On August 4-5, 2022, the Thomas J. O’Keefe Institute for Sustainable Supply of Strategic Minerals at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) hosted the 2nd annual national workshop on ‘Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals’ funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The workshop was convened via Zoom and attracted 346 registrants, including 171 registrants from academia (62 students), 88 registrants from government agencies, and 87 registrants from the private sector. The workshop was free to attend for everyone who registered. On day 1 of the workshop, 152 unique viewers logged into the sessions. Day 2 had 111 unique viewers. Four topical sessions were covered:
A. The Critical Mineral Potential of the USA: Evaluation of existing, and exploration for new resources (Day 1). Keynote speaker: Jeffrey Mauk, United States Geological Survey.
B. Mineral Processing and Recycling: Maximizing critical mineral recovery from existing production streams (Day 1). Keynote speaker: Karin Olson Hoal, Cornell University.
C. Critical Mineral Policies: Toward effective and responsible governance (Day 2). Keynote speaker: Michelle Michot Foss, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
D. Resource Sustainability: Ethical and environmentally sustainable supply of critical minerals (Day 2). Keynote speaker: Debra Struhsacker, Professional Geologist, Environmental Permitting & Government Relations Consultant.
Each topical session was composed of one keynote lecture and three invited presentations. The sessions concluded with a Q/A discussion with all presenters. Recordings of selected presentations are available from the workshop website: https://criticalminerals.mst.edu/2022-presentation-videos/. The third annual workshop on ‘Resilient Supply of Critical ‘Minerals’ will be held in the summer of 2023 on the Missouri S&T campus, Rolla, Missouri, USA. The dates will be announced in January 2023.
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This content will become publicly available on November 1, 2024
Summary Report: 3rd Annual Workshop on Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals, 9-10 August 2023, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, USA, 36 pages
On August 9-10, 2023, the Thomas J. O’Keefe Institute for Sustainable Supply of Strategic Minerals at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) hosted the third annual workshop on ‘Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals’. The workshop was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was attended by 218 participants. 128 participants attended in-person in the Havener Center on the Missouri S&T campus in Rolla, Missouri, USA. Another 90 participants attended online via Zoom. Fourteen participants (including nine students) received travel support through the NSF grant to attend the conference in Rolla. Additionally, the online participation fee was waived for another six students and early career researchers to attend the workshop virtually.
Out of the 218 participants, 190 stated their sectors of employment during registration showing that 87 participants were from academia (32 students), 62 from the private sector and 41 from government agencies. Four topical sessions were covered:
A. The Critical Mineral Potential of the USA: Evaluation of existing, and exploration for new resources.
B. Mineral Processing and Recycling: Maximizing critical mineral recovery from existing production streams.
C. Critical Mineral Policies: Toward effective and responsible governance.
D. Resource Sustainability: Ethical and environmentally sustainable supply of critical minerals.
Each topical session was composed of two keynote lectures and complemented by oral and poster presentations by the workshop participants. Additionally, a panel discussion with panelists from academia, the private sector and government agencies was held that discussed ‘How to grow the American critical minerals workforce’. The 2023 workshop was followed by a post-workshop field trip to the lead-zinc mining operations of the Doe Run Company in southeast Missouri that was attended by 18 workshop participants from academia (n=10; including 4 students), the private sector (n=4), and government institutions (n=4).
Discussions during the workshop led to the following suggestions to increase the domestic supply of critical minerals:
(i) Research to better understand the geologic critical mineral potential of the USA, including primary reserves/resources, historic mine wastes, and mineral exploration potential.
(ii) Development of novel extraction techniques targeted at the recovery of critical minerals as co-products from existing production streams, mine waste materials, and recyclables.
(iii) Faster and more transparent permitting processes for mining and mineral processing operations.
(iv) A more environmentally sustainable and ethical approach to mining and mineral processing.
(v) Development of a highly skilled critical minerals workforce.
This workshop report provides a detailed summary of the workshop discussions and describes a way forward for this workshop series for 2024 and beyond.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2314530
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10479691
- Publisher / Repository:
- Missouri S&T
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- ["Critical minerals, workforce development, supply chains, mineral exploration, mining, environmental sustainability, policy making"]
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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