186: The role of critical minerals in future-proofing

Critical mineral exploration will play a key role in human development and progress. The April 2023 special section of The Leading Edge focuses on the issue of critical minerals from the perspective of recent progress in mining exploration and anticipated future needs as the global energy economy transitions to higher use of, and reliance on, renewables. In this conversation with host Andrew Geary, Dr. Alan Jones defines critical minerals and how and why each country defines them differently. He explains why the public has a dim view of mining and what we can learn from China's long-term mineral vision. He elaborates on the valuable role of copper in utilizing electric vehicles and why we still don't understand the planet we live on. Alan also makes a case for why we must inspire young minds with the possibilities of critical minerals exploration. Do you want to be part of the future of humanity? This is the question at the center of this can't miss episode. Listen to the full archive at https://seg.org/podcast. RELATED LINKS * Chester J. Weiss and Alan G. Jones, (2023), "Introduction to this special section: Critical minerals exploration," The Leading Edge 42: 236–236. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle42040236.1) * Alan G. Jones, (2023), "Mining for net zero: The impossible task," The Leading Edge 42: 266–276. (https://doi.org/10.1190/tle42040266.1) * Read the April 2023 special section: Critical minerals exploration. (https://library.seg.org/toc/leedff/42/4) Subscribers can read the full articles at https://library.seg.org/, and abstracts are always free. BIOGRAPHY Alan G. Jones is currently Senior Professor Emeritus at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, a Specially-Appointed Professor at the China University of Geosciences Beijing, and Adjunct Professor at Macquarie University and at the University of Western Australia. In addition, upon his retirement he formed an MT consulting company - Complete MT Solutions Inc. - with former students and a colleague in 2016. Alan was awarded the Tuzo Wilson medal of the Canadian Geophysical Union in 2006, was Appointed an International Member of the Geo-Electromagnetism Committee, Chinese Geophysical Society in 2009, was elected to Academia Europaea also in 2009 and was made a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2010. He was a Blaustein Visiting Professor at Stanford University for the Winter Term of 2016, and was appointed a Life Affiliate Member of the Geological Society of South Africa in 2016. In 2019 he was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. Alan is the most published (almost 200 papers) and most cited (over 13,500 citations) scientist in his chosen field of magnetotellurics. Together with Alan Chave, he published the most authoritative textbook to date on MT - The Magnetotelluric Method: Theory and Practice (Cambridge University Press). He is a qualified Professional Geoscientist accredited by the Professional Geoscientists Ontario (PGO). CREDITS Seismic Soundoff explores the depth and usefulness of geophysics for the scientific community and the public. If you want to be the first to know about the next episode, please follow or subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Two of our favorites are Apple Podcasts and Spotify. If you have episode ideas, feedback for the show, or want to sponsor a future episode, find the "Contact Seismic Soundoff" box at https://seg.org/podcast. Zach Bridges created original music for this show. Andrew Geary hosted, edited, and produced this episode at TreasureMint. The SEG podcast team is Jennifer Cobb, Kathy Gamble, and Ally McGinnis.