NSF Convergence Accelerator Track I: Accelerating Use of Geologically-driven Engineering and Reclamation (AUGER), A Predictive Approach to a Sustainable Critical Minerals Industry

为了满足以低碳和可再生能源为主导的未来对金属和矿产资源的需求，满足基础设施需求，并使社区摆脱贫困，美国矿产资源行业需要进行真正的范式转变。该项目提供了一个融合基础材料科学的机会，以更好地为更可持续的美国矿产工业提供工程和实践信息。它汇集了一个跨学科和多样化的科学家和工程师团队，致力于从微米到公里尺度的非常规矿物资源，如矿山废物和尾矿，以解决国家对关键矿物的需求。该项目利用材料本身的性质、矿床的成分以及矿山废料的资料来预测如何更有效地提取关键矿物，以改善国内供应。它将测量方法和工程方法结合到可持续采矿工具包中，并举办以社区为基础的讲习班，向社会宣传可持续矿产资源工业的潜力。目标是通过更加适应材料本身的性质，从根本上改变矿物开采的信息和设计方式，并在清理场地和降低风险的同时发现新的关键矿物资源。该项目还将为未来的多元化、跨学科和创造性的劳动力做出贡献。该项目汇集了从微观到宏观的地质、采矿和材料表征专家，以及矿物开采和尾矿再利用、下一代建筑材料和创业方面的工业合作伙伴。这个多元化的团队认识到，矿产项目中产生的大多数数据都未得到充分利用，因此该团队旨在通过将早期特征与影响预测、关键矿物发现、矿物开采价值链以及副产品的可持续最终利用联系起来，提高项目知识。AUGER项目有三个目标：1)通过开发一种新的多模态矿物测绘工具，提高基础材料科学表征能力；2)通过将微尺度和遥感数据集集成到驱动预测见解的地质冶金模型中，为矿石和废物管理提供新的适应性工程策略；3)通过研讨会、资源工具包，促进行业、社区和公众利益相关者的范式转变。为未来多元化、跨学科、创新性和变革性的矿产行业与不同群体建立联系。目标1通过集成x射线荧光和高光谱反射探针，开发了一种微尺度分辨率、大面积矿物表征的新方法，只需最少的样品制备，而目标2结合了新的微尺度数据以及无人机和卫星的高光谱远程成像，并将这些数据集成为工业社区工具。这些目标将有助于通过对材料的早期基本了解来预测潜在的负面影响和潜在的新的关键矿物资源价值。AUGER项目还将在矿产资源现场开发之前，通过与行业合作伙伴、公众和当地现场利益相关者合作，促进合作和教育。对材料特性知识的增加增加了社会优化矿石内在潜在价值的机会。将废物管理计划转移到现场勘探的最初阶段，可以更早地确定废物中可能被忽视的关键矿物来源，促进废物的可持续再开采，并使最终用户参与可持续工业中的大量副产品，如下一代建筑材料或农业土壤改剂剂和二氧化碳封存。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In order to meet the metal and mineral resource requirements for a low-carbon and renewables-led future, fulfill infrastructure needs, and lift communities out of poverty, a true paradigm shift in the US mineral resources sector is needed. This project provides an opportunity to merge fundamental materials sciences to better inform engineering and practices for a more sustainable US mineral industry. It brings together an interdisciplinary and diverse team of scientists and engineers working on unconventional mineral resources such as mine waste and tailings, at scales ranging from the micron to kilometer scale, in order to address the national need for critical minerals. The project uses the information from the nature of the materials themselves, the compositions of ore deposits as well as mine waste materials, to predict how extraction of critical minerals can be made more effective for a better domestic supply. It combines measurement methods and engineering approaches into a sustainable mining toolkit and delivers community-based workshops to inform society of the potential for a sustainable mineral resources industry. The goal is to fundamentally change the way mineral extraction is informed and designed by becoming more adaptive to the nature of the materials themselves, and to uncover new critical mineral resources while cleaning up sites and reducing risks. The project will also contribute to a more diverse, interdisciplinary and creative workforce for the future.This project brings together experts in geology, mining, and materials characterization from the microscale to the macroscale, with industrial partners in mineral extraction and tailings reuse, next-generation building materials, and entrepreneurship. This diverse team recognizes that most of the data generated in a minerals project is underutilized, and so the team aims to advance project knowledge by linking early-stage characterization to the prediction of impacts, critical minerals discovery, the mineral extraction value chain, and the sustainable end-use of byproducts. The AUGER project has three objectives: 1) Improve fundamental materials science characterization capabilities by developing a new multi-modal mineral mapping tool, 2) inform new and adaptive engineering strategies in ore and waste management by integrating microscale and remote sensing datasets into geometallurgical models that drive predictive insights, and 3) catalyze a paradigm shift for stakeholders in industry, communities, and the general public through workshops, a resource toolkit, and outreach to diverse groups for a diverse, interdisciplinary, innovative and transformative minerals industry of the future. Objective 1 develops a novel approach to microscale-resolution, large-area mineral characterization with minimal sample preparation by integrating x-ray fluorescence and hyperspectral reflectance probes, while objective 2 incorporates new microscale data along with hyperspectral remote imaging by drone and satellite and integrates these data for an industry-community tool. These objectives will enable prediction of potential negative impacts and also of potential new critical mineral resource value through early, basic understanding of the materials. The AUGER project also will advance collaboration and education by engaging industry partners, the public, and local site stakeholders in advance of mineral resource site development. Increased knowledge of materials characteristics enhances the opportunities for society to optimize the potential value inherent in ores. Shifting the plan for waste management to the very beginning of site exploration enables earlier identification of potentially overlooked key critical mineral sources in waste, promotes sustainable re-mining of waste, and engages end-users for bulk byproducts in sustainable industries such as next-generation building materials or agricultural soil amendments and CO2 sequestration.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.