By Frank Sholedice

The project is led by a team of researchers from NMT Department of Earth and Environmental Science and NMBGMR (from left to right): Laura Waters, Alexander Gysi, and Nicole Hurtig.

A team of researchers from New Mexico Tech (NMT) Department of Earth and Environmental Science and the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR) has received $2.5 million in funding through a U.S. Department of Energy grant for critical minerals research. In addition to enhancing the research capabilities of NMT, the project will support two postdoctoral fellows, five PhD students, four undergraduate students and two staff members dedicated to this project.

Critical minerals are essential to the economic and national security of the United States and are also vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. They are crucial ingredients in the manufacturing of a wide range of products—from smartphones to solar panels to satellites—and are used in many industrial processes.

Lique Coolen, Vice President for Research and Interim Provost, and Vice President of Academic Affairs, said “This new award builds upon NMT’s established strength in this research focus-area and leverages our state’s critical minerals potential.” 

Alexander Gysi, an associate professor in the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences and director of the Ore Deposits and Critical Minerals Laboratory at NMBGMR, said “It will allow us to grow our existing laboratory facilities and build a sustained experimental research hub for critical minerals.”

Along with Gysi, the project is led by Nicole Hurtig, assistant professor of Earth and Environmental Science and manager of NMBGMR’s Raman Spectroscopy Laboratory, and Laura Waters, associate professor in Earth and Environmental Science.

In addition to supporting researchers and students, new equipment will be acquired to expand the experimental capabilities of laboratories at NMT. “Very few labs are equipped to conduct high-pressure and high-temperature hydrothermal experiments that mimic ore-forming conditions in Earth’s crust,” said Gysi. “Our goal is to better understand how critical minerals deposits form in geologic systems, and ultimately to develop predictive models and new technologies to locate, extract, and refine these resources.”

The project leverages collaborations with scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Ames National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Arizona State University, New Mexico State University, and the U.S. Geological Survey. These collaborations will provide student internship opportunities that are essential for workforce development in New Mexico and beyond.