DOE offers $16 million for mining programs to counter China’s control of the supply chain

EXCLUSIVE — The Department of Energy is offering a total of $16 million to advance critical mineral education across the country as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to expand the domestic industry and end China’s control of the supply chain.The DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation on Monday launched the PROSPECT Planning Prize to support mining schools in developing a workforce required to produce, process, recover, and recycle critical minerals. Each program will receive up to $1 million.The PROSPECT Initiative is designed for schools with existing programs to have “the ability to rise to meet the challenge, to double the number of graduates coming out of those supply chain degrees within 24 months,” DOE Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson told the Washington Examiner. “It is a highly aggressive prize designed with measurable outcomes,” Robertson said. “The goal [is] to have graduates coming out of these programs with degrees and programs that are going to meet the needs of American reindustrialization.” DOE said eligible programs may serve a range of participants, including early-career professionals, incumbent workers, educators, and students from colleges or high schools.Robertson said only 163 people graduated with mining engineering degrees last year in the United States. She added that the DOE estimates the U.S. needs 6,000 mining engineers in the next decade to maintain the critical mineral supply chain. In comparison, Robertson said, China graduated over 3,000 students last year.“There are not enough students going into these majors. There are not enough schools that have maintained these programs,” Robertson said.“There aren’t enough faculty either, and that’s one of the reasons why we believe having a planning prize is really important, because we do not want to put big aggressive goals out there and not allow schools the ability to meet those goals,” she added.The prize competition is part of the department’s $100 million PROSPECT initiative. PROSPECT is aimed at supporting new curricula, teaching tools, financial aid programs, and other incentives that promote growth in the mining industry.DIESEL PRICES REACH ALL-TIME HIGH OF $6Last month, President Donald Trump announced the administration would be providing $180 million in grant money for expanding mining education. Critical minerals and rare earths are essential for developing applications in the energy and defense sectors, plus everyday items such as smartphones, tablets, and microwaves.The Trump administration has taken a broad number of steps to expand and diversify the U.S. critical mineral supply chain to shift its reliance away from China. Some of those actions include creating international partnerships, taking direct stakes in mineral companies, and establishing a critical mineral stockpile.