Will mining gain support?
Company hopes Inflation Reduction Act will help
MADISON – A mineral exploration company interested in deposits in central Wisconsin plans to use little-known environmental provisions in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act to help fund its search for critical minerals and drum up support for mining projects in the state.
GreenLight Metals Inc. could benefit from tax credits written into the Biden Administration’s historic $369 billion investment in clean energy projects to fight climate change through provisions that would help fund the company’s search for so-called critical minerals in Wisconsin, including at the Reef Deposit in Marathon County and the Bend Deposit in Taylor County.
The incentives to mine in the name of green energy present a conundrum for environmentalists who push back on activities like mining that they see as harmful at the same time they support the move toward clean energy sources. A number of the provisions in the IRA aim to boost domestic production of these minerals, largely for competition and national security purposes, and incentivize electric vehicle battery manufacturers to source the minerals used in the batteries from the United States or countries with which the U.S. has trade agreements.
“The bottom line is the impact of the (Inflation Reduction Act) on mining is it’s going to put serious, serious pressure on the production of minerals, all types of minerals, not just critical minerals, and on the mining industry to start producing these things,” said Dan Colton, CEO of GreenLight Metals. “So that we can be manufacturing these green energy components.”
GreenLight, which purchased the rights to the deposits in late 2021, has presented itself as focused on the move toward clean energy and mining for the green economy.
Specifically, GreenLight could take advantage of a credit that lets mining companies write off 10% of their operating cost if they are producing “any applicable” amount of one of the about 50 critical minerals listed in the bill. Under the IRA provision, the extracted minerals would need to meet certain purity thresholds.
GreenLight, which purchased the rights to the deposits in late 2021, has presented itself as focused on the move toward clean energy and mining for the green economy. The company’s exploration in Wisconsin aims to locate critical minerals needed to make products like electric car batteries and solar panels, laying the groundwork for larger mining companies to take over and