The US Department of Energy’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) has selected projects and sites in Virginia, Arizona, Missouri and Texas to receive US$73 million of public funding to help move “cutting-edge mining technologies out of the lab and into the field”.
DOE “Mine of the Future” funding is aimed at establishing or enhancing domestic testing grounds for mining technologies that can help boost domestic mining sector competitiveness and rebuild the country’s mining skills base.
“Investing in moving cutting-edge mining technologies out of the lab and into the field will help unleash America’s vast mineral resources,” US secretary of energy Chris Wright said. Assistant secretary Audrey Robertson said the investments would “prove that American innovation can redefine what’s possible in modern mining”.
“By establishing world class testing grounds we’re accelerating breakthroughs that will strengthen our supply chains, our workforce and our national competitiveness,” she said.
Lynchburg, Virginia-based private communications firm Innovative Wireless Technologies expects to supplement $17.7 million of federal funding with $7.3 million of its own backing for a $25 million, four-year project aimed at advancing “secure wireless connectivity, workforce communications and tracking, advanced equipment monitoring, semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicle technologies and data-driven operational intelligence”.
IWT says it will work with project partners Colorado School of Mines, Virginia Tech, the West Virginia Training and Conference Centre, the University of Kentucky, Device Solutions and Phillips Global to establish a “national Mine of the Future proving-ground framework that integrates underground and surface mining environments”.
IWT has already been active for more than 20 years in the space and its CEO and founder Eric Hansen said the DOE program was aligned with his company’s technology roadmap and “our vision for an increasingly intelligent, data-driven mining environment”.
“This project provides an opportunity to accelerate that vision while working alongside government, industry and research leaders to advance technologies that strengthen operational awareness, improve safety and support the competitiveness of US mining,” Hansen said.
University of Arizona president Suresh Garimella said $20 million of funding to expand and upgrade the university’s San Xavier underground mining laboratory near Sahuarita, south of Tucson, would enhance the facility’s capacity to deliver modern, real-world education and training. It is part of a University of Arizona-led MiningWerx initiative aimed at boosting the state’s mining education-to-workforce pipeline. Nearly $4 million of federal and state funding was allocated earlier this year to help establish a modular, pilot-scale mineral processing plant near the San Xavier “mine”, a four-level, 76m-deep facility with portals and a shaft that has been operated by the university since 1958.
“This investment affirms our position at the centre of the nation’s effort to secure its critical minerals supply, connecting workforce development and industry partnership,” Garimella said.
The Missouri University of Science and Technology will also get a chance to upgrade and update its mining and mineral comminution research facilities with new DOE funding. It opened its Rolla experimental underground mine back in 1921 and has advanced rock fragmentation and grinding research hubs.
Southern Methodist University plans to use DOE funding to advance conversion of a Navasota drilling site into “the world’s first synthetic mine” to enable safe development and testing of drilling and sensing tools, and automation systems.
