The Department of War announced more than $80 million in proposed investments in university mining and metallurgy programs, including at the Colorado School of Mines, the South Dakota School of Mines and Johns Hopkins University, unveiled at a roundtable with mining industry executives.
The funding would flow through the department’s Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment, which the department said is intended to strengthen the domestic industrial base’s ability to respond to national security needs, including securing supplies of critical minerals.
The largest proposed award, $32.7 million, would go to the Colorado School of Mines to establish a Critical Minerals Innovation & Commercialization Hub, supporting pilot-scale technology development, materials qualification and partnerships between students and industry.
The South Dakota School of Mines would receive a proposed $25 million to lead a Critical Minerals Merit Scholars Consortium, establishing four workforce development programs across three schools: South Dakota Mines, the University of Kentucky and Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Johns Hopkins University would receive a proposed $23.6 million to found a multi-material recycling innovation hub, working with technology developer AGILEWorks on scrap sourcing, process innovation, testing and integration into defense platforms, according to the department.
The department said the funding is intended to build technology innovation hubs, form project-based partnerships between students and the defense industry, develop new processes and prototypes, and certify hundreds of additional students with advanced degrees in mining, geology and metallurgy.