Pea Ridge Mine - Thorium at below threshold and above threshold levels in Rare Earth resources

James Kennedy (Jim Kennedy) discussing federal licenses for storing above-threshold levels of uranium or thorium. Jim is working to develop a domestic supply chain for rare earths.
Excerpt of Transcript:
So you can apply for NRC permits,
which are designed around the
production of uranium for energy,
for the production of something
else for weapons use.
All of the weapons use stuff
happens at such a high level
I don't think you can get...
I mean, whoever is doing it is doing it.
Nobody else is going in the game.
The old videos, Kirk says, I got a friend
who's trying to open a mine.
So is that the mine you're opening up?
The mine that we own is an iron ore mine.
And there are three deposits
associated with it.
One is a tremendous super high value
rare earth sitting in the tailings lake.
It's 40 years of accumulated mining waste.
The 120,000 tons of rare earths
sitting there happen to be
of a distribution that
is uniquely valuable.
We have lots of the heavy rare earths
required to make high temperature magnets.
It's the best stuff in the world.
I've got lots of heavy, rare earths and the thorium
in the tailings lake is very far below threshold levels.
It's so far below threshold levels I can concentrate it
and still not exceed threshold levels.
The most famous rare earth deposit
associated with our mine is breccia pipes
that contain a monazite and the thorium
sitting in the ground is far above threshold.
So for the most noted resource
at Pea Ridge it all exceeds threshold.
Until we're able to push through a new regulatory
structure for storing thorium,
managing thorium, we've got a real problem on our hands.
For that one resource.

[@rohnbrown501]

There is a lot of Thorium (and rare earths) in the Wet Mountains in Southern Colorado, apparently about the second largest reserves in the US.

[@davidwilkie9551]

This is what we mean by "We're standing on a ball of Stellar Nuclear Waste, waiting for us to Recycle" and put back into Moderated and Safe useful Energy Production.

[@donnawalko2937]

Just read Victoria Bruce's book SEllout. Scary and fascinating. Even though I was what I thought was an educated adult in the 80's to now, I had no idea that this was going on. Mr. Kennedy, thank you for what I hope was your honesty for the book and I want you to know that I think you and your family along this journey are AMAZING! Thank you.

[@daniellarson3068]

This video makes me wonder if the vast iron ore tailings in Upper Michigan, Northern Minnesota and Labrador contain rare earth elements (& Thorium). It seems like good jobs could be created processing this waste product.

[@rcstann]

¹1¹st;
Somehow the Thorium story needs to emerge. Push back is needed against unrealistic fusion reactors, there's a reason they're funded by fossil fuel industry.
Fusion is 20 years in the future;
It always has been, and always will be.

[@heyRex]

exactly

[@jimrobcoyle]

It's 50 years...

[@no_rubbernecking]

👍🏼. It isn't even "20" now. The official party line is currently _twenty sixty_ for first commercial-scale criticality. But this is for a reactor the design phase of which has not even begun yet. So that reactor is at the point in time that the ITER was at around 1 Jan. of 1988, for a reactor that will not achieve first plasma before December of 2025, and will produce no net energy. That's a period of at least 38 years.

[@jimrobcoyle]

@@no_rubbernecking In 38 years it will be 38 years away.

[@no_rubbernecking]

@@jimrobcoyle No reason to think otherwise, at this point.

[@williamsmith1741]

What's the permit that allows enriches just sit on massive amounts of depleted uranium?

[@paulbradford6475]

Is anybody in Washington listening to this?

[@dhayes907]

Senator Murkowski, chair of the energy commission. My senator from Alaska. She is not having an easy time with it.

[@paulbradford6475]

@@dhayes907 Kudos to Senator Murkowski. The deadbeat congressional delegation from Massachusetts is more concerned with social justice issues, whatever they are.

[@dhayes907]

@@paulbradford6475 I wish Murkowski could do more, but I don't think congress is all that worried about real issues anymore. They are just playing political football.

[@paulbradford6475]

@@dhayes907 When real shortages rear their ugly heads where it concerns critical materials, Congress will get of it's lazy collective butt and do something, often too late to be effective, but they'll cobble something together. At least that's my hope. Fingers crossed.

[@dhayes907]

@@paulbradford6475 mine too. Good day and good luck.

[@varietasVeritas]

I'll bet Elon Musk will be interested in thorium for his bases on Mars.