For all the investments the Trump administration has made in reshoring the nation’s mineral supply chains, its investment in America’s mining schools may prove to be the most important.
In early August, the Department of Energy announced $100 million for the nation’s 14 mining schools, with the goal of doubling the number of graduates earning degrees in mining, minerals and related supply-chain fields. The Department of War added another $80 million for major workforce development programs and technology innovation hubs at three schools to train geologists, metallurgists and mining engineers.
This initiative could not have come soon enough. Rebuilding – much less expanding – America’s mining workforce is an urgent national priority. The administration’s leadership is a critical step toward getting us back on track, but it must be the first step, not the last. These investments should be the starting gun for a broader revitalization of the nation’s mining schools and workforce.
The U.S. is desperately short of the engineers, geologists, metallurgists and other specialists needed to build the supply chains we urgently require. American universities currently graduate just 200 mining engineers a year, compared with 3,000 in China. Even doubling the number of U.S. graduates, as the Trump administration aims to do, will leave us scrambling to catch up.
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