If plans are seen through, the area could see population growth with increased housing, child care and even a community college, addressing concerns about the declining populations in historic coal communities over recent decades.
"The idea behind this funding by the Department of Energy is, 'Okay, we're going to close down all these coal plants, we're going to shut down all these coal mines, but we don't want to create economic devastation in these communities so we've got to do something, well let's start thinking about coal as more than something you burn to make electricity and creates (carbon dioxide),'" Bruce Folkedahl, principal research engineer in critical minerals at the Energy and Environmental Research Center, said Wednesday during a presentation to Vision West, a western North Dakota energy development group. The EERC is a nonprofit out of the University of North Dakota that partners with energy businesses and the government.
The concerns around the future of the coal industry are not unique to North Dakota. The increased availability of cheap natural gas over the last two decades has caused coal plants to shutter across the country. New environmental regulations that require expensive pollution controls for coal plants could cement the industry's decline in U.S. electricity production, industry groups worry.
Mercer County is home to three coal plants, the country's only coal gasification facility and a number of nearby mines. Neighboring McLean and Oliver counties each host huge power plants and mines, too.
Beulah Economic Development Director Granville Brinkman said unlike other energy-producing areas in the U.S. that are looking at similar opportunities, Beulah plans for its coal plants to remain.
Still, some area coal plants were losing money as recently as the late 2010s, according to regulatory filings. New manufacturing could help the local lignite industry in ways more than just increasing demands for power.
There are a lot of moving parts to Brinkman's goals for the area, but if everything plays out, he said Mercer County — home to Beulah — could see just under $1 billion in investments along with more than 400 new workers in the 8,300-person county in the coming years.
A lot of these plans hinge on a proposed $430 million nickel processing plant. The Energy Department awarded around $115 million to plant developer Talon Metals last year. Talon has pledged around $300 million for the project itself. Talon is also set to partner with Travertine Technologies and Argonne National Laboratory to pull other valuable minerals out of the waste that Talon's nickel processing will create. Talon's project awaits environmental approvals for its mine in Minnesota, though there are also sources in Michigan and Canada to pull from.
Investments will be needed for preparation of other elements that often accompany quick growth, Brinkman said.
Hundreds of new housing units will need to be built in Mercer and Oliver counties to accommodate new workers and residents, he said, and the demand for local child care services is expected to rise, too. There is already a local shortage.
"Until we can pay our child care workers a reasonable wage with benefits, we're going to be chasing our tails," Brinkman said.
He said there is work being done on the potential for bringing a community college to the area for future workforce training.
The nickel that Talon is planning to process is just one of many "critical minerals," a political term that the federal government is concerned about losing access to. Modern electronics including phones, wires and electric vehicles are made up of a variety of minerals that are largely not produced in the U.S.
"I see lists that come out where almost the entire periodic table is consider a 'critical mineral,'" Folkedahl said.
University of North Dakota College of Engineering and Mines Senior Research Manager Nolan Theaker spoke on extracting rare earth minerals from lignite coal at the Natural Resources and Energy Workshop in Beulah on Tuesday.
UND College of Engineering and Mines Senior Research Manager Nolan Theaker has patented a technology where relatively small amounts of acid are used to extract the minerals from coal, meaning the process is cheaper and poses fewer environmental risks compared to hard-rock extraction.
Much of what the process can extract are rare earths — the scientific name for a list of 17 minerals that are usually found together and are commonly used in batteries. But the technology also extracts germanium and gallium, which are critical minerals used in semiconductors and internet cables, and play a major role in military technologies. Other metals could also be available but that would require more intensive processes to extract, according to Theaker.
China produces a majority of germanium and gallium, and last year restricted exports of the minerals. Decisions like that can cause mineral prices — and the products that they are part of — to skyrocket or plummet depending on the political and economic goals of another country, Theaker said.
An early engineering study on a proposed commercial production facility that would use Theaker's technology showed that it could produce 30% of U.S. demands for germanium and gallium, he said.
"Combining with the existing recycling of germanium and gallium that already happens, we would be taking both elements off the critical minerals list because both would essentially be primarily produced in the U.S.," he said.
Theaker's team expects its processing facility to be commercially operational by 2030. Areas near Milton R. Young Station in Center or Coal Creek in Underwood are being studied right now, but as exploration continues, a facility will likely go where mineral concentrations are the highest. He said there is interest from private businesses, but funding from either the Department of Energy or Department of Defense could help the project go a long way.
"Realistically the site we're looking at is where the resources and infrastructure makes the most sense to build it. If you're building plant number one, you can't have plant number one fail because plant number two will never exist then," he said.
Near Beulah, much of the nickel that Talon plans to process will be sent to Tesla, but Brinkman wants what is left over to spur more local development.
"We're hoping to use the other 30% here in North Dakota," he said.
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