Mining – Swanson Reed | Specialist R&D Tax Advisors

Niron Magnetics Reach Commercial Scale

Microbeam Technologies Awarded $250K in Funding

Niron Magnetics, a Minnesota startup, has launched their rare earth-free permanent magnets to commercial scale. The company’s goal is to liberate wind turbines from their existing dependency on Chinese raw materials.

Niron’s clean earth magnets rely on proprietary manufacturing processes, nanomaterials, and metallurgical methods to achieve stability and performance.

“With the official opening of our commercial pilot plant, we’ve taken a significant step towards establishing a reliable, domestic supply of high-performance magnets critical for US national security, while launching the next generation of clean energy technologies and sustainable manufacturing,” said CEO Jonathan Rowntree.

High performance applications, like wind turbines, have traditionally relied on rare earth materials, like neodymium. Unfortunately, the mining, extraction, and manufacturing processes for these materials are labor intensive and environmentally damaging. Niron Magnetics’ solutions remove this reliance, building a more robust solution without compromising performance.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Ucore Invests $75 Million to Establish Rare Earth Metals Manufacturing Facility in Alexandria

Ucore North America, a subsidiary of Ucore Rare Metals Inc., has recently announced its investment of $75 million to build North America’s first modern technology rare earth element separation and purification facility in Rapides Parish. The facility, called the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex, is set to create a U.S.-based supply chain of rare earth oxides that are required to manufacture electric vehicle motors, wind turbine generators, smart phones, and power tools.

The establishment of this facility represents an important step towards establishing the critical metals supply chain necessary for the changing manufacturing landscape across North America. By producing materials for industrial rare earth permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines, Ucore is contributing to the shift towards energy production and consumption diversification.

The Louisiana facility will create 100 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of more than $50,000. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 298 additional new indirect jobs, for a total of 398 new jobs in the Central Region.

The facility will provide the space and means necessary to implement Ucore’s proprietary critical metals separation technology, converting thousands of metric tons of high-purity earth feedstocks into usable materials.

The establishment of the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex is a major manufacturing project that illustrates how the shift towards cleaner energy is creating jobs and increasing investment across the state. The products manufactured at Ucore will reinforce Louisiana’s importance to the global supply chain, and the company’s decision to locate its Strategic Metals Complex in Alexandria is an important strategic and economic development victory for Louisiana and the region.

The investment is part of Ucore’s vision and plan to become a leading advanced technology company, providing best-in-class metal separation products and services to the nascent North American rare earth element supply chain. This plan includes the near-term development of a heavy and light rare-earth processing facility in Louisiana, with subsequent facilities in Canada, Alaska, and the longer-term development of Ucore’s heavy-rare-earth-element mineral-resource property at Bokan Mountain on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Eden Awarded $3.8M from DOE’s ARPA-E for Geothermal Stimulation Technology

Eden GeoPower Inc. (Eden) has been selected to receive $3.79 million in federal funding from the US Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). This funding will be directed towards their “Electro-Hydraulic Fracturing of Enhanced Geothermal Systems” project. In addition to this funding, the company will receive support from world-class researchers from the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Eden was founded with the intention of developing scalable, sustainable extraction of Earth’s geothermal heat and natural resources. To meet these goals, the company is developing a first-of-its-kind Electrical Reservoir Stimulation technology which offers a safer, more effective, and more efficient method of recovering these natural resources. Once developed and implemented, this has implications for a carbon-free future.

Their Electro-Hydraulic Fracturing of Enhanced Geothermal Systems aims to make a novel electromagnetic reservoir stimulation technology. This stimulation will increase the subsurface permeability in Enhanced Geothermal Systems, allowing fracturing and natural resource extraction with reduced environmental impacts. Traditional hydraulic fracturing techniques create extreme pressure and temperature conditions within the fractured hole and limit the stimulation of geothermal reservoirs.

“We are developing a radically different approach to reservoir stimulation, which utilizes high-voltage electricity as the main mechanism to increase reservoir permeability. This technology complements recent innovations in geothermal reservoir drilling, since drilled wells will need to be successfully stimulated to achieve maximum net power output per well,” described Eden Co-founder and CEO Paris Smalls.

Since its founding in 2009, ARPA-E has provided $2.93 billion in R&D funding, and ARPA-E projects have attracted more than $7.6 billion in private sector follow-on funding to commercialize clean energy technologies and create sustainable clean energy jobs. In 2019, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) received funding under the ARPA-E awards for the development of a revolutionary high-rate drilling system using electric pulses to drill high-temperature geothermal wells.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Avanti Energy Finds 17 Drilling Targets for Helium Exploration

Avanti Energy, Inc., a Vancouver-based company, has outlined 17 initial drill targets in Montana. They have recently finished their evaluation of recently acquired 3D seismic data and the results support their helium exploration models.

The drill targets reside over closed structural highs that exhibit ~80m to >200m of relief and are highly prospective for helium. The comprehensive evaluation of the area, core, and log analysis indicate excellent reservoir quality rock. The next phase of Avanti’s plan is to spud their initial wells in late 2021 with the purpose of targeting and testing the potential of all three pay zones. They will also proceed with surface surveys and evaluations to prepare for this upcoming drilling.

Helium has been in short supply as of late, with markets experiencing massive shortages. There are still pockets of helium stored within the earth, and Avanti is determined to develop large-scale projects to extract hese, as efficiently as possible.

Between Avanti’s proprietary models and the interpretation of this 3D data set, the company has been able to select attractive drilling targets, a move which significantly de-risks their exploration programs. In addition to this update, Avanti has retained Crescendo Communications, LLC to work on investor relations, broadening the awareness of Avanti within the North American financial markets.

With this great progress in Montana, Avanti continues to evaluate multiple opportunities across Western Canada and the United States to build an industry-leading helium company with a premier portfolio of prospective lands.

Are you developing new software for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Microbeam Technologies Awarded $250K in Funding

North Dakota-based Microbeam Technologies Inc. has been awarded $249,886 in funding from the US Department of Energy. Microbeam is a leader in advanced fuel-quality analysis and assessing impacts of fuel on power-system performance. They work to find solutions that can lead to clean, efficient, and reliable energy system operations via predictive tools and interpretation.

Currently, Microbeam is focused on the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques to determine mechanisms of ash-deposit formation. This focus can then be used to predict ash-related problems in coal-utilization systems. They intend to use this funding to further their research into improved utilization of coal to support the need for critical mineral resources.

Are you developing new software for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Nebraska Aims to Store CO2 Below Ground

West Virginia Patent of the Month - June 2021

Nebraska is set to develop an entirely new industry that aims to store carbon dioxide from ethanol plants below ground. This industry could provide financial benefits for ethanol producers while simultaneously combating climate change. The industry will be explored by numerous companies who plan to partner with ethanol producers across the state. Some intend to develop methods to store the produced CO2 within the state, while others will lay below-ground pipes to transport it elsewhere.

Based on state Senator Mike Flood’s LB650 bill, other production facilities, such as power and fertilizer plants, are also eligible to participate. The general ideology will be the same across facilities. Rather than allowing CO2 to emit from a producer’s stacks, those stacks would be capped and route the carbon dioxide to a series of compressors. The CO2 is then converted into a transportable form such as liquid and stored well below the surface – at least 2,600 feet below.

One storage plan, outlined by Battelle, wants to put CO2 below the ethanol plants or within a couple miles of the plant. They intend to test their design in a region in the state with porous rocks below the surface to maximize carbon storage.

Another company, Navigator CO2 Ventures, will experiment with a pipeline network that will transport liquefied CO2 from Nebraska (and four other states) and store it below the Mount Simon Sandstone Formation.

Once successfully implemented, a producer will receive a $50 tax credit for every metric ton of CO2 stored. In addition, as a producer stores more carbon dioxide, they reduce their CO2 intensity score and make their ethanol more widely sellable. For instance, California has strict regulations in place and can only purchase ethanol from producers with sufficiently low intensity scores.

The climate incentives are also significant. Navigator believes their pipeline plan could store carbon dioxide in volumes equivalent to the emissions of 2.6 million cars annually.

Are you developing new software for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

ECED Breaks Ground for Coal-Based Innovation

Energy Capital Economic Development (ECED) officially broke ground in Gillette, WY to construct the new Wyoming Innovation Center to support research in coal-based products. This innovation center will focus on finding novel, non-fuel, high-value coal-based processes and products.

ECED, along with Campbell County and the City of Gillette are putting their first major capital investment into this “Carbon Valley” ecosystem in the hopes of finding new uses for Campbell County’s Powder River Basin coal. These investments are combined with project grants from the Wyoming Business Council and the Economic Development Administration.

“[Coal] is our most abundant and readily available energy source, but we can use it for so much more – and that’s what the innovation center is about and the research we are doing here, […] that the City of Gillette will benefit from, and the international recognition that you are getting here is just extraordinary,” Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon said.

ECED believe this innovation center will provide a chance at true energy independence and innovation.

Are you developing new software for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.