New deal may put Kennecott in the recycling business


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MAGNA — When Utahns think of Rio Tinto Kennecott, most probably think of mining — that tough, gritty, hot process of digging dirt out of the Oquirrh Mountains and converting it into slabs of copper.

Soon, though, Kennecott hopes to get into the recycling business. But not just any recycling: electronic scrap recycling.

“There’s a lot of interest across the country for clean energy, so we want to be part of that,” said Ryan Walton, technical manager for Kennecott.

Earlier this week, Kennecott announced a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy to mine and extract rare earth minerals — things such as tellurium, bismuth and lithium, which are used in solar panels, cellphones and other technological gadgets necessary in the 21st Century.

The catalyst behind the deal? Basically, Kennecott has the rare minerals but doesn't know how to extract them. The Department of Energy knows how to extract the minerals, but it doesn't have a smelter facility to get them. Together, they can work for the benefit of the country.

Rio Tinto Kennecott's smelter will play a key part in a potential recycling venture. (Photo: KSL TV)
Rio Tinto Kennecott's smelter will play a key part in a potential recycling venture. (Photo: KSL TV)

“Nobody in the U.S. is doing this right now. We’d be the first smelter,” Walton said. “There are three smelters in the United States and none of them are pursuing these sorts of things.”

In addition to mining, recycling items that already have those minerals and smelting them down is another good way to get them.

“I don’t know about you, but I still have every cellphone I have ever owned because I just don’t know what to do with them. It’s not environmentally responsible to put it into the trash and into the landfill,” said Colin Nexhip, interim managing director at Kennecott.

Nexhip said if this project works out, Kennecott can make a difference “by melting these electronic scrap and recovering the critical minerals — platinum, pallium for catalysts in cars, gold, silver, cobalt that’s in magnets; things like that.”

It's another way for Kennecott to look toward the future, beyond just copper mining.

“It’s even exciting for us to have some new things in our business to kind of drive it forward,” Walton said.

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