Competitiveness of the U.S. Minerals and Metals Industry (1990) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-8
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The United States has a fundamental interest in maintaining a competitive minerals and metals sector that will continue to contribute significantly to the nation's economic strength and military security. The industry represents an $87 billion enterprise that employs over 500,000 U.S.
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Since many of the world's mineral resources are located in areas where political instability and/or economic manipulation represent a potential threat to supply, it is essential for the United States to ensure some degree of independence from foreign control over supply and costs through domestic participation in this industry. Congress, through successive legislative acts, has established a national policy to encourage a strong domestic industry.
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Industry While technology was not the only factor and would not have been sufficient alone, its importance was demonstrated in the recent recovery of the industry, in which new applications of technology played a very important role even though the technology used was for the most part off the shelf, a result of past R&D in the United States and abroad. Although technologies can diffuse rapidly across international and corporate boundaries, it is still possible to create a comparative advantage from investments in R&D.
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Academe The academic infrastructure for research and education in support of the minerals and metals industry has declined substantially over the past decade. Research programs are generally small, poorly funded, narrow in focus, and directed at incremental advances, thereby limiting the capability of colleges and universities to perform basic research leading to useful new technologies for minerals and metals production.
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These functions, which would be implemented through the Bureau of Mines, include interagency coordination of mining and minerals research programs, interagency coordination and consolidation of data bases for the purpose of indicative planning, cataloging of all current and projected federally funded research relating to mining and mineral resources, and development of a national plan for research in these fields by a Committee on Mining and Mineral Resources Research. To date, these functions have not been performed in any consistent or deliberate way.
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Government-Academic-Industrial Cooperation Both the 32 Mining and Minerals Resources Research Institutes (Mineral Institutes) and the 6 Generic Mineral Technology Centers (GMTCs)
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Research should be pursued in areas that would provide a base for a national comparative advantage, emphasizing domestic strengths such as an educated work force and geological features that are unique to or more commonly located in the United States. Topics of high priority include the study of ore genesis and deposition, in situ mining, intelligent mining systems, and improved energy efficiency in processing.
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In addition, visiting committees should be established to review the quality and content of the internal research programs of the Bureau, providing their advice to the research directors of the Bureau's laboratories and to the director. A national minerals and metals community forum should be convened regularly to identify major technical and policy problems facing the industry.
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