A University of Alaska Fairbanks project to map out the Pacific Northwest’s critical mineral potential won an approximately $7.5M federal grant this winter. But researchers haven’t received a single cent of that funding.
The funds, awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy during the Biden Administration, were frozen and put under review in February. Brent Sheets, who oversees the project at UAF’s Institute of Northern Engineering, said the pause came as a surprise, considering President Trump's push to ramp up the domestic production of critical minerals, which are prized for their importance in manufacturing and national security and are often in limited supply.
“The outcome of our project will be a regional assessment supporting the Department of Energy's efforts to develop a nationwide critical minerals and materials prospectus,” he said.
The project, based out of UAF, would have distributed those funds across Alaska, Washington and Oregon. Its first objective would have been to assess, identify and prioritize sites in the region for critical mineral potential. It would also look at each site’s strategic importance along with how easy and how cost-effective it would be to mine the minerals.
The other part of the program would have been to provide technical training to build up the region’s workforce for the industry. Sheets said project stakeholders in the mining industry are also baffled about the pause.
“It's unfortunate that some of our partners have called and asked for help,” he said. “I've just had to basically say, 'Well, we don't have the funding to help you right now — but stay tuned.’”
The project is one slice of $45 million in total for similar projects across the country. Alaska and its Pacific Northwest partners are coming up with a 20% match for their portion of the federal funds.
Sheets said his main concern lies with UAF’s match from the state of Alaska — an appropriation amounting to about $450,000, which is set to expire next summer. He said the longer the Department of Energy award is delayed, the less time the group will have to appropriately spend the funds and get their research off the ground.