Long viewed as a hazard, mine waste actually holds an abundance of critical minerals. The Department of the Interior and a growing body of academic research show that America must rethink its approach to this strategic asset.
On December 10, SAFE’s Center for Critical Minerals Strategy hosted Waste to Wealth: Leveraging Byproducts for Mineral Dominance.
The webinar connected the dots between findings from a recent Science study on unrecovered critical minerals in U.S. metal mine ores with the Secretary of the Department of the Interior’s Order 3436, which directs agencies to map mine waste, expand funding eligibility, and align regulations.
Speakers dove into the research, examining how recovery can support mineral security and what the government’s role is in enabling it at scale.
Speakers included:
- Congressman Gary Palmer, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Environment, U.S. House of Representatives
- Elizabeth Holley, Associate Professor of Mining Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
- Jenna Schroeder, Director of U.S. Government Relations, Rio Tinto
- Burt Thomas, Minerals Division Director, Department of Energy
- Moderated by: Abigail Hunter, Executive Director, SAFE’s Center for Critical Minerals Strategy
