December 3, 2025
A team of researchers from New Mexico Tech (NMT) and the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR) has received $2.5 million in funding through a U.S. Department of Energy grant to establish a hub for critical minerals research. In addition to enhancing the research capabilities of NMT and NMBGMR, the project will support two NMBGMR staff, two postdoctoral fellows, five PhD students, and four undergraduate students.
Critical minerals are essential to the economic and national security of the United States and are also vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. They are crucial ingredients in the manufacturing of a wide range of products—from smartphones to solar panels to satellites—and are used in many industrial processes.
“This significant award puts us on the map for critical minerals research in the United States and worldwide,” said Alexander Gysi, director of the Ore Deposits and Critical Minerals Laboratory at NMBGMR. “It will allow us to grow our existing laboratory facilities and build a sustained experimental research hub for critical minerals.”
Along with Gysi, the project is led by Nicole Hurtig, assistant professor and manager of NMBGMR’s Raman Spectroscopy Laboratory, and Laura Waters, associate professor in NMT’s Department of Earth and Environmental Science.
In addition to supporting researchers and students, new equipment will be acquired to expand the experimental capabilities of laboratories at NMT and NMBGMR. “Very few labs are equipped to conduct high-pressure and high-temperature hydrothermal experiments that mimic ore-forming conditions in Earth’s crust,” said Gysi. “Our goal is to better understand how critical minerals deposits form in geologic systems, and ultimately to develop predictive models and new technologies to locate, extract, and refine these resources.”
The project leverages collaborations with scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Ames National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Arizona State University, New Mexico State University, and the U.S. Geological Survey. These collaborations will provide student internship opportunities that are essential for workforce development in New Mexico and beyond.