On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act (PL-117-58), making a once-in-a-generation investment in the Nation’s infrastructure and economic competitiveness. The Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act is advancing scientific innovation through a \$510.7 million investment in the USGS, with a significant portion going to fund critical minerals research.
What are Critical Minerals?
Critical minerals are those materials that are essential to our modern life. They are in our phones, our cars, and our homes. They help provide the power we need to keep the lights on, drive our vehicles, and do our jobs.
The Energy Act of 2020 defines a “critical mineral” as a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the U.S. and which has a supply chain vulnerable to disruption. Critical minerals are also characterized as serving an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economy or national security.
Critical Minerals and the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act
Recognizing the vital role that critical minerals play in infrastructure, the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act has invested in critical minerals through a number of different avenues, primarily mapping critical mineral potential, studying the potential for critical minerals in mine waste, and preserving the Nation’s geologic heritage for better understanding of how critical minerals form and where they occur.
In addition, the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act has allowed the USGS to invest in both its ability to conduct minerals research today and to foster the next generation of geoscientists by funding a new Energy and Minerals Research Facility on the Colorado School of Mines campus in Golden, Colorado.
