UAF researchers to carry out critical mineral study
University will use $9M in funding to evaluate sites in Alaska, West Alaska is enriched with at least 49 out of the 50 minerals critical to America's economy, national securi- ty, and energy future. Many of these critical minerals, however, are not in traditional ore deposits. Instead, they are often found as minor byproducts of more traditionally mined metals such as copper, gold, silver, and zinc or associated with the enormous de- posits of coal and other carbon ores found across the 49th State. To gain a better understanding of The Last Frontier state's potential to be a leading domestic supplier of crit- ical minerals, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) $7.5 million to carry out regional-scale critical minerals assessments across Alaska, as well as the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon. The funds awarded to UAF are part of a $45 million investment in critical mineral projects across six U.S. re- gions, from Alaska to the Appalachian Mountains. "Rebuilding a domestic supply chain for critical minerals and mate- rials here at home will both safeguard our national security and support the continued development of a clean en- ergy and industrial economy," said Brad Crabtree, assistant secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Manage- ment (FECM). The six regional-scale programs being supported by the investment marks the start of the second phase of DOE's Carbon Ore, Rare Earth and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initia- tive, which is largely focused on the potential of extracting critical miner- als from unconventional feedstocks, such as coal and coal byproducts, wastewater from oil and gas develop- ment, and acid mine drainage. While previous CORE-CM work fo- cused on unlocking the critical miner- al potential within individual coal ba-
Photo Courtesy University of Alaska Fairbanks
sins across Alaska and the continental U.S., the latest round of DOE funding expands the research into unconven- tional critical mineral sources to the regional scale. The six CORE-CM regions being explored by the expanded program are: Alaska and the Pacific North- west (Region 8); Upper Midwest and Illinois Basin (Region 3); Gulf Coast and Permian Basin (Region 5); Rocky Mountains (Region 6); Great Plains and Interior Highlands (Region 4); and Appalachian Mountains (Region 2). "DOE is investing in collaborative regional projects to help us realize our nation's full potential for recovery of these vital resources, while creating high-wage jobs and delivering envi- ronmental benefits for communities across the United States," Crabtree added. Region 8 critical minerals assessment UAF plans to use the $7.5 million in DOE funding provided through FECM, plus another $1.9 million from non-DOE sources, to position CORE-
CM Region 8 as a leading domestic supplier of environmentally respon- sible critical minerals. One of the first steps in accom- plishing the overall regional project mission is to identify and prioritize critical minerals sites across Alas- ka and the Pacific Northwest, which covers roughly 22% of the U.S. but is underexplored for its critical mineral potential. UAF is working alongside the state geological surveys from Alaska, Ore- gon, and Washington to carry out this Region 8 critical minerals assessment that will prioritize sites for more de- tailed studies based on their resource potential, the feasibility of developing these resources into future supplies of economically and environmental- ly sound critical minerals, and the strategic importance of the minerals identified at the sites. "This project will unite the three State Geological Surveys, supported by universities and other partners, to analyze this data, collect new data, and begin assessing and characteriz- ing this largely untapped potential,"
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The Alaska Miner
Winter 2025
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