Underground mining contributes a lot to everyday life

Here’s a question: What does mining have to do with your cellphone?

The answer, surprisingly, is “A lot.” Whether you know it or not, your smartphone was constructed from a wide array of metals and minerals mined from deep inside the earth.

Smartphones, laptop computers, solar panels, wind turbines, and electric cars require significant amounts of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, tin, and other metals. In fact, just about every device needed in the 21st Century economy relies on a number of these key metals and minerals.

All of this is possible because America’s mining sector—which some mistakenly view as an antiquated industry—has gone high-tech. And thanks to some very cutting-edge technologies, mining is now safer and more productive than ever.

Here’s a good way to look at it: Your cellphone started as a collection of metal ores buried deep underground. And the mining work needed to extract these metals is being done at thousands of feet below the surface, which requires a number of key safety measures. At Hecla Mining Company, for example, we use wireless technology to link dozens of workers and equipment throughout miles of excavations, thanks to modern fiber optics and hotspot data collection. 

In order to ensure that mining is now as safe as possible, we also use these same systems to monitor environmental conditions. And so, our operations constantly inspect mine gases, air temperature, humidity, air flow rates, water levels, and more.  

Self-driving trucks, drills, and loaders—like those used in some cars today—are also helpful in minimizing worker exposure to possible hazards. And battery-powered vehicles can now move ore and equipment without the heat and fumes once produced by diesel engines.

These technological advances not only improve mining workplace safety but they also help to extract the metals needed for a wide array of personal electronics. But it’s not just the electronics industry that’s being impacted by high-tech mining. Iron and copper are being extracted in order to serve as key inputs for the wind turbines expected to power more of the 21st Century economy. And solar panels require not just the production of steel and copper but also silicon, aluminum, and silver.

Silver, in particular, has become an incredibly important industrial commodity. Because silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals, it’s a highly valued industrial metal—and especially prized for solar panel construction. Overall, the solar industry uses about 5% of the world's annual silver supply. However, as demand for solar production increases, especially in China, the demand for silver used in solar panels could double. As a result it’s estimated that the solar industry may use 100 million ounces of silver this year.

Overall, mining may not be top-of-mind for consumers. But Americans should recognize that the minerals and metals being mined every day enable them to enjoy the key products of the high-tech boom. And so, these everyday necessities are now being delivered safer than ever, from the ground up.

Phillips S. Baker is CEO of Idaho-based Hecla Mining Company.