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On August 13-14, 2025, the Jackson School of Geoscience hosted the inaugural North American Workshop on Critical Mineral Research, Development and Education, in the Thompson Conference Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, USA. The workshop was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was attended by 230 participants. 176 participants attended the workshop in-person while another 54 participants attended online via Zoom. Twenty-two participants (including 10 students and 7 early career researchers) received travel support through the NSF grant to attend the workshop in Austin. Out of the 230 workshop participants, 134 participants were from academia (34 students), 66 from the private sector and 30 from federal- and state-level government agencies. The workshop was divided into four topical sessions that discussed current issues in critical minerals research, development, and education: (A) Conventional and Unconventional Sources of Critical Minerals. (B) How to grow the U.S. critical minerals workforce. (C) Innovations in Critical Mineral Extraction and Recycling. (D) Policy and Supply Chain Economics. The topical sessions were composed of two keynote lectures and complemented by oral and poster presentations by the workshop participants. A panel discussion and breakout session explored recent developments in critical minerals research, development and education in the U.S., with particular focus on the implications of recent Presidential Executive Orders. The discussions highlighted, for example, that: (i) The recent critical mineral-related Presidential Executive Orders by the Trump-Vance administration are encouraging steps towards fast-tracking US-based critical mineral production. (ii) Lengthy permitting timelines and limited transparency in the decision-making process – with often unpredictable outcomes – remain major barriers for mining and mineral processing operations in the U.S. Workshop participants suggested the development of policies specifically aimed at streamlining permitting processes. (iii) Funding initiatives are too often aimed at increasing short-to-mid-term critical mineral production while generation of ‘pre-competitive data’ to support and guide mineral exploration is largely neglected. Workshop participants recommended that future funding cycles place greater emphasis on generating fundamental geoscience data and insight that can be leveraged by the private sector for green and brownfield exploration. (iv) The persistent negative image of the mining and mineral processing sector remains a major obstacle to attracting and developing a skilled critical minerals workforce. As possible starting points for long-term solutions, workshop participants suggested launching a media campaign, implementing industry-led K-12 outreach programs, and stronger and closer collaborations between academia and the private sector through student-centered research projects. 

On August 7-8, 2024, the Thomas J. O’Keefe Institute for Sustainable Supply of Strategic Minerals at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) hosted the fourth annual workshop on ‘Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals’. The workshop was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was attended by 212 participants. 143 participants attended the workshop in-person in the Havener Center on the Missouri S&T campus in Rolla, Missouri, USA. Another 69 participants attended online via Zoom. Twenty participants (including 12 students and 4 early career researchers) received travel support through the NSF grant to attend the conference in Rolla. Out of the workshop 212 participants, 199 stated their sectors of employment during registration showing that 88 participants were from academia (34 students), 58 from the private sector and 53 from government agencies. The workshop was followed by a post-workshop field trip to US Strategic Minerals (formerly Missouri Cobalt) in southeast Missouri that was attended by 18 workshop participants from academia (n=11; including 4 students) and the private sector (n=7). Four topical sessions were covered during the workshop: A. The Critical Mineral Potential of the USA: Evaluation of existing, and exploration for new resources. B. Critical Minerals Workforce Development: How to grow the US critical minerals workforce. C. Critical Mineral Processing and Recycling: Maximizing critical mineral recovery from existing production streams. D. Critical Mineral Policy and Supply Chain Economics: Reshoring critical mineral production. The topical sessions were composed of two keynote lectures and complemented by oral and poster presentations by the workshop participants, as well as a 30-minute open discussion at the end of each topical session. Breakout sessions that concluded each day discussed: • Can mining lead the new materials future? • Critical minerals research: where to go from here? • Should the Bureau of Mines be restored? Discussions during the workshop highlighted, for example, that: (i) Mining companies need to better address downstream needs and develop company cultures inclusive of younger generations; (ii) Although funding opportunities over the past year’s started to make a difference for critical minerals supply chain resilience, additional funding that is aimed at strengthening academia – private sector partnerships as well as international collaborations is needed to ensure a long-term impact; (iii) The majority of participants would welcome the reestablishment of the Bureau of Mines, although no consensus was reached on its potential responsibilities. This workshop report provides a detailed summary of the workshop demographics and discussions.