dissemination occur now through the efforts of the Minerals Information Team, overseen by the Mineral Resources Program (MRP)
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From page 173... ...
However, the committee recognizes a difference in federal definitions of "principal statistical agencies," whose sole task it is to collect data and federal units such as the Minerals Information Team that are not designated principal statistical agencies but are nevertheless tasked to collect and disseminate data as a 173
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From page 174... ...
The committee suggests that this difference in definition can affect the strength of a given data collection program as a function of resource allocation and overall program visibility and autonomy and discusses these issues below. Federal Statistical Programs and Data Collection The policy of the federal government toward the data and statistics it collects and disseminates explicitly acknowledges the role that good statistics play in informed decision making by both public and private sectors.
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From page 175... ...
. Conversely, federal units that have statistical data collection as only one feature of their body of tasks may not be able to maintain consistent resource levels and may lack broader federal program support necessary over the long term to achieve their data collection and dissemination goals or to maintain the important "effective" rating in PART.
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From page 176... ...
In this regard, the committee found a potential analogue for the concept of principal mineral statistical data collection through the example of the EIA. Box 5.2 reviews the history, purview, and federal role of the EIA, together with its impact on energy policy, due in part, in the committee's view, to its status as a principal statistical agency.
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From page 177... ...
The principle of data confidentiality adhered to by federal statistical agencies and programs is based on the belief that individuals and businesses will be more likely to give complete and factual answers to surveys when they are assured that their responses will not be used to bring legal or regulatory actions against them. In some instances, particularly where businesses are in highly competitive markets, respondents may fear that disclosure of certain business data to competitors or even customers will result in damage to their business.
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From page 178... ...
. As part of its energy information collection procedures, FEA was given data collection responsibility with related enforcement authority for its energy surveys of energy suppliers and major energy consumers.
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From page 179... ...
Other EIA data sources include international information exchanges with individual countries or agencies such as the International Energy Agency. The relationship between the EIA, industry, and other public and private organizations is symbiotic: industry and other organizations rely on the data, analyses, and forecasts disseminated by EIA, and EIA relies on thorough and accurate information from these entities to amalgamate into its national energy information system.
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From page 180... ...
Although industry has a very high rate of complying with its surveys, EIA benefits from the legally mandated collection enforcement authority it possesses, as well as the provisions it makes with regard to protecting sensitive information. The committee notes that recent legal proceedings surrounding the maintenance of data confidentiality in certain federal investigations have raised doubt about federal agencies' ability to protect data sources in all situations (Anderson and Seltzer, 2005)
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From page 181... ...
though it does largely receive good cooperation from the private sector, the Minerals Information Team does not have collection enforcement authority for its surveys, nor did its predecessor, the U.S. Bureau of Mines.
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The committee notes that not all foreign geological surveys allow free public access to their assembled data sets. Numerous private organizations collect and sell mineral data and related reports targeted to specific business needs.
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From page 183... ...
TABLE 5.1 International and Domestic Sources of Mineral information Classification Name Internet Sites International British Geological Survey http://www.bgs.ac.uk/enquiries/mins.html Natural Resources Canada http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/com/index-eng.php Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial http://www.csiro.au/ Research Organization Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières http://www.brgm.fr/ Japanese Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation http://www.jogmec.go.jp Eurostat http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/ Mineral Resources Forum of the United Nations http://www.natural-resources.org/minerals/ Conference on Trade and Development 183 continued
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TABLE 5.1 Continued 184 Classification Name Internet Sites Private and Port Import Export Reporting Service http://www.piers.com/ nongovernmental Metals Economics Group http://www.metalseconomics.com/default.htm Johnson Matthey http://www.matthey.com/ National Mining Association http://www.nma.org/ Portland Cement Association http://www.cement.org/ Aluminum Association, Inc. http://www.aluminum.org/ Copper Development Association http:/www.copper.org/ Nickel Institute http://www.nickelinstitute.org/ American Iron and Steel Institute http://www.steel.org/ Great Western Minerals Group, Limited http://www.gwmg.ca/about_us/index.php Minerals Information Institute http://www.mii.org/ International Copper Study Group http://www.icsg.org/ International Nickel Study Group http://www.insg.org/ International Lead And Zinc Study Group http://www.ilzsg.org/
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From page 185... ...
Forest Service http://www.fs.fed.us/ Department of Health and Human Services, Centers http://cdc.gov/niosh/ for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 185 Department of Defense, National Defense Stockpile https://www.dnsc.dla.mil/default.asp
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The Japanese government, for a number of years, has undertaken activities to facilitate stable supplies. In 2004, it established the Japanese Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC)
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For mineral information, the Department of Commerce relies heavily on the USGS Minerals Information Team, but also uses other data sources, including information from federal study groups and industry 187
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. In addition to traditional mineral production data, Minerals Information Team analyses include some amount of information and reports on mineral conservation, sustainability, material flows, availability, and the economic health of the U.S.
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From page 189... ...
government agencies, Daily, monthly, • Personal contacts universities, and the public quarterly, • Site visits annually • Survey responses Products and Services • Periodic publications USGS Minerals • Comment on legislation Information Team • Coordination with 50 States national security Annually Compiles and analyzes • State geologists, Printed, agencies on strategic minerals and materials mineral agency electronic, and critical minerals, data for more than 100 directors, prin- fax, phone as well as other issues commodities and more cipal contacts • Assistance on than 170 countries environmental impact studies Daily, weekly, • Special studies monthly, annually • Personal contacts Worldwide • Governmental exchange • Trade and technical publications (paper, Web, e-mail) • Personal contacts • Site visits • Survey responses FIGURE 5.1 Diagram showing the main activities, data sources, partnerships, and work flow for the USGS Minerals Information Team.
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From page 190... ...
The committee is supportive of the incorporation of critical minerals as a specific piece of this type of mineral life-cycle analysis by the MRP and the Minerals Information Team and by other federal agencies collecting mineral-related data.
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From page 191... ...
At present, the Minerals Information Team is not officially included in the sharing of survey lists, so it is difficult to compare and collate data collected and published by the Census Bureau, the BLS, or the BEA with data collected and published by the Minerals Information Team. To develop a good understanding of both the criticality and the complete life cycle of one or more minerals, information collected in the following areas, in addition to the standard primary production and demand for each mineral, could be useful: • Recycling or scrap generation and inventories of old scrap • In-use stocks • Reserves and resources • Downstream uses 191
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From page 192... ...
This lack of information impedes planning on many levels. A Federal Model to Address Critical Minerals as Part of Public Policy Once mineral criticality has been established, the question arises as to what public policy actions could circumvent or eliminate the factors that have brought about the critical nature of the mineral.
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From page 193... ...
. The public policy issues are similar for both strategic minerals and critical minerals, and the committee finds the ICAF analysis to be a structured and pragmatic way to view critical mineral data collection and organization.
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Experts in the materials field view DoD as a key federal organization to coordinate and fund materials research, recommending additional research into the discovery and characterization of materials with unique or substantially improved properties (NRC, 2003)
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Studies going back many years have repeatedly made the case for a federally supported and funded program to collect and disseminate the mineral data necessary to make good policy decisions. The committee views materials research as an integrated part of the support for and use of high-quality mineral information and research; indeed, materials and mineral research complement one another, with mineral research and data collection providing information for breakthroughs in new materials; these breakthroughs provide new paths along which to view the dynamics of mineral criticality.
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From page 196... ...
While the demographic issue is a global phenomenon, mineral availability over the longer term -- in terms of both quantity and quality of resources -- as discussed in this report depends importantly on specific types of resource professionals. More specifically, well-educated resource professionals are essential in industry, the federal government, and academic institutions for fostering the innovation that is necessary to ensure the availability of critical mineral resources at acceptable costs and with minimal environmental damage.
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From page 197... ...
. Implicit in this report with regard to critical minerals is the added need to maintain adequate, accurate, and timely information and analysis on minerals at a national level in the federal government with additional, not fewer, professionals having appropriate backgrounds to perform the work.
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government, have compounded the existing demographic trend for groups like the Minerals Information Team. The organization has seen a decrease in staff levels of 29 percent since 1996, including a variety of mineral specialists, some of whom also contribute language interpretation skills for international mineral data in their global analyses.
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From page 199... ...
In its examination of federal statistical programs, the committee has found that while the total federal commitment to data collection is evident, the detail and depth to which a statistical agency or program can collect and disseminate accurate and timely data may depend on the agency or program's autonomy, the resources it is allocated as a function of that autonomy, and the authority with which it is allowed to enforce collection of survey data. Federal mineral data collection does not currently have the same authority given to designated federal statistical agencies and, by that omission, may lack some of the authority this committee finds to be appropriate for the important task of collecting mineral information and its incorporation in decision making that affects the U.S.
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From page 200... ...
• Mineral information collection and research in the federal govern ment is less robust than it could be, in part because the minerals data collection program of the Minerals Information Team does not have the status of a principal statistical agency. • Many similarities exist between the function and form of the EIA and the Minerals Information Team, with the exception of the status of the EIA as a principal statistical agency with survey en forcement authority and organizational autonomy.
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From page 201... ...
• A potential model for the collection of mineral information is de scribed in the ICAF report, which suggests a mineral "life-cycle" approach that offers specific challenges to the mineral sector and requires flexible federal approaches to mineral policy at various stages of the cycle, based on consistent mineral data collection. • With respect to the professional pipeline of training to carry out the data gathering, analysis, research, and exploration needed to evaluate minerals and their criticality, industry, the government, and educational institutions face an existing and growing shortage of resource professionals entering the system.
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From page 202... ...
, 2006. Overview of the Energy Information Administration's National Energy Information System.
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From page 203... ...
, 2007. Mineral Information Team Information Handout.
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