{
  "id": 912044,
  "title": "Modern Mining eyes US expansion as e-waste emerges as domestic metals resource",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/14/modern-mining-eyes-us-expansion-as-e-waste-emerges-as-domestic-metals",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-14T22:19:45.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mining.com",
    "slug": "mining-com",
    "url": "https://www.mining.com/modern-mining-eyes-us-expansion-as-e-waste-emerges-as-domestic-metals-resource/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Modern Mining is gearing up to commercialize its innovative technology for processing electronic waste, as the United States aims to bolster its domestic supply of critical minerals and reduce dependence on foreign sources. Discarded electronics are found to contain significant amounts of valuable base and precious metals, such as gold, silver, and palladium, along with critical rare-earth elements, often present in greater concentrations than in traditional mining ores. President Trump signed legislation in July that empowers officials to employ the Defense Production Act to restrict exports of certain industrial waste, aiming to preserve key minerals and rare elements present in these products. This initiative comes as no surprise to Modern Mining, a privately held company currently raising capital to build its first commercial plant following progression from lab testing to a pilot facility and then an industrial-scale demonstration operation in Greenville, North Carolina. The company's Greenville, North Carolina-based facility specializes in recovering gold, silver, palladium, and copper from discarded electronics, promoting e-waste as an above-ground mineral resource rather than mere waste. Jeet Basi, CEO of Modern Mining, emphasizes the need to perceive recycling as initiating a new supply chain, viewing electronic waste as an above-ground mineral resource that can contribute to the domestic supply chain. However, Basi acknowledges that policies fostering retention of critical mineral-bearing e-waste within the US are merely one aspect of the equation, as downstream processing capacity must also expand to convert discarded electronics into economically viable metals. Modern Mining's process mirrors conventional mineral processing, starting with cutting, grinding, and shredding electronic waste to liberate its constituent materials. Gravity separation is then employed to concentrate valuable metals while segregating plastics, fiberglass, and other non-metallic substances. The metallic powder is subsequently assessed before undergoing aqueous purification, utilizing selective chemistry to isolate and enrich individual metals for sale on commodity markets. This approach eschews the extensive incineration typically used in conventional e-waste processing, although a minor melting stage is utilized at the end. Basi advocates for a distributed network of modular, scalable plants to be situated near major sources of electronic waste, with an initial plan to build one plant annually over a five-year expansion period. The US is the company's primary focus due to the substantial e-waste generated domestically. Long-term, Modern Mining envisions processing facilities near major e-waste generation centers. Basi envisions one plant in every state if feasible and has identified five priority candidates for expansion. While recognizing the potential of urban mining, Basi does not envision recycled electronics replacing conventional mines but sees the two sources as complementary. Urban mining can prolong the circulation of materials that have already been extracted, while conventional mines will continue to be necessary to meet growing demand for metals as populations expand and technology advances. This distinction may become increasingly relevant as artificial intelligence accelerates the turnover of electronic equipment, potentially rendering recently installed equipment obsolete more rapidly and contributing to the volume of electronic waste suitable for recycling. Basi believes that a robust secondary-metals industry in the US will require collaboration between government and the private sector, citing stable policies ensuring reliable feedstock supply, investment and permitting incentives for expanding processing capacity, and incentives encouraging manufacturers to utilize metals from domestic secondary sources as crucial elements for success.",
  "summary": "Trump signed a measure that gives officials authority under the Defense Production Act to implement export restrictions on some industrial waste in a bid to retain critical minerals.",
  "key_points": [
    "Modern Mining develops technology to process e-waste for metal recovery.",
    "US aims to increase domestic supply of critical minerals via e-waste.",
    "CEO Jeet Basi envisions modular plants near e-waste sources across US."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}