Companies join a deep-sea mining rush after Trump executive order, as regulators fast-track permits

Ian Lange, professor of economics and business and Viola Vestal Coulter Chair of Mineral Economics, questioned whether deep sea mining is the most cost effective way to obtain critical minerals and rare earth elements.
May 21, 2026

The Pentagon wants to operate a nuclear microreactor in Colorado. Here’s what that might look like.

Thomas Albrecht, University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, says that rather than removing waste from the microreactor onsite, at some point the reactor will be removed and replaced with a new unit so that waste can be processed offsite.
May 21, 2026

Proposed bill would stop eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines in Illinois

Anna Littlefield, program manager for Geothermal and Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) for the Payne Institute, said Illinois is a hot spot for CCUS because of the proximity of numerous ethanol plants.
May 19, 2026

NLR partners with Colorado School of Mines and University of Utah to scale up US critical minerals capacity

The National Laboratory of the Rockies signed MOU's with Mines and the University of Utah that will help strengthen America’s energy and material supply chains through critical minerals innovation, commercialization, and workforce development.
May 19, 2026

Scaling Patriot Production: The Industrial Base Crisis Explained – Analysis

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy, and Jahara “FRANKY” Matisek, a senior fellow at Payne, co-authored this article along with Macdonald Amoah.
May 19, 2026

What previous Super El Niños can tell us about the next one

Nathan Lenssen, teaching assistant professor in Applied Mathematics and Statistics and a scientist with the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, said climate change has made El Niño events of the past less informative for events today.
May 19, 2026

Homeowners stuck in 6 years of sinkhole limbo

Paul Santi, professor of geology and geological engineering and director of the Institute for Initiatives in Latin America, said an engineer or geologist who had access to data on abandoned underground mines could have predicted the sinkholes.
May 18, 2026

How microplastic research in Denver’s South Platte River can help a first-of-its-kind study

Anne Marie Mozrall, PhD candidate in civil and environmental engineering, says while awareness of microplastics as a health concern has grown there are still gaps in understanding where they come from and the effects they have on the environment.
May 14, 2026

NASA airplane in Colorado Springs mapping the West for critical mineral resources

Matt Morgan, director of the Colorado Geological Survey, said the NASA airplane will be used to collect data on energy and mineral resources, and also for geologic hazards like landslides, debris flows, and rockfalls.
May 14, 2026

Colorado School of Mines students on the hunt for microplastics lurking in Denver's South Platte

Anne Marie Mozrall, PhD candidate in civil and environmental engineering, is leading a study looking at microplastics that have found their way into the South Platte River.
May 13, 2026

EPA 'forever chemicals' guidance highlights areas where more research is needed

Christopher Higgins, AMAX Distinguished Chair and professor of civil and environmental engineering, says big conversations are being had on the best ways to handle PFAS. Higgins is the director of the new PFAS Remedial Technology Engineering Center.
May 13, 2026

Climate change starts a new clock on Colorado’s river runoff, study says

A new study in Nature Water by Adrienne Marshall, assistant professor of geology and geological engineering, and Steven Smith, associate professor of economics and business, provides insight into how climate change is impacting senior and junior water rights holders.
May 13, 2026