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真正的范式转变。该项目提供了一个合并基础材料科学的机会，以更好地为工程和实践提供信息，以实现更可持续的美国矿业。它汇集了一个跨学科和多样化的科学家和工程师团队，他们致力于研究矿山废物和尾矿等非常规矿产资源，规模从微米到千米不等，以满足国家对关键矿物的需求。该项目利用材料本身的性质、矿藏的成分以及矿山废料的信息，预测如何能够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一个可持续采矿工具包中，并举办以社区为基础的讲习班，向社会通报可持续矿产资源行业的潜力。其目标是通过更好地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产资源。该项目还将为未来建立一支更加多样化、跨学科和富有创造力的劳动力队伍做出贡献。该项目汇集了从微观到宏观的地质、采矿和材料表征方面的专家，以及矿物开采和尾矿再利用、下一代建材和创业方面的行业合作伙伴。这个多样化的团队认识到，矿产项目产生的大部分数据都没有得到充分利用，因此该团队的目标是通过将早期特征与影响预测、关键矿物发现、矿物开采价值链和副产品的可持续最终使用联系起来，促进项目知识的发展。俄歇项目有三个目标：1)通过开发一种新的多模式矿物测绘工具，提高基础材料科学的表征能力；2)通过将微尺度和遥感数据集整合到推动预测性洞察的几何冶金模型中，为矿石和废物管理方面的新的和适应性的工程战略提供信息；3)通过讲习班、资源工具包和与不同群体的外联活动，催化行业、社区和公众的范式转变，以建立一个多样化、跨学科、创新和具有变革意义的未来矿产行业。目标1通过集成X射线荧光和高光谱反射探头，开发了一种以最少的样品制备进行微尺度、大面积矿物表征的新方法，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遥感成像，并将这些数据整合为工业社区工具。这些目标将能够通过对材料的早期基本了解来预测潜在的负面影响，并预测潜在的新的关键矿产资源价值。奥格尔项目还将在矿产资源场地开发之前，通过让行业合作伙伴、公众和当地场地利益相关者参与，促进合作和教育。对材料特性的了解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场地勘探的最初阶段，可以更早地识别废物中可能被忽视的关键矿源，促进废物的可持续再开采，并吸引可持续行业的大宗副产品的最终用户，如下一代建材或农业土壤改良剂和二氧化碳封存。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.