And that know-how is poised to play a role supporting national security.
Montana Technological University, which traces its roots on the Richest Hill on Earth to 1900, announced Wednesday it will receive a $6.5 million award from the U.S. Department of Defense to create a new online curriculum. The mining and engineering program will be designed to facilitate the domestic mining of critical minerals and rare-earth elements.
Both the Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Energy have emphasized that continued reliance on foreign sources for rare-earth elements poses a national security risk.
Rare-earth elements "play a critical role for our national security, energy independence, environmental future and economic growth," reports the Department of Energy.
The $6.5 million award will address critical workforce development needs in metallurgical, geological, mining and environmental engineering, according to Montana Tech.
Montana Tech's online curriculum will allow participation by engineers in mineral extraction industries from anywhere in the world with Internet access.
Angela Lueking, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research and dean of Montana Tech's graduate school, reacted to the educational workforce award from the Department of Defense.
"Over Montana Tech's 125-year history, generations of faculty have grown educational programs that draw from the active mines, repurposed abandoned mines and ore bodies in our community and region," Lueking said. "Our faculty and staff have also worked diligently to monitor and restore generational damage from past extraction practices. It is these experiences that will be drawn from to create the new online curriculum."
The program's budget will support hiring 13 new employees, including an overall project manager, four non-tenure track teachers, four instructional designers, a videographer and graduate school support staff.
Lueking will serve as principal investigator, leading a collaborative team of faculty, instructors, staff and graduate students drawn from six units on campus.
Chris Roos, Ph.D., an assistant professor of mining engineering, will also play a role.
"Montana Tech produces the best, hands-on, practical engineers for the mining and natural resource industries in the United States, and I'm excited to be a part of this program," Roos said.
Montana Tech will incorporate what the university already knows works with on-campus undergraduate students "and share it using best practices in distance learning to help fill a huge void in the U.S. mining industry talent pipeline," he said.
The award from the Department of Defense taps into Defense Production Act funds that respond to perceived strategic or human health needs for specific goods and services.
Separately, the Department of Defense has been a partner with Montana Resources and others in ongoing research that could extract commercially-viable quantities of rare-earth elements from the Berkeley Pit.
U.S. manufacturers need access to rare-earth elements for commercial production of smartphones, digital cameras, wind turbines, computer hard drives, LED lights, flat screen TVs, electric cars and much more.
The Department of Defense needs rare-earth elements for hundreds of uses, including lasers, precision-guided weapons and magnets for motors.
China has dominated the market for rare-earth elements.
Demand for such materials has soared. But opportunities for learning about mineral extraction have dwindled in the U.S. to 21 universities with related ABET-accredited programs. (ABET is an acronym once linked to "Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.")
Montana Tech said it aims to draw on its historical strengths, pair them with modern technology and reach learners around the globe.
Montana Tech has become a hub of research and development in recent years for critical mineral and rare-earth element supply chain development, as emerging geopolitics and the COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the importance of building domestic sources.
The school plans to open enrollment in the online program in the fall of 2025.
©2024 The Montana Standard (Butte, Mont.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
