Conference: Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals, Rolla, MO, August 7-8, 2024

Missouri University Of Science And Technology, Rolla MO

Investigators

Abstract

The United States is import- reliant for most of the 50 materials that are currently classified as "critical minerals." Removing materials from the critical minerals list requires a multi-disciplinary approach that encompasses mineral exploration, material flow analysis, sustainability, mining methods, public policy, mineral economics, extractive metallurgy, and production processes. To provide a discussion platform for stakeholders from academia, the private sector, and government agencies that represent these disciplines, Missouri S&T will hold a hybrid in- person/virtual workshop on August 7-8, 2024, on the Missouri S&T campus in Rolla. Themed topical sessions will discuss the resilient supply of critical minerals from cross-disciplinary, convergent perspectives, including mineral exploration, mineral processing and recycling, policy making and supply chain economics, and critical minerals workforce development. Leaders in their respective fields will give keynote presentations that will discuss the current state of knowledge and highlight potential strategies to address the critical minerals research needs. The keynotes will be followed by oral presentations of participants to introduce additional concepts and/or perspectives. Every topical session will have a breakout session to facilitate discussions towards charting a course for multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral research and practical collaborations. It is anticipated that the workshop will help develop and nurture professional relationships among participants from academia, government agencies, and the private sector – thus facilitating multi-disciplinary collaborations in critical minerals research. Increasing the resiliency of critical mineral supply chains is important to the economy and national safety of the United States. Existing research has yet to comprehensively theorize, examine, and evaluate the cross-disciplinary nature of approaches available to enhance supply chain resilience. Furthermore, economic, environmental, and social components associated with critical minerals are usually discussed separately with little convergence between technology and policy fields. Similarly, the need to build a diverse and strong critical minerals workforce, particularly in rural areas, is often neglected, but will be addressed through a topical session at the workshop. It is expected that the workshop will provide a unique platform for discussions among engineers, geoscientists, economists, political scientists, and politicians/staffers representing academia, the private sector, and government agencies. The workshop will help nurture a budding national community with a wide range of expertise in critical mineral supply resilience, spanning academic, industry, and government actors. Travel grants, particularly for students and early-career researchers, will help build a community that spans generations and ensure the meeting’s lasting impact. A specific focus of the breakout sessions will be formation of task forces that will meet regularly after the workshop to draft documents that, for example, can be used to help educational boards modernize K12 curricula and inform lawmakers for policy making. The workshop findings will be summarized and disseminated in a workshop report. This award is co-funded by CBET/ENG's Environmental Sustainability program and EAR/GEO's Geobiology and Low Temperature Geochemistry program and Petrology and Geochemistry program This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.