Published October 05, 2022
By Christine Reed
The School of Energy Resources (SER), along with project partner Western Wyoming Community College, will host the first annual forum for the Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Mineral (CORE-CM) project in the Greater Green River Basin and Wind River Basin (GGRB-WRB).
The event will take place on October 19-20 at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs, Wyo., as well as online.
The Department of Energy (DOE) awarded project is the second of two grants awarded to SER as part of a national strategy to finding alternative domestic sources of rare earth elements and critical minerals, as well as to focus on expanding and transforming the use of coal and coal-based resources to produce coal-based products using carbon ore.
“Wyoming is very unique in that two of the nation’s largest coal basins span expansively within its borders, says SER Research Scientist and Principal Investigator, Davin Bagdonas. “While the mission of these CORE-CM projects is similar – to stimulate regional economic growth and employment opportunities – the Greater Green River and Wind River Basins are unique and have their own distinct advantages that need to be explored.”
The upcoming annual forum will allow stakeholders and project partners from Wyoming and Colorado to discuss ideas, address challenges, and assess existing infrastructure to work towards the development of a viable domestic supply of rare earth elements, critical minerals, and other valuable products within the basins.
“There is definitely a sense of urgency within these basins to find solutions now in order to keep these coal communities thriving and develop new opportunities for employment,” adds Bagdonas. “From our assessments thus far, we are discovering that there are already a lot of existing resources within other regional mining industries and educational and training opportunities that could be easily adapted to accommodate a new industry in rare earth elements, critical minerals, and coal-to-products. We are hopeful that this forum will yield robust discussions to help refine those resources and stimulate some excitement for the projects.”
The format of the day-long forum will provide updates and overviews of the varying tasks on the project, as well some featured keynote presentations before some breakout discussion groups. The night preceding the conference will allow stakeholders the opportunity to tour some of the mentioned infrastructure sites in an around Rock Springs before a reception and dinner dedicated exclusively to project networking.
Any interested person in the communities are invited to attend. To register for the conference or to view the schedule, visit the conference webpage at https://www.uwyo.edu/ser/events/conferences/core-cm-annual-forum/index.html.
For more information, email Christine Reed, SER Outreach Director, at christine.reed@uwyo.edu.