Critical Minerals
Missouri S&T leads national push to address critical minerals crisis, receives workshop funding
The United States is in the midst of a critical minerals crisis, and Missouri S&T is becoming known as a national hub to discuss and develop solutions to this issue. The university was recently awarded funding from the National Science Foundation to host the third annual Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals workshop Wednesday, Aug. 9, and Thursday, Aug. 10.
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S&T expert testifies before House subcommittee on ‘America’s Critical Minerals Crisis’
Dr. Michael Moats, chair of materials science and engineering at Missouri S&T, appeared before a U.S. House of Representatives panel Thursday (Feb. 9, 2023) to provide expert testimony on critical minerals production in the United States and the impact of foreign production of these minerals to the U.S. Moats, a professor of metallurgical engineering at […]
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Missouri S&T makes list of “degrees of the future” for energy engineering
Missouri S&T is one of 15 U.S. universities chosen by the science and technology website Gizmodo as schools that offer the best energy engineering programs in a recent “degrees of the future” report. “One of the most critical problems humans currently have is how to generate power efficiently,” Gizmodo’s editors wrote in the report, which […]
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Missouri S&T hosts second annual critical minerals workshop
The future of cell phones, solar panels and electric vehicles depends on materials like cobalt, germanium and rare earth elements. Those and other critical minerals are the focus of the second annual virtual workshop hosted by Missouri S&T Aug. 4-5.
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Modern mining: How an ancient profession is playing a critical role in contemporary life, on earth and beyond
If you think of mining as an antiquated, old-tech industry, Dr. Kwame Awuah-Offei suggests you consider your smartphone. “There are 46 elements in your iPhone, and every one of them comes from the earth,” says Awuah-Offei, Union Pacific/Rocky Mountain Energy Professor in mining engineering and interim director of mining and explosives engineering at Missouri S&T.
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Missouri S&T hosts first in series of national critical minerals workshops
What are critical minerals, where do we find them, and why are they considered critical? Leading critical-minerals experts from across the country discussed these questions and more during a virtual workshop hosted by Missouri S&T Aug. 2-3. The workshop provided insight and answers to issues surrounding materials such as cobalt for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, germanium for transistors, tellurium for solar cells and rare earth elements for magnets and electronics.
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Green energy increases the need for mining and metals production
Clean energy may mean less mining for coal, but it also means opening or expanding mines to unearth minerals such as cobalt for use in alloys and batteries, tellurium for solar cells and semiconductors, and germanium for transistors in electronic devices. That’s according to Dr. Michael Moats, professor and interim chair of materials science and engineering at Missouri S&T, who says reducing carbon emissions from energy systems in the United States will increase the need for metal production by two to six times per kilowatt of energy production.
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Mining the future of critical minerals
What are critical minerals, where do we find them, and why are they considered critical? Missouri S&T helped lead the discussion to answer those questions in 2021.
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Marek Locmelis: geosciences rock star
What do flood-water contamination, mineable platinum deposits and the trigger for human life on Earth have in common? Answer: Marek Locmelis, Missouri S&T geosciences researcher.
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Missouri S&T prepares engineers for a future in space mining
The moon, other planets – even asteroids – may hold promise as future sources of resources such as water, hydrogen, methane, and base and precious metals. Researchers at Missouri S&T hold a wealth of expertise in natural resource exploration and extraction as well as in critical and strategic minerals, so the university stands at the forefront of space resource exploration.
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