Cross-Cutting Solutions

Advanced Mining Technologies

Advanced mining technologies can transform how we locate, extract, and process essential minerals. Innovations in exploration, energy-efficient crushing and grinding, smarter separation techniques, and cleaner refining aim to boost productivity and cut emissions. Some of these solutions — like AI-driven exploration — are already being deployed, but additional improvements to the mining sector’s productivity and sustainability are possible — and necessary. Improving these technologies is critical to meeting the soaring demand for critical minerals without increasing mining’s environmental burden.

Electrified Heat

Generating the intense, high-temperature heat required to manufacture materials relies heavily on burning fossil fuels. But electrified heat technologies are emerging as promising alternatives to combustion. Beyond providing electrified heat directly, one idea is to pair these systems with ultra-low-cost thermal storage, creating a way for industries to leverage cheap, intermittent renewable electricity when abundant. This approach allows factories to absorb and store vast amounts of energy as heat when power is abundant and cheapest, then use it to run their processes as needed. Continued innovation in this area could make clean, electrified heat a cornerstone of industrial decarbonization.

Material Recovery

Advances in material recovery aim to make it easier and less energy-intensive to extract valuable components like EV batteries, electronics, and textiles from waste streams. Emerging technologies focus on efficient separation methods and improved hardware design that enables easier disassembly and recycling. While some solutions are already in use, scaling them requires overcoming barriers like cost, fragmented infrastructure, and design practices that favor performance over recyclability. Progress in this area can dramatically cut emissions and reduce reliance on virgin materials.

Carbon-Negative Mining

Mining consumes an enormous amount of energy to unearth vast quantities of atoms. In addition to the atoms we need to build the modern world, one of the byproducts of mining is certain rocks that can lock CO₂ away via the natural process of mineralization. Crushing, grinding, and processing these rocks — which we’re often already doing — can accelerate that process. It’s the perfect two-birds-one-stone scenario: mining could theoretically become a powerful tool for climate mitigation by enabling carbon negativity through enhanced weathering.

High-Efficiency Resource Extraction

What if we didn’t need to extract extra dirt to get at the minerals we’re actually searching for? This moonshot imagines mining processes that convert nearly every atom extracted from the Earth into usable products, drastically reducing waste. Today, large volumes of rock are processed for only a small fraction of valuable material, using tons of energy and creating negative environmental impacts in the process. Achieving near-100% atomic yield would require transformative advances in extraction and separation technologies, far beyond current capabilities. Unlocking this opportunity could minimize mining’s footprint while delivering the critical minerals needed for the clean energy transition.

Industrial Nuclear

Small modular reactors (SMRs) offer a potential long-term solution for decarbonizing industrial heat. Unlike traditional nuclear plants, SMRs are compact, factory-built systems designed to deliver high-temperature, reliable heat directly to industrial facilities. In theory, they could provide a steady, on-site, carbon-free energy source capable of meeting the intense thermal demands of sectors like steel, cement, and chemicals — without the emissions associated with fossil fuels. Significant challenges remain, including regulatory hurdles, high upfront costs, public perception, and the need to prove safety and economic competitiveness at scale. If these obstacles can be overcome, SMRs could redefine how industries source their most difficult-to-decarbonize heat.