Critical Minerals
Colorado School of Mines
Finding solutions to critical minerals challenges
Modern life runs on critical minerals—rare earths, lithium, cobalt and other minerals—fueling energy systems, defense technologies and more. As demand surges, Colorado School of Mines is solving the challenges that stand in the way.
From discovery to extraction and processing to policy, our experts, students and partners deliver bold, real-world solutions for the world’s toughest resource challenges. And it’s how we continue to lead—not just by solving today’s problems but by anticipating tomorrow’s needs with relevance and results.
“All of our projects examine the technical, as well as the social, environmental and policy considerations, of increased domestic production of critical minerals. What does responsible mineral production look like? What are some of the challenges? Where are the opportunities? Where are the bottlenecks and supply chain risks? We need policy and technical research and development to figure out how we can lower the costs and recover more critical minerals.“
-Elizabeth Holley, Associate Professor of Mining Engineering
Leading the charge on critical minerals
Engineering for a Sustainable Future
Where technical innovation and social justice converge
Breaking ground in critical minerals
Payne Institute for Public Policy
Dr. Morgan Bazilian giving a congressional testimony to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate regarding the “Mineral and Metal Foundations of the Energy Transition.”
Mining Engineering: NSF Grant on Responsible Critical Minerals
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and under the Growing Convergence Research (GCR) program, the Mining Engineering department at Mines is reimaging the approach to the mining of critical materials.
The Critical Materials Innovation Hub (CMI Hub) at Colorado School of Mines is part of a larger U.S. DOE Energy Innovation Hub—led by Ames National Laboratory—that tackles key challenges across the entire critical materials lifecycle to support domestic, secure, and sustainable supply chains for clean energy technologies