Colorado School of Mines Announces Critical Minerals Collaboration with National Laboratory of the Rockies

GOLDEN, Colo., May 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Colorado School of Mines (Mines) has entered into a strategic agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) to advance critical minerals innovation, commercialization and workforce development across the full energy and minerals supply chain.

The agreement, signed during NLR’s annual Partner Forum, a convening of key federal, industry and academic partners, builds on a strong foundation of critical minerals expertise and assets in Golden, Colorado, where Mines, NLR and a growing network of federal and industry partners are developing the nation’s most comprehensive ecosystem to help industry scale and deploy new critical minerals technologies.

“This agreement reflects what makes Colorado School of Mines distinctive —our ability to bring together applied research, industry and government partnerships and workforce development in ways that move technologies from concept to impact,” said Mines President Paul C. Johnson. “This strategic partnership with NLR complements our other partnerships with industry and USGS, further cementing Golden, Colorado, as the center of our nation’s expertise, education and innovation related to materials supply chains. Together, we are preparing the next generation of leaders while accelerating innovation and advancing solutions that are essential to secure, resilient U.S. critical materials supply chains.”

Under the agreement, Mines and NLR will pursue coordinated planning, facility sharing, cross-institutional research, student and researcher exchanges, and future funding opportunities spanning critical minerals research, commercialization and education.

Central to the collaboration are two new complementary facilities that will anchor critical mineral innovation in Golden:

• NLR’s Energy Materials and Processing at Scale (EMAPS) facility, a new facility currently under construction on NLR’s South Table Mountain Campus with 60,000 square feet of laboratory space that will enable collaboration with industry partners, universities, and other DOE national laboratories to accelerate laboratory scale innovations in energy materials to market-ready products and processes.
  
  
• Mines’ Critical Minerals Innovation and Commercialization Hub, a newly acquired 50,000-square-foot laboratory and high-bay research facility designed to accelerate innovation and commercialization across the full critical minerals value chain from resource development and processing to manufacturing, recycling and workforce development.
  
  

Together, these facilities will provide industry partners with access to specialized infrastructure, pilot-scale capabilities, and applied expertise needed to reduce risk, validate technologies and accelerate commercialization.

“As the national laboratory for DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, NLR's mission is to advance America's critical minerals supply chains and accelerate next-generation energy technologies to strengthen our nation’s energy security,” said NLR Laboratory Director Jud Virden. “This partnership with Colorado School of Mines combines unique facilities and capabilities and outstanding people to advance this mission. These integrated capabilities, centered in Golden, Colorado, along with a world-class student pipeline and partnership with U.S. industry, will help transform our nation's competitiveness in critical minerals research, workforce development, and technology deployment.”

The collaboration strengthens a growing, Golden-based critical minerals ecosystem, including the long-standing partnership between Mines and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which is expanding its presence in Golden and plans to open the new Energy and Minerals Research Facility on the Mines campus in 2027.

Together, Mines and NLR are advancing a collaborative, systems-level approach to critical minerals innovation by aligning research, infrastructure and workforce development with industry and government partners to bring new solutions to market, strengthen U.S. supply chains and support the nation’s energy, manufacturing and security priorities.

About Colorado School of Mines
Colorado School of Mines is a public R1 research university focused on applied science and engineering, producing the talent, knowledge and innovations to serve industry and benefit society – all to create a more prosperous future. Learn more at mines.edu.

Erich Kirshner, Media Relations Specialist
erich.kirshner@mines.edu 

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