Germans Can Proceed Burning Our Planet Earth And Coal For Electricity Production - Our Relocation To Mars Is Near: SpaceX Predicts Satellite-Internet Unit Profit

"A top executive at SpaceX said key business lines are making money, discussing how parts of the privately held company are performing.

Gwynne Shotwell, who for years has led SpaceX as president alongside Elon Musk, said this week that one of its main rocket-launch offerings that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration relies on had become a moneymaker for the company.

Starlink, its division that provides satellite-enabled high-speed broadband, is expected this year to begin making money as well, she said. In 2022, she said that Starlink had a cash-flow-positive quarter, excluding launch-related costs.

Ms. Shotwell's discussion of those businesses provides some information about aspects of the company's financial position. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the formal name for the Hawthorne, Calif., company founded by Mr. Musk, doesn't release financial statements or operational details the way that companies with publicly traded shares do.

It couldn't be determined how Ms. Shotwell was measuring the moneymaking capacity of the businesses that she referenced. A SpaceX spokesman didn't respond to requests for comment.

Funds those services are generating and others are being invested into company development projects, Ms. Shotwell said. That includes Starship, the towering rocket that SpaceX is now preparing for an inaugural test launch.

"Cash flow from those operations basically pay for our development. Where it falls short we take external investment," she said following an appearance at a space-industry event.

Executives at the company have previously discussed how it has been paying for the vehicle before, with Mr. Musk saying in November 2021 that the company had internally provided funding for nearly all of Starship, according to a CNBC report from that time.

The company delivered small operating profits in 2013 and 2014 but lost money in 2015 after one of its cargo-carrying rockets exploded, The Wall Street Journal previously reported after reviewing internal company documents.

In recent years, the company has increased the pace of its launch operations and built Starlink into a business with more than one million subscribers.

SpaceX's Starship vehicle is intended to handle a moon landing of NASA astronauts, under a contract it won from the agency in 2021 and eventually attempt a mission to Mars that Mr. Musk has long discussed.

It consists of a 230-foot-tall booster called Super Heavy that would power a 164-foot-tall spacecraft, also called Starship, into orbit, SpaceX has said. The latter ship is designed to carry cargo or crew to a variety of locations in space.

The vehicle's development has prompted the company to make significant investments, including in staff, a new engine, production facilities and ground infrastructure to support launches.

SpaceX has tapped outside investors multiple times in recent years to support its growth plans. The company's valuation has soared, and SpaceX recently has looked to boost it to roughly $140 billion as part of an employee stock sale.

SpaceX also has been investing in Starlink and developing a new Starlink-related manufacturing facility outside of Austin, Texas, according to local officials.

On Wednesday, Ms. Shotwell said part of the company's challenge has been developing Starship and Starlink at the same time. Pursuing that work concurrently requires "a lot of money, every year," she said.

Ms. Shotwell said that SpaceX needs to put Starship through its paces ahead of handling the moon landing with NASA astronauts on board.

The company plans to use Starship to deploy Starlink satellites before any human flight, she said.

"We need to get a lot of time on that machine," she said. "We don't want the 15th flight to be carrying people."

One of the moneymaking operations at the company Ms. Shotwell mentioned -- the combination Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft -- is heavily used by NASA to ferry astronauts and equipment to the International Space Station.

Last year, for example, NASA awarded SpaceX additional crewed flights to the space station using those vehicles, raising the value of that contract to more than $4.9 billion from $2.7 billion. SpaceX has also used the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft on private flights, such as a four-person 2021 trip funded by a technology entrepreneur." [1]

 

You go, Chancellor Scholz... You go, stupid German Green Party politicians in German ruling coalition... 

 

1. SpaceX Predicts Satellite-Internet Unit Profit
Maidenberg, Micah.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 10 Feb 2023: B.1.

 

Iššūkiai laukia retųjų žemių Švedijoje

  „Pirmojo didelio Europoje retųjų žemių oksidų šaltinio atradimas Švedijoje kelia vilčių dėl žemyno švarių technologijų ambicijų, tačiau naujo radinio panaudojimas užtruks ne vienerius metus ir reikės sukurti įrenginius sudėtingam gamybos procesui atlikti.

 

     Švedijos vyriausybei priklausanti kalnakasybos įmonė „Luossvaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag“ arba LKAB pranešė, kad sausio mėnesį aptiko apie milijoną metrinių tonų retųjų žemių metalų – vieną iš didžiausių Europoje tokių telkinių. 

 

Šie mineralai paprastai naudojami magnetams, naudojamiems jūros vėjo turbinose ir elektrinėse transporto priemonėse, gaminti.

 

     Radinys yra greta bendrovės Kirunoje esančios geležies rūdos kasyklos – operacija, kuri ilgainiui bus išplėsta, siekiant išgauti retųjų žemių metalus ir fosforą – labai svarbų mineralą trąšoms. LKAB bando naują telkinį ir planuoja vėliau šiais metais pateikti paraišką dėl eksploatavimo koncesijos – ankstyvas žingsnis ieškant kasyklos patvirtinimo. Teigiama, kad retųjų žemių elementų atkūrimas užtruks 10–15 metų.

 

     Tikėtina, kad įmonė susidurs su didelėmis kliūtimis, kasdama retųjų žemių metalus, sakė analitikai. Dalis iššūkių kyla dėl mažos oksido koncentracijos jo kasykloje. Tada atsiranda kitų nuo LKAB nepriklausančių veiksnių, įskaitant gamybos mazgų ir įrenginių, galinčių apdoroti daugiapakopį šių oksidų apdorojimą, poreikį.

 

     Retųjų žemių tiekimo grandinė yra ilga. Išgaunamos retųjų žemių medžiagos paprastai apdorojamos, kad būtų gautas koncentratas, kuris vėliau paverčiamas karbonatu, kuris vėliau suskaidomas į oksidus, kurie vėliau naudojami magnetams gaminti.

 

     Be to, didelės gamybos sąnaudos ir patirties trūkumas sukuria daugiau kliūčių.

 

     „Tai yra pagrindinė problemos esmė“, – sakė konsultacinės įmonės „Wood Mackenzie“ energijos perėjimo ir baterijų žaliavų skyriaus vadovė Suzanne Shaw.

 

     Europos politikos studijų centro arba CEPS, Briuselyje įsikūrusios ekspertų grupės, duomenimis, maždaug 60 % retųjų žemių kasybos vyksta Kinijoje, o likusi dalis yra pasklidusi JAV, Mianmare, Australijoje ir kitose šalyse.

 

     Kinija kontroliuoja didžiąją retųjų žemių tiekimo grandinės dalį. Remiantis CEPS, ji atlieka 91% rafinavimo, 87% oksidų atskyrimo ir 94% magnetų gamybos.

 

     Iš 13 % retųjų žemių oksidų atskyrimo už Kinijos ribų 2 % atliekama Estijos gamykloje, kurią valdo Kanadoje įsikūrusi Neo Performance Materials Inc., o likusius 11 % daugiausia gamina Malaizijoje įmonė Lynas Rare Earths Ltd., pagal CEPS.

 

     Naujasis LKAB radinys išgaus retųjų žemių metalus iš mineralinio apatito, o dauguma dabartinių projektų yra susiję su mineralais monazitas ir bastnezitas, kuriuos įmonės supranta, kaip kasti ir apdoroti, sakė Rossas Embletonas, Wood Mackenzie retųjų žemių tyrimų analitikas.

 

     "Yra didelis rizikos mažinimo lygis, kurio vis dar reikia reikalauti šiame projekte, kad galėtumėte net galvoti apie gamybą", - sakė ponas Embletonas.

 

     Taip pat LKAB pranešė, kad jos radinyje bendras retųjų žemių oksido lygis yra 0,18%, o toks koncentracijos lygis yra mažas.

 

     Palyginimui, retųjų žemių kasykloje Kalifornijoje, kurią valdo Las Vegase įsikūrusi MP Materials Corp., koncentracija yra 7%.

 

     LKAB teigė, kad telkinys – geležies rūdos, fosforo ir retųjų žemių mineralų mišinys – būtų pelningas vien iš geležies rūdos gamybos.

 

     LKAB tyrinėjant, kaip išgauti naują radinį, kiti retųjų žemių projektai daro pažangą. JK įsikūrusi Pensana PLC siekia iškasti retųjų žemių koncentratus Angoloje, prieš juos atskiriant ir apdorojant šiaurinėje Anglijos dalyje. Projektai Norvegijoje ir Australijoje taip pat juda į priekį.

 

     Vis dėlto retųjų žemių verslas turi daug kliūčių, sakė vadovai.

 

     "Kapitalo sąnaudos statyti perdirbimo gamyklą už Kinijos ribų yra milžiniškos. Tokia politika, kaip Infliacijos mažinimo įstatymas, yra didelė pagalba, tačiau ekonomika veikia tik tada, kai galite gaminti aukštos kokybės koncentratą arba karbonatą dideliu mastu", - sakė Mattas Sloustcheris. „MP Materials“ atstovas.

 

     MP Materials Kalifornijos kasykla per pirmuosius devynis 2022 m. mėnesius pagamino daugiau, nei 34 000 metrinių tonų retųjų žemių oksidų. Ji taip pat plėtoja atskyrimo ir lydinių gamybos įrenginius retųjų žemių magnetams gaminti ir pasirašė susitarimą dėl jų tiekimo bendrovei General Motors. Co." [1]

 

1. Challenges Lie Ahead for Rare Earths in Sweden
Khan, Yusuf.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 10 Feb 2023: B.6.

Challenges Lie Ahead for Rare Earths in Sweden

"The discovery of Europe's first major source of rare-earth oxides in Sweden raises hopes for the continent's clean-tech ambitions, but making use of the new find will take years and will require creating facilities to handle a complex production process.

A mining company owned by the Swedish government, Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag, or LKAB, said it found an estimated one million metric tons of rare-earth metals, Europe's largest such deposit, in January. These minerals typically are used to make the magnets used in offshore wind turbines and electric vehicles.

The find is adjacent to the company's Kiruna iron-ore mine, an operation that would eventually be expanded to extract the rare earths plus phosphorus, a critical mineral for fertilizers. LKAB is testing the new deposit and plans to apply for an exploitation concession, an early step in seeking approval for a mine, later this year. It said it would take 10 to 15 years to start recovering the rare earths.

The company is likely to face significant hurdles to mining the rare-earth metals, analysts said. Part of the challenge arises from the low concentration level of the oxide in its mine. Then there are factors beyond LKAB's control, including the need for manufacturing hubs and facilities that can handle the multistep processing of these oxides.

The rare-earth supply chain is long. Mined rare earths are typically processed to produce a concentrate that is then refined into a carbonate, which is then separated into oxides, which are then used to produce magnets.

On top of this, the high cost of production and dearth of expertise creates more barriers.

"That is the key crux of the problem," said Suzanne Shaw, head of energy transition and battery raw materials at consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.

Roughly 60% of rare-earth mining happens in China and the rest is spread across the U.S., Myanmar, Australia and other countries, according to the Centre for European Policy Studies, or CEPS, a Brussels-based think tank.

China controls much of the rare-earth supply chain. It handles 91% of refining, 87% of oxide separation and 94% of magnet production, according to CEPS.

Of the 13% of rare-earth oxide separation done outside China, 2% takes place at a facility in Estonia run by Canada-based Neo Performance Materials Inc. and the remaining 11% is mostly produced in Malaysia by Lynas Rare Earths Ltd., according to CEPS.

LKAB's new find will extract rare earths from the mineral apatite, while most current projects involve the minerals monazite and bastnaesite, which businesses understand how to mine and process, said Ross Embleton, a rare-earth research analyst at Wood Mackenzie.

"There's a significant level of de-risking that still needs to be required on this project before you can even contemplate production," Mr. Embleton said.

Also, LKAB reported that its find has a total rare-earth oxide level of 0.18%, a low level of concentration.

In comparison, a rare-earth mine in California operated by Las Vegas-based MP Materials Corp. has a concentration level of 7%.

LKAB said the deposit, a mix of iron ore, phosphorus and rare-earth minerals, would be profitable from the iron-ore production alone.

As LKAB explores how to mine its new find, other rare-earth projects are making progress. U.K.-based Pensana PLC aims to mine rare-earth concentrates in Angola, before separating and processing them in the north of England. Projects in Norway and Australia also are making headway.

Still, the rare-earth business has many hurdles, executives said.

"The capital costs to build a refinery outside of China are enormous. Policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act are a big help, but the economics only work when you can produce a high-quality concentrate or carbonate at scale," said Matt Sloustcher, a spokesman for MP Materials.

MP Materials' California mine produced more than 34,000 metric tons of rare-earth oxides in the first nine months of 2022. It is also developing separation and alloy production facilities to make rare-earth magnets and has signed an agreement to supply them to General Motors Co." [1]

1. Challenges Lie Ahead for Rare Earths in Sweden
Khan, Yusuf.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 10 Feb 2023: B.6.