Workshop Schedule

OFFICIAL WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

5th Annual Workshop for the Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals

August 6-7, 2025       
Havener Center, Missouri S&T, Rolla, MO

Day 1: Wednesday August 6, 2025

Session 1: Plenary Session

  • 7:30 – 8:55: Breakfast
  • 8:55 – 9:00: Opening Remarks: David Borrok, Vice Provost and Dean, College of Engineering & Computing, Missouri S&T
  • 9:00 – 9:30: Keynote 1: Recruiting talent for a greenfield domestic critical minerals project; Pat Risner, President, Hermosa Project, South32
  • 9:30 – 10:00: Keynote 2: Attracting students into mining and minerals careers; Anita Bertisen, Founder, MineAlign
  • 10:00 – 10:50: Panel on Educational Programs
    • i. Kenith E. Meissner II, Dean, College of Engineering, University of Texas at El Paso
    • ii. Michele Shore, Director of Workforce Development, Mineral Area College
    • iii. Kray Luxbacher, Gregory H. and Lisa S. Boyce Leadership Chair, Executive Director and Head, School of Mining Engineering and Mineral Resources, University of Arizona
  • 10:50 – 11:00: Break
  • 11:00 – 11:45: Breakout Sessions

Poster Session

  • 11:45 – 13:00: Lunch & Posters

Session 2: Trends in Exploration & Engineering Feasibility Studies

  • 13:00 – 13:30: Keynote 1: Critical minerals mapping across the United States under the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI); Jamey Jones, Earth MRI Coordinator, US Geological Survey
  • 13:30 – 14:00: Keynote 2: Challenges and opportunities for critical minerals feasibility studies; Mathew Oommen, Senior Vice President, Director Mining Engineering, WSP
  • 14:00 – 14:15: Transforming Drilling Waste into Critical Mineral Resources: Sustainable Sourcing and Environmental Impact Mitigation; Anamika Poduval, SALC National Accelerator Laboratory
  • 14:15 – 14:25: Unlocking Sustainable Tellurium: A Value Chain for Net-Zero Solar Energy; Homay Fath, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
  • 14:25 – 14:35: Integrating Machine Learning models for Rapid Drill Core Identification and Assessment; Korey Harvey, Graduate student, University of Arizona
  • 14:35 – 14:50: Break
  • 14:50 – 15:00: NSF Overview; Lucy Mar Camacho, Program Director, Environmental Engineering and Sustainability, Engineering Directorate, CBET Division, National Science Foundation
  • 15:00 – 15:10: A simplified rare earth element mining project cost estimator – a new tool for evaluating future mine supply; Tim O’Brien, USGS
  • 15:10 – 15:20: Geophysical Electromagnetic Modeling and AI-Driven Insights into Critical Mineral Resources; Hang Chen, Assistant professor, University of Iowa
  • 15:20 – 15:35: Critical Mineral Efforts at the Missouri Geological Survey: A Minerals Program Revival Story; Amber Steele, Geological Survey Program Director, Missouri Geological Survey, Missouri Department of Natural Resources
  • 15:35 – 16:50: Breakout Session
  • 16:50 – 17:00: Wrap up for Day 1
  • 17:00 – 19:00: Break

Workshop Dinner

Kennedy Experimental Mine Building, 12350 Spencer Rd, Rolla, MO 65401

  • 18:30-19:00: Tour of S&T Experimental Mine (optional)
  • 19:00 – 21:00: Workshop Dinner
    • Dinner Keynote: DOE Critical Materials Innovation Hub: A federal response to R&D gaps; Thomas Lograsso, Director, Critical Minerals Innovation Hub

Day 2: Thursday August 7, 2025

Session 3: Processing & Recycling

  • 8:00 – 8:55: Breakfast
  • 8:55 – 9:00: Welcome / Opening Remarks
  • 9:00 – 9:30: Keynote 1: Overview of critical mineral recovery challenges; Michael Moats, Professor & Chair, MSE, Missouri S&T
  • 9:30 – 10:00: Keynote 2: From brutal facts to sustainable solutions: evaluating pathways for rare earth element process technology development; Aaron Noble, Professor and Department Head, Mining and Minerals Engineering, and Interim Department Head, Materials Science and Engineering, Virginia Tech
  • 10:00 – 10:15: Innovating Critical Mineral Production from Diverse Feedstocks, Wencai Zhang, Associate Professor, Mining and Minerals Engineering, Virginia Tech
  • 10:15 – 10:25: Comparative Evaluation of Acid Bake Leaching and Alkaline Fusion Leaching for Extraction of Critical and Valuable Metals from Copper Smelter Slag Tailing, Marthias Silwamba, Postdoctoral Fellow, Missouri University of Science & Technology
  • 10:25 – 10:35: Sustainable Revegetation and Ecorestoration of Mine Tailings Using Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Organic Waste Byproducts, Mariam Al-Lami, Post-doctoral fellow, Misssouri University of Science & Technology
  • 10:35 – 10:45: Integrating Carbon Capture into Copper Comminution: A Combined Techno-Economic Assessment and Life Cycle Analysis of GHG Emissions, Xiaohan Wu, Graduate student, Purdue University
  • 10:45 – 11:00: Thermal Pretreatment and Leaching Approaches for Efficient Recovery of Critical Minerals from NCM Black Mass, Janaka Wijenayake, Postdoctoral fellow, Missouri University of Science & Technology
  • 11:00 – 11:15: Break
  • 11:15 – 11:45: Breakout Session

Poster Session

  • 11:45 – 13:00: Lunch & Posters

Session 4: Policy, Supply Chain Economics & Workforce

  • 13:00 – 13:30: Keynote 1: Strategic Implications of Critical Minerals Policies; Fabian Villalobos, Professor of Policy Analysis, RAND School of Public Policy
  • 13:30 – 14:00: Keynote 2: Critical Roles: Education and Workforce Needs, Challenges and Opportunities Facing the U.S. Critical Minerals and Materials Sector; Jeremy Mehta, Technology Manager, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO), U.S. Department of Energy
  • 14:00 – 14:10: At The Intersection of Critical Mineral Extraction from Coal-Derived Waste Streams in the United States and Source Reduction; Philip Duah, PhD student, Mining and Explosives Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • 14:10 – 14:20: Building Trust Beyond Permitting: Insights from Montana’s Good Neighbor Agreement; Tinzar Htun, PhD student, Colorado School of Mines
  • 14:20 – 14:30: Projecting Critical Mineral Demand in the Energy Transition: A Scenario-Based Stock-Flow Analysis Using STEPS, Net Zero, and Bloomberg EV Outlook; Mirali Seyedrezaei, PhD student, Colorado School of Mines
  • 14:30 – 14:45: Risks governing “Mineral Security” policy formulation for critical raw materials in electric vehicles; Sangita Gayatri Kannan, Graduate student, Colorado School of Mines
  • 14:45 – 15:00: Establishing Full Vertical Rare Earth Mining, Metal & Magnet Integration, James Kennedy, Caldera Resources
  • 15:00 – 15:10: Break
  • 15:10 – 16:00: Breakout Session
  • 16:00 – 16:30: Field Trip Introduction, Carey Bridges, Missouri State Geologist

Day 3: Friday August 8, 2025

Field Trip (Optional)

  • 9:00-11:00: Missouri Department of Natural Resources, 111 Fairgrounds Rd, Rolla, MO 65401
  • 11:00-11:15: Transit time
  • 11:15-12:15: McCracken Core Library, 10550 Research Dr, Rolla, MO 65401
2024 Workshop Proceedings