Lisbon Valley
Since this came up: I worked as General Counsel for 8 years at Lisbon Valley Copper Mine in San Juan County, Utah. It’s known for some of the best cathode in the nation.
https://lisbonmine.com
LVM provides an excellent comparison to KUC. Not all copper mining operations are as fossil intensive as KUC. And that's primarily due to the ore type. KUC is copper porphyry ore that has varied widely over time. http://portergeo.com.au/database/mineinfo.asp?mineid=mn211
LVM's ore is associated with shallow marine deposition involving copper oxides such as malachite and azurite, but with a good share of sulfide compounds. It's a sandstone host rock. Unfortunately for its owners (not me), LVM's ore contains no other metals.
"One man's trash is another man's treasure." Best thing about OXIDE ore is that it readily dissolves in sulfuric acid. KUC's ore requires a lot of processing to release all that S. LVM's ore requires H2SO4. "Let's make a deal!" KUC's acid plant is the biggest in the Western USA.
Acid solubility means the LVM process can cut to the chase - almost straight to electrowinning (plating). But they've still got to strip waste and mine ore first. Drill. Blast. Haul. Repeat. Same as KUC but tiny scale in comparison. Centennial Pit.
But here's where the process is vastly different. HEAP LEACH: No Crushing. No Grinding. No Flotation. No Tailings Impoundment. No Smelter No Slag. No Coal. Waste is dumped. Ore is dumped on the pad. Apply acid-->directly to the EW plant. Source: https://sltrib.com/news/2020/04/23/state-regulators-require/…
Now if you think the heap leach pad consumes a lot of acid, you'd be right. The ore grades are low. Not milling the ore has tradeoffs - it means you've got to apply acid to 100% of the ore mass. Depending on the source rock, the ore consumes (neutralizes) lots of acid.
While KUC consumes a lot of energy crushing, milling, smelting, etc., LVM consumes LOTS of acid. And 94% H2SO4 is HEAVY. Depending on weather conditions, the distance between KUC and LVM is around 288 or 339 miles. The shorter haul involves a lot of mountain climbing.
During the KUC slide, LVM had its own existential experience. No acid. No copper. No copper, no money. No money, no bond. No bond, no mine. Shipping in acid from TX by rail still required trucking a great distance.
Catastrophe was avoided thanks in part to LVM's very savvy lawyer
but that's a different story. HEAP LEACH mining involves astronomical volumes of fluids that are constantly being pumped. Solution grades are "stacked" and eventually the PLS is sent to the EW plant (tan).
All of this leads me to a simple question for the Lifecycle Assessment Experts (because I suck at math). Please tell us how many pounds of "embedded carbon" are found in 1 pound of high-grade copper cathode from KUC? LVM?
Because if I were in a court of law trying to prove the efficacy of my client's petroleum & coal "saving" machine to investors, I sure wouldn't want to be representing the party with the burden of proof.
After years of chaos and failure, the Theranos investors finally wised up and decided to check the science, validate the promises upon which one of Silicon Valley's most promising "disruptive" business was based. The EV promoters deserve similar fact-checking.
With governments worldwide mandating the universal adoption of EVs for the common good, we taxpayers and consumers are de facto shareholders in this massive endeavor--kind of like being forced to buy Theranos stock based on PROMISES without evidence.
Final question: How many lifecycle assessments included the actual CO2 emissions incurred by KUC moving 160 million tons of waste? Answer: NONE. And the same goes for the BILLIONS of tons of material that will be moved decades from now to reclaim KUC's 72k acres. Doesn't count.
In a court of law, the proponent of an action bears the Burden of Proof - BOP. In the Theranos fraud trials, the government was required to prove criminal violations beyond a reasonable doubt.
BUT in the court of public opinion, all that’s required to force the POPULATION OF THE PLANET to become SHAREHOLDERS in a Theranos-style PROMISE is an Excel Spreadsheet showing it will Change the Climate.
If I were Canadian, I may ask to see the Investment Portfolio supporting my investment in a simple project, like this one.
$700-million Travers Solar Project largest farm ever built in Canada - constructconnect.com
I would want to know how many gallons of petroleum, tons of coal, CM of methane were purchased and burned, in total, to create the project. This was a Fossil Fuel Subsidy using my money.
I would want to know the TOTAL TONS OF GHG emitted to produce a project whose SOLE EXISTENCE IS TO SAVE GHG.
If excess transmission, transformers, etc were required, 100% of the Carbon+GHG should count. It was all built to SAVE carbon and GHG. The whole thing. Transportation. Construction.
Investors in a scheme promising to rid the world of oil, coal, and methane should naturally be required to account to its investors how much of the same the scheme’s investors would be required to (avert the gaze) PURCHASE first to “save much more later.”
NOW that we have accurately made the “devilishly” hard fossil fuel accounting spreadsheet, the next task is to prove up all the Evil Fossil Fuels the machine will finally start saving. Don’t hold your breath.
In a court of law, the BOP in a civil action is a “preponderance of the evidence.” That means the finding of fact is “more likely than not.” To me, that means 51% or more. The finder of fact weighs competing evidence.
I didn’t appreciate how much the BOP matters until the close of the first bench trial I conducted as a pro tem judge. And I had been a trial court clerk and a lawyer for years by then.
The case involved two counter suits, several written items of evidence, and several witnesses. The courtroom was packed. The evidence concluded. And suddenly everybody was looking at me, waiting for my ruling. And I panicked when I realized it was my turn. And I was mute.
Silence. Embarrassment. What now? The main case was a close call. I was struggling. Claim. Defense. Law. After what seemed to be an eternity, I had a Joycean epiphany: Burden of Proof! Duh.
The Plaintiff had the BOP. The Plaintiff failed to persuade me. So the PLAINTIFF LOST. It wasn’t because he was lying. He just failed to bring his best witness who had the best personal knowledge of the facts.
Unfortunately for the Plaintiff, the Defendant did persuade me that his evidence was more likely than not correct. So I entered a counter-judgment.
So back to the Canadian solar project that the government forced everybody to build—and to pay for the amazing power it will assuredly generate to “save” carbon and evil fossil fuels. The best part! SHOW ME THE SAVINGS!
I mean I’m ready to see Evil Coal power plants bite the eternal dust all the way to the Black Hades where they spawned. I paid my money. When’s the blasting?
Turns out that closest city to the Tavers Solar Project, Calgary, hosted the Winter Olympics in 1988. And for good reasons.
Turns out that that the Alberta grid is 54% gas but (here we go!) 36% EVIL COAL.
Surely the LARGEST solar plant in all of Canada is going to save the world MOUNTAINS of evil black lumps! Payday! Our forced investment is finally going to PAY OFF! Don’t hold your breath.
Turns out that coal power plants run as BASELOAD. They don’t cycle (think - accelerator peddle). Coal runs full throttle. Fortunately for Albertans who like electric light in the winter, gas plants cycle! And they’ve got 54%.
Seems to me that Albertans just bought mountains of coal from China—and petroleum—mining up and refining all the minerals for those solar panels in exchange for a modest amount of gas fuel. But I don’t have the burden of proof.
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Seems to me that buying mountains of coal and oceans of petroleum from my political adversaries, tyrants, and cartels to save 0 coal and 0 petroleum wasn’t such a good investment.
Then again, I’m just a dumb lawyer asking frivolous questions. I don’t even know the first thing about Excel. And I suck at math.