The Department of War announced a major investment in the mining industry schools, a move the Department said is part of President Trump’s “unprecedented action to restore America’s military and national security, securing reliable supplies of critical materials and supply chains.”
According to the proposals, $32.7 million will be distributed to the Colorado School of Mines for a Critical Minerals Innovation & Commercialization Hub; $25 million will go to the South Dakota School of Mines for Critical Minerals Merit Scholars Consortium; and $23.6 million is intended to be provided to Johns Hopkins University for the creation of a multi-material recycling innovation hub.
Other investments by the Department of War include $150 million for rare earth-free permanent magnets, $1.4 billion into silicon-carbon battery development and lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility, and $400 million into the world’s first primary scandium mine.
Private companies, as well as other federal agencies, are also investing into the nation’s mining industry and mineral development.
According to a White House fact sheet on the matter, “America cannot restore its industrial competitiveness and rebuild its critical mineral supply chain without rebuilding the workforce that powers it. For decades, the nation’s critical mineral supply chain has steadily contracted despite a rapid increase in demand for critical minerals.”
The development aligns with a recent Trump order that reduces the military’s reliance on materials sourced overseas. “It is the policy of the United States that not only the finished equipment deployed by our military, but also the critical materials and components necessary to manufacture, maintain, sustain, and repair that equipment, are sourced domestically or from allied nations,” the order reads.
