Experts from across the United States came together earlier this month at Missouri S&T’s campus for the fourth annual Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals workshop funded by the National Science Foundation.  
 
“Our nation’s dependence on the foreign supply of these minerals has truly reached a crisis level, and it will take an all-hands-on-deck approach like we facilitate at this workshop to find the best solutions,” says Dr. Kwame Awuah-Offei, S&T’s chair and Union Pacific/Rocky Mountain Energy professor of mining and explosives engineering. 
 
“This workshop provides a venue for people involved in all stages of the critical minerals supply chain to come together to help solve our nation’s current challenges.”  
 
The Energy Act of 2020 defines critical minerals as non-fuel minerals vital to the nation’s economic or national security, and the U.S. Geological Survey has identified 50 minerals fitting this description. 
 
These materials can be found in everything from cell phones to green energy technology to advanced weapons systems. 
 
Awuah-Offei says over 200 attendees took part in S&T’s annual event, with most of them traveling to the university’s Rolla, Missouri, campus, while some attended via Zoom.  
 
The workshop’s topical sessions covered the country’s potential for critical minerals, workforce development, mineral processing and recycling, and policy and supply chain economics. The event included keynote speakers, oral presentations, an open forum discussion, poster presentations, and breakout sessions. 
 
Missouri S&T has been a leader in mining, mineral processing and extractive metallurgy for over 150 years and offers programs connected to all aspects of the critical minerals supply chain. 
 
In late 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration designated the S&T-led Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy consortium as a Regional Innovation and Technology Hub.  
 
About 400 groups focused on supporting innovation and job creation in key technology areas applied to have the federal designation and the resources and support that could come with it. Missouri S&T’s Tech Hub was one of only 31 groups to receive the designation.

About Missouri S&T

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.