In the news today and from the weekend…
Mining:
- KPAX reports it could become easier for communities to play a role in cleaning up abandoned mine sites in the coming years, if a bill jointly backed by Montana’s two senators gets traction in Washington, D.C.
- E&E Greenwire reports a West Virginia bill that would have pared back mine safety authority at the state level stalled after mine workers waged an eleventh-hour campaign to block the measure.
Minerals:
- Pahrump Valley Times reports American Battery Technology Co., an American minerals and lithium-ion battery recycling operation, is staking 90 additional surface sedimentary lithium-bearing claims covering approximately 1,800 acres north of Tonopah, company officials said.
Coal:
- Argus reports average coal-fired generation in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) fell in February amid increased competition from natural gas and renewables.
- Argus reports US coal-fired generation will fall over the next 28 years faster than previously expected as generators close aging plants and continue to build out renewable power, according to a US Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysis.
- The Wall Street Journal reports the war in Ukraine scrambled global energy markets, with one especially unloved commodity—coal—enjoying a renaissance as European countries look again at the dirty fuel to establish energy independence from Russia.