As the holiday season approaches, pause to consider whether your holiday traditions would be possible without the U.S. miners who work around the clock to produce and refine the minerals that make our modern life possible. From holiday travel to festive food, minerals are all around us. It is why every December 6 we celebrate National Miners Day to honor the hardworking men and women of the mining industry.
Traveling for the holiday season by train, plane or automobile is only possible with molybdenum, beryllium and iron. Your favorite holiday dishes are grown by fertilizers composed of phosphorus, potassium and calcium and cooked by appliances made of nickel, chromium and zinc. Minerals are also there to help make the season bright thanks to copper, cobalt oxide, sulfur and cadmium sulfide found in holiday lights. And don’t forget all those tech gifts under the tree brought to life by lithium, nickel, platinum, silver and gold.
Minerals aren’t just good for holiday travel and tasty treats – they also have other important uses helping us and our loved ones stay safe. Aluminum and iron build firetruck engines and soda ash extinguishes fires. Beryllium is used in advanced fighter jets protecting us and our allies, and chromium, nickel and molybdenum are combined to protect our troops on the front line from explosions and gunshots.
Minerals are also the foundation of advanced energy technologies. Copper is used in energy storage and generation projects for solar power and wind power. Lithium and nickel are widely used in electric vehicle batteries. As the globe transitions energy forms, the demand for these minerals is skyrocketing.
Thankfully, the U.S. has a committed workforce ready to help produce the minerals our nation needs under world-leading environmental and safety standards. It’s time we let them lead us forward and secure our mineral supply chains with minerals right here in the U.S. As we celebrate National Miners Day, you might even consider a new career in this vibrant and growing industry.
This article was published by: edelman
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