Thomas J. O’Keefe Center for Critical Minerals
For over 150 years, Missouri S&T has served as one of the nation’s leaders in the field of mineral recovery. The university is now working to address the United States’ challenges related to critical minerals, which the Energy Act of 2020 defines as non-fuel minerals vital to the nation’s economic or national security. The O’Keefe Center directly supports this research.
Tech Hub Designation
Missouri S&T’s expertise in critical minerals and materials research has led to its selection as one of 31 Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs (Tech Hubs) funded through the CHIPS and Science Act. The S&T initiative is called the Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy (CM2AE) Tech Hub.
National Critical Minerals Workshop
With support from the National Science Foundation, Missouri S&T brings together leaders from academia, government, and the private sector annually to discuss the potential of mining critical minerals in the U.S., mineral processing and recycling, critical mineral policies, and sustainability.
The Center’s Research Areas
1. Public policy development related to encouraging the recovery of critical materials from existing and new process streams.
2. Development of new processes to recover critical minerals as byproducts from existing processes and new sources.
3. Identifying new sources of critical minerals within the U.S.
4. Life cycle-based criticality assessment of existing and new processes for critical mineral recovery.
5. Sustainability assessment and environmental mitigation of potential hazards of existing and new processes.