The Critical Materials Innovation Hub (CMI) is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary consortium led by the Ames National Laboratory. CMI is an Energy Innovation Hub of the U.S. Department of Energy. Its focus is innovation to assure supply chains for materials critical to clean energy technologies. CMI carries out scientific and engineering research that facilitates more-diverse primary supply chains; more-efficient manufacturing, re-use, and recycling; and development of new materials. CMI also conducts complementary and supporting research on basic science, environmental sustainability, and supply chain and economic analysis. Click here for the main CMI website.

CMI research at Mines, in partnership with the Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy, focuses especially on:

• Process engineering to improve primary mineral processing and recovery, as well as secondary recovery through recycling of manufacturing wastes and end-of-life products
• Material characterization
• Economic analysis of material supply chains

In addition, Mines spearheads CMI efforts in education, training, and outreach and is part of CMI senior leadership.

Coordinator of CMI activities at Mines: Professor Rod Eggert