U of A mining lab hosts DOE official amid workforce push

Audrey Robertson, head of the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation for the U.S. Department of Energy, visited the UA’s San Xavier Underground Mining Laboratory, 23 miles south of Tucson, on Wednesday.

The visit comes after the DOE's Aug. 7 announcement that it will invest up to $100 million nationally and launch an initiative to expand the pipeline of graduates entering the country's mining and critical minerals workforce. 

“Our brightest students are looking for a challenge — and a calling,” Robertson said in the announcement. The initiative is called Providing Opportunities for Specialized Education in Critical Technologies, or PROSPECT. 

“PROSPECT invites them to work at the intersection of cutting-edge science and their country’s highest strategic priorities," she said in the announcement. "This unprecedented investment in the critical minerals workforce will funnel homegrown talent into fulfilling high-demand careers at the forefront of America’s industrial renaissance.”

UA’s San Xavier Underground Mining Laboratory in Sahuarita is one of the few underground mining laboratories in the U.S. and the only one with a working vertical shaft, UA said in a news release. The shaft “reaches 250 feet at its deepest and is used to train students and test new mining technology,” it said. 

The San Xavier tour included Robertson; Robert Bodnar, executive director of UA’s mining and critical minerals initiative; Kray Luxbacher, executive director and head of UA’s School of Mining Engineering and Mineral Resources; James Werner, director of the San Xavier mine; and several students with the mining school.

The Energy Department has said PROSPECT's mission is to “strengthen America’s critical minerals workforce,” support President Donald Trump’s agenda to “restore U.S. energy dominance, rebuild domestic supply chains, and reduce reliance on foreign adversaries for the materials that power modern energy, manufacturing, and defense technologies.”

Under UA President Suresh Garimella, who came to the UA in October 2024, the university has made mining one of its top areas of research and focus.

The UA said in February it was adding a mineral processing facility to the San Xavier mine after a federal spending bill was signed into law, giving $3 million to the university. 

Earlier this year, the UA also announced it was building a coalition with mining companies, including Freeport-McMoRan, South32 Hermosa and Resolution Copper, a joint venture owned by Rio Tinto and BHP; and with suppliers including Komatsu and Caterpillar, which have significant operations in Southern Arizona.

Additionally, the UA was also working on a proposal in January for a $25 million grant from the Energy Department for developing and testing new mining technologies.