It doesn’t seem to have a search so just applying a Google domain search to http://tickerforum.org/ doesn’t get me any info about the environmental regulations around THORIUM.
I’m pretty much sold on the reactor/energy aspect of this. I was hoping someone here might have insight into heavy rare earth mining industry.
I have no doubt that the thorium aspect, and environmental regulations are stifling HRE and associated manufacturing industry. But to what extent compared to overall environmental regulations of HRE refining? If thorium was NOT pulled up with HRE (becoming a “radioactive” liability) would the situation still be essentially the same?
Actually, tickerforum has a search, but Thorium is but one very peripheral issue discussed over there. Although, it’s not taken lightly, because the use of Thorium has a very direct national security context or connotation.
I am not sure quite what you are asking. Mining Thorium is fairly trivial, other than the fact that millions of tons of earth have to be moved. but that’s the same as copper or zinc or lead or tin or iron. It is 3-4x as prevalent in the earth’s crust as Uranium, and don’t forget that of that Uranium, only .7% is fissionable and requires costly processing to turn into U-235. Thorium is usable in reactors exactly as it comes out of the ground, with no further processing. All of it. Indeed, we could get all the thorium we’d need for half a dozen or so Th reactors simply by extracting it from the coal that we are already extracting and burning, sending that Thorium up coal power plant smokestacks so we can breathe it.
I really do not know where the US sits as far as rare earth mining. AFAIK, only miniscule amounts have been discovered on US soil, and of course, the economics of developing a very low output mine compare poorly to getting this stuff from the Chicoms.