AUBURN The Stanton Bird Club plans to host the first in its 2023-24 lecture series featuring Amber Whittaker, senior geologist with the Maine Geological Survey, at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6, at the Auburn Public Library, 49 Spring St. Prior to returning to her home state of Maine in 2016, Whittaker’s career encompassed both […]
In 2021, a $1.5 billion lithium deposit was discovered in Newry, not far from the ski resort Sunday River. Fast-forward to November 2022, and another discovery of rare earth elements have been found, this time in Aroostook County. The find included a group of 17 elements and the additional elements niobium and zirconium. All the elements were discovered on privately owned land in the area of Pennington mountain, which is located about 40 miles northwest of Presque Isle. These elements are on a list of the U.S. Geological Survey 2022 list of critical minerals.
One geologist estimates that Pennington Mountain in Aroostook County contains billions of dollars worth of rare materials used in military, industrial and clean-energy technologies.