Hardcore research: S&T study explores best areas in state to find critical minerals
March 27, 2024 (Greg Edwards)
Researchers from Missouri S&T are using rock core samples collected in the past to find the best areas for the future mining of critical minerals.
The research team, led by Dr. Marek Locmelis, an associate professor of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering and faculty fellow in research and innovation, was recently awarded $485,000 from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to support their work.
“We will examine petrographic core samples dating back to the 1950s or earlier, as well as samples from more recent times,” Locmelis say. “DNR has an extensive collection of samples available in the McCracken Core Library, which is located in Rolla and not far from S&T. This project will help us better understand how the deposits in Missouri were formed and are linked together.”
Regan Swain, a master’s student in geology and geophysics and graduate research assistant from Chaffee, Missouri, says the team will crush samples and analyze them under a microscope to assess their mineral chemistry and isotopic composition. They will focus on iron-oxide apatite and iron-oxide-copper-gold deposits found, as these deposits could potentially include critical minerals such as rare earth elements and cobalt.
The Energy Act of 2020 defines critical minerals as non-fuel minerals vital to the nation’s economic or national security, and Swain says many of the materials are necessary for modern-day technology.
“These are the resources that we need to continue finding to keep our society moving forward,” she says. “So many types of technology require critical minerals — even everyday devices like smartphones and tablets.”
Once the S&T researchers complete the study, they will provide the information to DNR, and it will then be part of the public domain. From there, mining companies could potentially use the information along with mapping from DNR to consider future sites for their operations.
Swain says this project is personal to her since it could benefit small towns similar to where she calls home.
“The samples we will examine will be from rural areas, and this could lead to a large boost in local economies,” Swain says. “Coming from Chaffee, which is a small community near Cape Girardeau, I appreciate that and see how this could really help people living in these areas. Plus, it should ultimately benefit the entire country since it could help create another environmentally and socially sustainable source for these important resources.”
Missouri S&T has been a leader in the fields of mining, mineral processing and extractive metallurgy for over 150 years. The university leads the Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy Tech Hub — one of only 31 groups to receive the Tech Hub distinction from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.
Missouri’s 2024 budget allocated $16 million for the Missouri Department of Economic Development to support S&T’s work focused on critical minerals.
For more information about Missouri S&T’s critical minerals research efforts, visit criticalminerals.mst.edu.
Link to article on the Missouri S&T website: Click here
Regan Swain, a graduate research assistant for the project, shows a rock sample to a group of middle- and high-school students who visited S&T during National Engineers Week. Photo by Michael Pierce/Missouri S&T.
Missouri S&T receives NSF funding for 4th annual critical minerals workshop
March 19, 2024 (Greg Edwards)
Missouri S&T has been awarded funding from the National Science Foundation to host the fourth annual Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals workshop, which will be Wednesday, Aug. 7, and Thursday, Aug. 8.
“Missouri S&T is a national leader when it comes to addressing the critical minerals crisis, and we are grateful to once again to have NSF’s support,” says Dr. Marek Locmelis, associate professor of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering at S&T and faculty fellow in research and innovation. Locmelis is leading this year’s workshop, as he has done since its inception.
“We look forward to providing a platform again this year for stakeholders from throughout the country to come together and discuss the best approaches to improve the United States’ sustainable and ethical supply of critical minerals,” he says.
NSF will grant $50,000 for the workshop, which will be in-person but have an online option available as well.
The Energy Act of 2020 defines critical minerals as non-fuel minerals vital to the nation’s economic or national security. Missouri is home to 29 of the 50 critical minerals identified by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Shelby Clark, a geology and geophysics Ph.D. student at S&T who is co-organizing the workshop, says it is vital for the U.S. to find more solutions when it comes to its supply of critical minerals.
“These minerals are necessary for so much of our modern-day technology,” she says. “Everything from cell phones and touch screens to electric vehicle batteries and wind turbines requires critical minerals. We must develop our own supply so we no longer have to rely on other countries.”
Clark says S&T is one of the best universities in the U.S. to host this type of workshop due to its amount of experts in programs across the campus.
“We have the expertise at S&T to discuss all stages of the critical minerals supply chain and the different ways it affects our country,” she says. “This workshop allows researchers from S&T and other universities to network directly with government officials and industry representatives. Stakeholders from all areas can attend and discuss ways to make a real difference.”
Some of S&T’s programs related to the critical minerals supply chain include economics, environmental science, environmental engineering, explosives engineering, geology and geophysics, geological engineering, materials science and engineering, mining engineering, metallurgy, and political science.
Missouri S&T also leads the Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy Tech Hub. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration named 31 hubs last year, and as a hub, and the university is now in the running for up to $70 million in funding related to critical minerals and materials.
The 2024 workshop topical sessions will cover the country’s potential for critical minerals, workforce development, mineral processing and recycling, and policy and supply chain economics.
The workshop is a joint effort by several departments at Missouri S&T. In addition to Locmelis and Clark, co-organizers from Missouri S&T include:
Dr. Lana Alagha, a Robert H. Quenon associate professor of mining engineering
Dr. Kwame Awuah-Offei, chair and Union Pacific/Rocky Mountain Energy professor of mining and explosives engineering
Dr. Mahelet Fikru, associate professor of economics
Dr. Mark Fitch, associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering
Dr. Alanna Krolikowski, assistant professor of history and political science
Dr. Michael Moats, chair and professor of materials science and engineering
Registration will begin April 15 at sites.mst.edu/criticalmineralsworkshop. The full list of keynote speakers and other workshop information is available on the website as well and will continue to be updated.
More about Missouri S&T
Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.
Link to Missouri S&T website: Click here
Critical minerals expertise leads Missouri S&T to be named one of nation’s Tech Hubs
October 24, 2023
Missouri S&T’s expertise in critical minerals and materials research has led to its selection as one of 31 Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs (Tech Hubs) funded through the CHIPS and Science Act.
The 31 hubs were announced Monday, Oct. 23. The Tech Hub Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), focuses on supporting innovation and job creation in key technology areas.
Missouri S&T’s initiative is called the Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy (CM2AE) Tech Hub.
“I’m incredibly proud of Missouri S&T for leading the way in critical minerals research,” says U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, whose 8th Congressional District includes Rolla and the Tech Hub region. “South-central and southeast Missouri are hotbeds for critical minerals, so it’s only fitting to place a hub for research on how to improve critical mineral mining in this region. I’ll continue supporting the university’s important work to strengthen our domestic supply chains, create jobs at home, and solve our nation’s critical minerals challenges.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson adds that S&T’s selection as a hub is a testament to the university’s leadership related to critical minerals research.
“Missouri is a national leader in manufacturing with rich reserves in critical minerals, and we’re proud that Missouri S&T continues to be at the forefront in preparing our state for the demands of tomorrow,” Parson says. “We appreciate the University of Missouri’s leadership in supporting battery technology and innovative job opportunities for Missourians across the state.
“Whatever we need, we know Missourians can make it, and this Tech Hub will help strengthen our supply chains and lessen our reliance on foreign nations.”
Dr. Kwame Awuah-Offei, principal investigator of the S&T hub and chair of mining and explosives engineering, says this initiative will provide an economic boost to the region, while also working to solve important issues related to energy manufacturing and critical minerals.
“Our work will build on the region’s mineral-rich geography, expertise in hydrometallurgical processing and existing assets,” he says. “We will increase processing capacity to convert minerals into materials necessary for advanced energy and critical goods, including lithium-ion and primary-lead-acid batteries.
“This will make a significant difference for America’s energy manufacturers and reduce dependence on foreign critical minerals, while also creating thousands of good-paying jobs.”
Over 400 applications were submitted for potential Tech Hubs. Since S&T was selected as one of the top applicants, the university now qualifies for Phase 2 of the program, with applications due by late February of next year. For this phase, EDA will award 5 to 10 grants, with each recipient receiving $40 million to $70 million.
Missouri S&T Chancellor Mo Dehghani says the Tech Hub includes multiple partners throughout the state.
“We greatly appreciate the support of members of our congressional delegation, Gov. Mike Parson, and our partners in industry and government, including the Missouri Department of Economic Development, Missouri Chamber of Commerce, Missouri Association of Councils of Governments, and community leaders in the 14 counties that comprise our Tech Hub district,” he says.
“Addressing our nation’s critical minerals challenges requires a broad effort, and I’m grateful to the many organizations and individuals who recognize the importance of this effort supporting our national supply chain security.”
S&T was also awarded a $500,000 Strategy Development Grant, which will be used for local planning and coordination to further develop regional economic development strategies. The 14 Missouri counties included in S&T’s Tech Hub region include Carter, Crawford, Dent, Howell, Iron, Madison, Oregon, Phelps, Reynolds, Shannon, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Texas and Washington.
For over 150 years, the university has served as one of the nation’s leaders in the field of mineral recovery. More recently, S&T has focused on helping the U.S. address challenges related to critical minerals, which the Energy Act of 2020 defines as non-fuel minerals vital to the nation’s economic or national security. Missouri is home to 29 of the 50 critical minerals identified by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Missouri’s 2024 budget also included $16 million for the Missouri Department of Economic Development to support S&T’s critical minerals research efforts.
Earlier this year, S&T hosted the third annual Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals national workshop through support from the National Science Foundation. The workshop brought together leaders from academia, government and the private sector to discuss the potential of mining critical minerals in the U.S., mineral processing and recycling, critical mineral policies, and sustainability.
Three of the workshop’s co-organizers are working with Awuah-Offei as co-principal investigators for the Tech Hub. Those co-PIs include:
Dr. Marek Locmelis, associate professor of geology and geophysics and faculty fellow to the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation
Dr. Lana Alagha, associate professor of mining engineering
Dr. Michael Moats, chair of materials science and engineering
Dr. Maciej Zawodniok, associate professor of computer engineering, is also a co-PI.
Funding for the Tech Hubs comes from $500 million Congress appropriated to EDA earlier this year to launch the program. Those funds were part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which authorized $10 billion over the next five years for the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program.
Link to Missouri S&T website: Click here
Missouri S&T leads national push to address critical minerals crisis, receives workshop funding
February 28, 2023
The United States is in the midst of a critical minerals crisis, and Missouri S&T is becoming known as a national hub to discuss and develop solutions to this issue. The university was recently awarded funding from the National Science Foundation to host the third annual Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals workshop Wednesday, Aug. 9, and Thursday, Aug. 10.
Dr. Marek Locmelis, associate professor of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering at S&T and faculty fellow in research and innovation, is once again leading the event.
“The purpose of this workshop series is to provide an annual platform to continuously develop and improve roadmaps to help increase the resilience and sustainable and ethical supply of critical minerals for the United States,” Locmelis says. “It is vital that we accomplish this for the United States to grow as a society and make the transition to clean energy.”
Signaling the urgency of the critical minerals crisis, Dr. Michael Moats, chair of materials science and engineering at Missouri S&T and co-organizer of the workshop, recently appeared before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee and provided expert testimony on this topic.
“Critical minerals are very important to modern life,” Moats told the subcommittee. “We often focus on the battery minerals and the rare earths, but if you don’t have gallium you don’t have Wi-Fi. If you don’t have indium you don’t have the touchscreen. If you don’t have tellurium you don’t have some solar panels. There’s a lot more to it than just the battery minerals and the rare earths that are often talked about in the news.”
Of the 87 elements used for manufacturing, the U.S. Geological Survey says that 50 count as critical minerals, further demonstrating the importance of this issue.
Shelby Clark, a geology and geophysics Ph.D. student at S&T who is co-organizing the workshop, agrees with this assessment and the urgency to find solutions.
“We have to make progress on this issue now, and Missouri S&T is uniquely positioned to make a difference across the supply chain,” she says. “We have experts at S&T in mining, geology, materials science, metallurgy, environmental sciences and engineering, economics and political science. What we will do at the workshop is bring together these experts from our university, as well as professionals from other institutions, the government and companies. It is a great opportunity for everyone to get out of their bubbles and more directly collaborate.”
Locmelis says he hopes the workshop will inspire some immediate action to help with the critical minerals crisis.
“In our previous workshops, we discussed our research needs,” he says. “Now, we will put groups together to kickstart collaborations that will help address these issues.”
This will be the first year the workshop will be held on campus, as COVID-19 concerns led to previous sessions being held remotely. An online option will be available as well. The workshop’s schedule and specific speakers will be announced in March.
The workshop is a joint effort by several departments at Missouri S&T. In addition to Locmelis, Clark and Moats, co-organizers from Missouri S&T include:
Dr. Alanna Krolikowski, assistant professor of history and political science
Dr. Mahelet Fikru, associate professor of economics
Dr. Kwame Awuah-Offei, chair of mining and explosives engineering
Dr. Lana Alagha, associate professor of mining engineering
Dr. Mark Fitch, associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering
To keep up with event information as it is announced, visit criticalminerals.mst.edu.
About Missouri S&T
Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System and located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 101 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top 10 universities for return on investment, according to Business Insider. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu
Source: Greg Edwards. Link to Missouri S&T Websit
Locmelis named OVCRI faculty fellow
September 29, 2022
Dr. Marek Locmelis, associate professor of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering, joined the office of the vice chancellor for research and innovation (OVCRI) as a faculty fellow. His role includes working with S&T’s research constellation to achieve strategic goals and helping advancing key initiatives. Initiatives include young investigator mentoring, proposal review and mentoring panel, plus award capture and large proposal support.
Locmelis specializes in economic geology, planetary evolution and analytical chemistry. He received a 2014 NASA postdoctoral fellowship award to investigate the evolution of redox conditions in the Earth’s interior. He also received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award in 2020 for his research on translithospheric critical metal transport by magmatic-hydrothermal fluids. Locmelis is the chair of the NSF-funded workshop series titled “Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals.”
Locmelis holds a Ph.D. in Earth and planetary sciences from Macquarie University, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Leibniz University. He joined Missouri S&T in 2016 from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Before NASA, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Western Australia.
For further information, please refer to the Missouri S&T website and the website of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation
2nd Annual Workshop: 'Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals'
We are excited to announce the date for the second annual Missouri S&T workshop on “Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals”, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The workshop will be held online via Zoom on August 4-5, 2022, at 11:00 AM U.S. Central Time. No-cost registration will be required (opening in June 2022).
Topical sessions will follow the most pressing research needs that were identified during the breakout sessions of the first workshop in August 2021. The findings report of the first workshop is available from our workshop website.
The topical sessions are:
The Critical Mineral Potential of the USA: Evaluation of existing and exploration for new resources.
Mineral Processing & Recycling: Maximizing critical mineral recovery from existing production streams.
Critical Mineral Policies: Toward effective and responsible governance.
Resource Sustainability: Ethical and environmentally sustainable supply of critical minerals.
Every topical session will include an invited talk and Q/A session for workforce development, specific to the disciplines covered by each session. The list of speakers will be announced in April 2022.
For further information, please refer to the workshop website.
Now available: Findings Report - Workshop on "Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals"
The Findings Report for the virtual Workshop on Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals is now available online.
The report can be downloaded from the main page of the workshop website: https://criticalminerals.mst.edu/
Alternatively, the report is available through Missouri S&T’s data repository Scholars' Mine: https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/geosci_geo_peteng_facwork/1948/
We are looking forward to seeing you at the in-person workshop on our Missouri S&T campus in mid-2022 (we are currently working on finalizing the dates).
Critical Minerals Research at Missouri S&T
If you are interested in Critical Minerals Research at Missouri S&T, this video summarizes our current research efforts.
Successful first workshop on "Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals"
By Nancy Bowles, August 4, 2021
What are critical minerals, where do we find them, and why are they considered critical? Leading critical-minerals experts from across the country discussed these questions and more during a virtual workshop hosted by Missouri S&T Aug. 2-3. The workshop provided insight and answers to issues surrounding materials such as cobalt for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, germanium for transistors, tellurium for solar cells and rare earth elements for magnets and electronics.
“The term ‘critical minerals’ describes commodities whose unreliable supply threatens our nation’s economy and defense,” says workshop organizer Dr. Marek Locmelis, assistant professor of geology and geophysics at Missouri S&T. “The critical-minerals discussion cuts across a variety of disciplines, from mining and geosciences to public policy to environmental considerations. Important concerns are sustainability, ethical and responsible sourcing, and research for compounds that could replace critical minerals.”
Missouri S&T hosted eight keynote presenters:
Roderick G. Eggert, Critical Minerals Institute, Colorado School of Mines
Thomas E. Graedel, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University
Jon J. Kellar, the Douglas Fuerstenau Professor of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, who was joined by colleague Dr. Prasoon Diwakar, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Samuel Kessinger, master’s degree candidate at South Dakota School of Mines and NSF national research trainee
Julie M. Klinger, Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences, University of Delaware
Thomas C. Crafford, Mineral Resources Program, U.S. Geological Survey
Michael Moats, Thomas J. O’Keefe Institute for Sustainable Supply of Strategic Minerals, Missouri S&T
Nedal T. Nassar, National Minerals Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey
John Uhrie, vice president of exploration, research and technical development, Doe Run Co.
Keynote presentations addressed several topics: supply chains, global politics, domestic sourcing and production, recycling, and reprocessing. The workshop also addressed the illicit critical-mineral economy, a topic of increasing urgency as critical minerals are sometimes unethically mined – for example, using child labor and human trafficking – and illegally marketed, similar to issues associated with conflict diamonds.
The workshop featured breakout sessions where participants discussed research needs in areas related to the keynote presentations. The resulting discussions can be used to inform Congress and develop federal funding initiatives.
The National Science Foundation funded the workshop as the first in a planned series of national conversations about critical minerals. The workshops will continue to bring together representatives from higher education, industry and government to help spur action and disseminate research on critical minerals.
“We are grateful for the NSF’s support for this crucial topic,” says Locmelis. “We will continue the discussions during an in-person workshop on the Missouri S&T campus in mid-2022. Because the critical-mineral challenge will stay with us for decades, we look forward to developing the workshop into a regular series of meetings in the future.”
In addition to Locmelis, workshop organizers included Dr. Michael Moats, professor and interim chair of materials science and engineering; Dr. Kwame Awuah-Offei, interim director of mining and explosives engineering; Dr. Lana Alagha, associate professor of mining engineering; Dr. Mark Fitch, assistant chair and associate professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering; Dr. Alanna Krolikowski, assistant professor of history and political science; and Dr. Angela Lueking, former associate dean for research in the College of Engineering and Computing at Missouri S&T who has moved to Montana Technological University in Butte, Montana, as vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate school.
About Missouri University of Science and Technology
Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,600 students and part of the four-campus University of Missouri System. Located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 101 different degree programs in 40 areas of study and is ranked by CollegeFactual as the best public university to study engineering. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.
Source: https://news.mst.edu/2021/07/missouri-st-hosts-first-in-series-of-national-critical-minerals-workshops/
Registration now open for the workshop on "Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals"
Online, via Zoom. August, 2-3, 2021. 11 AM to 3 PM US Central Time.
Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the mode of the NSF-funded workshop on “Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals” was changed to a two-part hybrid mode.
Part 1 of the workshop will be held as planned on August 2-3, but online via Zoom (11:00 AM to 3:00 PM Central Time). Invited keynote speakers from academia, the private sector and government agencies will discuss current efforts to increase the resilience of critical mineral supply chains. The keynotes will be followed by breakout sessions that will provide a novel cross-disciplinary platform to discuss:
- What is the status quo in the topical areas covered by the workshop (see below)?
- What works? What does not?
- What are the most pressing research needs?
- What funding mechanisms do currently exist to address these research needs?
A portion of Part 1 of the workshop will be dedicated to activities designed to kickstart cross-disciplinary collaborations that address the identified research needs.
Part 2 of the workshop will be in mid-2022, held in-person as originally planned, on the Missouri S&T campus in Rolla, Missouri. Part 2 will be designed to “check in” with collaborations started in Part 1 in order to continue momentum towards achieving the research goals. A large portion of Part 2 will be devoted to time for “report outs” from strategic teams / alliances, such that these more mature concepts can inform federal agencies. Additional presentations will discuss novel approaches to increase critical mineral supply chain resilience. Full details on this two-part on-going discussion structure will be discussed in Part 1.
For further information, please refer to the workshop website (https://criticalminerals.mst.edu/) or contact Dr. Marek Locmelis (locmelism@mst.edu).
VIRTUAL MOCK LECTURE - LIFE ON MARS?
Thursday, March 11 from 6:00 p.m. to 6:40 p.m. (central time)
Are you interested in joining Missouri S&T but first want to get a feel for what our classes are like? Join us for a mock lecture hosted by the Department of Geosciences & Geological & Petroleum Engineering.
Life on Mars? Early Mars was very similar to the early Earth – but life on Mars never developed. Or did it? We will discuss how geoscience disciplines spearhead the search for extra-terrestrial life on Mars and elsewhere in the solar system.
Host: Dr. Marek Locmelis (lecturer for the class GEOLOGY 4731: Astronomy & Planetary Science).
GGPE graduate student publishes on iron ore deposits
Bolorchimeg Nanzad Tunnell, a Ph.D. student in geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering, published a paper in Ore Geology Reviews, the leading economic geology journal.
The article examines the formation of Missouri’s iron ore deposits – that may hold the key to unlocking Missouri’s rare earth element potential. Rare earth elements are used in a wide range of applications, such as electronics, and are classified by the U.S. government as “critical minerals.”
Critical materials are materials that, if their supply chains are interrupted, may pose a significant threat to the U.S. economy and national safety. The key to finding new deposits is to understand how they form – an issue that Tunnell addresses in her study..
Missouri is considered to be an important future exploration target for rare earth elements and the key to finding new deposits is to understand how they form – an issue addressed by Tunnell’s study.
Tunnell’s advisor is Dr. Marek Locmelis, assistant professor of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering.
New Date Announced for Workshop on "Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals"
New workshop date: August, 2-3 2021
This is the first of a planned series of national workshops, to be held biannually, that will focus on “Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals.” The workshop will bring together interdisciplinary stakeholders from academia, industry and government. The goal is to provide a long-term collaborative platform to help implement action and disseminate research on critical minerals.
Missouri S&T professor wins prestigious CAREER Award
March 17, 2020
Photo :Tom Wagner/Missouri S&T, ©2019
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recognized Dr. Marek Locmelis, assistant professor of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, with a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, one of the NSF’s most prestigious awards. The five-year, $550,000 award will support Locmelis’ research into economically important metals such as nickel, copper and platinum – where they come from, how they are transported, and where they are most likely to be concentrated in mineable deposits.
“Most known world-class metal deposits formed relatively close to the Earth’s surface,” says Locmelis. “However, a recent decline in major discoveries suggests that most of the easily accessible, near-surface deposits have already been found. To guarantee a steady metal supply in the future, we must look at deeper levels in the Earth, which the CAREER award will help me to do.”
The CAREER award supports early career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department and organization, according to the NSF. Faculty’s efforts should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.
“We are very proud of Dr. Locmelis and the work he has done at Missouri S&T,” says Chancellor Mo Dehghani. “The NSF recognition ranks him among the best early career researchers in the nation, and I am certain his research will lead to a new understanding of metals that are economically important and needed by industry.”
Locmelis is an economic geologist with expertise in geochemistry, petrology, planetary evolution and analytical chemistry. He received a master’s degree in geosciences from the University of Hannover in Germany and a Ph.D. degree in Earth and planetary sciences from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Before joining Missouri S&T in 2014, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and the University of Western Australia in Perth.
In addition to his CAREER research on the fundamental processes that underlie the formation of metal deposits, another focus of Locmelis’ research is supply chain resilience for critical minerals, such as cobalt and rare earth elements. He is the workshop chair for a NSF-supported workshop on supply chain resilience that will be held on the Missouri S&T campus in late 2020. He further studies how metals and other contaminants are redistributed during catastrophic flood events, such as the 2019 floods along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.
Locmelis also investigates the geochemical evolution of the deep interiors of planets and protoplanets, which are bodies of matter orbiting a star. In particular, his research investigates if, and how, oxygen that is bound in minerals and magmas in the interiors of planetary bodies can affect the composition of oceans and atmospheres and, therefore, contribute to whether or not a planet is habitable.
How does pollution get redistributed by floods? Researchers aim to find out around St. Louis
Link to St. Louis Post-Dispatch: click me
Link to St. Louis Public Radio: click me
Link to Missouri S&T: click me
Image: Assistant Professors Marek Locmelis, Jonathan Obrist-Farner and Ryan Smith on the way to sample flooded areas along the Mississippi River near St. Louis. Photo credit: Gabriela Ramirez.
Locmelis to lead NSF Rapid Project
15 September 2019
Missouri S&T assistant professors Marek Locmelis (PI), Jonathan Obrist-Farner (Co-PI) and Ryan Smith (Co-PI) received an NSF grant to study the fate of flood-born contaminants.
The research will study potentially dangerous contaminants in water and flood deposits from the catastrophic 2019 Missouri River flood. Rural and urban areas are studied to assess the impact on the environment and society. Understanding what the most dangerous contaminants are, where they are most likely to be deposited, and for long they remain a threat to nature and society will help to guide future rural and urban development strategies.
Missouri S&T research uncovers possible trigger for beginnings of life on Earth as we know it
9 July 2019
Right: Missouri S&T’s Dr. Marek Locmelis (left) with students Kaylin Tunnell (right) and Bolorchimeg Nanzad (middle) at the Helios scanning electron microscope. Photo by Tom Wagner/Missouri S&T
Approximately 2.4 billion years ago, the Great Oxidation Event, which dramatically increased the oxygen content in Earth’s atmosphere, paved the way for the rise of all lifeforms that use oxygen to break down nutrients for energy. While scientists agree about when the event happened, they are less certain about exactly how it occurred.
Now, however, researchers at Missouri S&T say they’ve discovered a possible trigger for the Great Oxidation Event and the arrival of plants and animals on Earth.
An assistant professor of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering at Missouri S&T, Dr. Marek Locmelis’ geological research investigates the processes that occur in Earth’s interior. Part of his research examines if and how oxygen bound in minerals and magmas in the interiors of planets can affect the composition of oceans and atmospheres and contribute to whether a planet is habitable.
“Without the Great Oxidation Event, there would be no plant and animal life on Earth or at least no life on Earth as we know it – including us,” says Locmelis. “We provided really solid evidence that Archean mantle oxidation contributed to it, which was something that was ruled out for the past 20 or 30 years.”
In a paper for the August issue of American Mineralogist, Locmelis describes how he used a technique known as laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis to study minerals that contain clues on how Earth’s interior changed over time. This technique enables much more sensitive isotopic and elemental analysis of solid samples than earlier methods.
Locmelis studied samples of the mineral olivine in igneous rocks called komatiites. These rocks were derived from Earth’s mantle during the Archean Eon – a geologic time period of Earth’s history from 4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago. In collaboration with researchers at the University of Maryland, The University of Western Australia and Royal Holloway, University of London, Locmelis gathered samples of komatiites from the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe Cratons in southern Africa, the Yilgarn Craton in Australia, and the Superior Craton in Canada. A craton is an old, stable part of the Earth’s topmost layers – the crust and upper mantle. The samples range from 2.7 billion to 3.5 billion years old.
“Because they’re so old, and they came from deep in the Earth, they allow us a unique window into what the interior of our planet looked like more than 2.7 billion years ago,” says Locmelis.
The researchers compared the trace element chemistry of olivine from komatiites that are 3.5 billion to 3.3 billion years old to ones that formed more recently – about 2.7 billion years ago. Locmelis focused on redox-sensitive element rations, such as vanadium to scandium, which can be used to investigate redox conditions of magmas. Redox — or reduction-oxidation reaction – is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of atoms are changed. Reduction and oxidation reactions play an important part in the evolution of planetary atmospheres. Increased levels of oxygen – an oxidizing atmosphere – may have enabled the evolution of aerobic respiration, allowing today’s plant and animal life to evolve and thrive.
Locmelis’ research team found that, based on trace element ratios captured by olivine, it appears that Earth’s mantle gradually became more oxidized between 3.5 billion and 2.7 billion years ago. This oxidation, in turn, possibly triggered the Great Oxidation Event, which scientists agree occurred some 2.4 billion years ago.
Locmelis says previous studies from the 1990s and early 2000s largely dismissed the Archean Eon mantle oxidation because they used different analytical techniques. Researchers used to crush and analyze whole rocks instead of being able to isolate minerals, such as olivine, and analyze them via modern techniques, such as the one used in this study.
“Take eating a sandwich. You take a bite and just want to taste a pickle, but sometimes the pickle is so small that you’re overwhelmed by all the other flavors,” says Locmelis. “That’s the difference between whole rock studies and mineral studies. When you analyze minerals directly, you circumvent all the problems associated with bulk analysis, which really are just a mix of different flavors or geological processes. If you analyze minerals that crystallized early from the magma, you really have much more robust information, especially with all the modern techniques we have available today.”
Locmelis says his study suggests that Archean mantle oxidation may have contributed to, or even triggered, the oxidation of the atmosphere, which led to the lifeforms on Earth today. He notes that a recent study by Dr. Robert Nicklas from the University of Maryland, submitted at the same time as his, yielded similar results, but used a different analytical approach.
“If two studies come to the same conclusion, independently and with different techniques, it suggests that we are really onto something, and that we have to rethink our understanding of the redox evolution of our planet,” says Locmelis.
Understanding how Earth evolved also provides insight into the evolution of other planets and exoplanets and their atmospheres, according to Locmelis. He says that probably not all planets in our galaxy have undergone mantle oxidation and therefore have atmospheres that are more reduced and toxic. Understanding the geological past of extraterrestrial bodies can help scientists understand how life forms on other planets in our solar system and beyond, he says. Locmelis says S&T researchers are now investigating meteorites from other bodies in the solar system that represent different stages of planetary evolution to gain further insight into the evolution of these systems.
From: news.mst.edu
In the media: Columbia Tribune
In the media: Rolla Daily News
S&T Academy of Mines and Metallurgy Junior Faculty Award goes to Locmelis
Congratulations to Dr. Marek Locmelis, assistant professor of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering at Missouri S&T, who received the 2019 Junior Faculty Award of the S&T Academy of Mines and Metallurgy.
GGPE faculty receive NSF grant
17 September 2018
Dr. Andreas Eckert, along with co-PIs Dr. Marek Locmelis and Dr. John Hogan, received a $306,716 NSF grant to collaborate with colleagues at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and Southern Utah University to bring undergraduates from those two campuses to study geosciences at S&T as part of the "Roadmaps into Geosciences" (RiGS) summer experience.
RiGs addresses the problem that college undergraduate STEM majors are often unaware of the many geoscience careers available to them. This particularly applies to students from rural areas who are the first in their family to attend college. These students are often academically gifted, but feel that they have to enter the workforce directly upon graduating with a BS degree, often due to financial hardship. This short-circuits these students’ ability to participate in more intellectually demanding, rewarding, and lucrative geoscience careers. It also limits the potential for universities to meet the projected future demands for the nation’s geoscience workforce.
Within the RiGs program, S&T will host an eight-week summer program that will prepare students for post-baccalaureate career in academia, government agencies and the private sector, thus promoting rural workforce development.
NASA grant goes to Dr. Locmelis
November 7, 2017
With a grant from NASA, Dr. Marek Locmelis, assistant professor of geology and geophysics, will develop research infrastructure for advanced geochemical studies of meteorites by laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry at Missouri S&T. The grant will also help support the research of Austin Siedleck, a graduate student investigating the sulfur cycles of Mars and Vesta.
The NASA Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Research Infrastructure Development grant is part of the NASA EPSCoR-Missouri program, which was created to improve NASA-related research capabilities within the state.
GGPE Student Yuanyuan Xia Wins Prestigious SEG Award
Congratulations to GGPE graduate student Yuanyuan Xia who has been awarded a prestigious student research grant by the Society of Economic Geologists. The grant was awarded from the Hugo T. Dummett Mineral Discovery Fund which rewards innovation and technology development in exploration. The grant will support Yuanyuan’s Master’s thesis research on the development of new geochemical exploration tools for magmatic sulfide deposits under supervision of Dr. Marek Locmelis.
GGPE graduate student Yuanyuan Xia using the laser ablation ICP-MS system at Missouri S&T.