Jackson School Hosts Inaugural Critical Minerals Workshop

The Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin will host the inaugural North American Workshop on Critical Mineral Research, Development, and Education, August 13-14, 2025.   

One of few venues that convenes geologists, engineers, metallurgists, environmental scientists, political scientists and others working in the field, the workshop is intended to bring together professionals from related but disparate backgrounds to work toward a common goal: securing a U.S. supply of critical minerals. The conference will be held at the Thompson Conference Center on the UT campus as well as online.

“What’s so unique about this workshop is that we have such a breadth of participants from all different kinds of sectors that would otherwise very rarely meet,” said doctoral student Shelby Clark, a co-organizer of the event. “Geologists go to geology conferences; engineers go to engineering conferences. So, this is one of the very few places in the world where we have an overlap of completely different disciplines.”   

Critical minerals are essential for the construction of a host of modern technologies, including cellphones, electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar power and batteries. As demand increases for these technologies, so does the demand for critical minerals.  

However, these elements often come from countries that the U.S. considers foreign adversaries, a status that makes their supply chains vulnerable. To ensure the security of the supply, it’s essential for the U.S. to bolster its own critical minerals resources, said the organizer, Associate Professor Marek Locmelis.  

Speakers from the Department of Energy, U.S. Geological Survey, and the nonprofit research agency CUAHSI will join researchers from geoscience departments at UT and several other universities. They will deliver keynote addresses, oral and poster presentations, and breakout sessions on topics including innovations in sourcing and exploration, mineral processing focused on extraction and recycling technologies, workforce development and policy. 

A dinner will be held in the Texas Science and Natural History Museum on August 13, allowing workshop participants to connect and dine under the shadow of the Texas Titans — the imposing pterosaur and tyrannosaurus skeletons that reside in the museum’s great hall. The dinner is sponsored by ElementUSA, a company that specializes in producing critical minerals from recycled waste.   

Organized by Locmelis along with Clark and a committee of researchers from the Jackson School’s Bureau of Economic Geology and UT Cockrell School of Engineering, this workshop is open to the public.  

Register for the workshop, download the schedule, join the mailing list and learn more on the Jackson School website.