Utah Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Initiative (UAMMI) held their monthly session at Carbon County’s new Southeastern Regional Development Agency (SERDA) building on April 18. This month’s session was in regards to critical materials in the United States, or more, the lack of. Participants were provided lunch brought in by Juniper Pizza Café.
The session was led by Guy Letandre, UAMMI Deputy Director. Letandre discussed the importance and the dire need for the United States to become more self-sustainable when it comes to critical materials. Letandre explained that, as of right now, the United States is not the leader in the mining or processing of any critical materials.
The top critical materials used in clean energy are lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and other rare earth elements. These materials are found in rechargeable batteries, electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and power lines. Losing access to not only these materials, but even materials that are not in high demand, would be detrimental.
Some of UAMMI’s key initiatives to grow domestic supply are being able to obtain certain permits; including policy permits and land and water use permits. There also has to be an available workforce for the mining and production of said critical materials.
UAMMI is currently attempting to introduce a curriculum to high wchool in the Tribal Nations to help develop an interest in the science and management of environmentally and economically sustainable development of critical materials on Tribal lands. UAMMI is also attempting to partner with Kinect Capital to create events to increase the awareness of investment opportunities for the mining and production of critical materials on U.S. soil.
To learn more about UAMMI you can visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/uammi/