The Department of Energy will invest up to $100 million to shore up the United States’ critical minerals workforce and domestic supply chains.
Workforce shortages now span the entire critical minerals and materials supply chain, and the department estimates the nation will need roughly 6,000 new mining engineers over the next decade.
PROSPECT, the Providing Opportunities for Specialized Education in Critical Technologies initiative, will expand educational opportunities and develop the skilled workforce needed for domestic production, processing, recovery and recycling of critical minerals.
PROSPECT aims to double the number of U.S. graduates with degrees in minerals, mining and supply‑chain technologies within two years and will later support new curricula, financial aid, teaching tools and incentives for sustained workforce growth.
Critical minerals underpin economic stability, national security and supply‑chain resilience, forming the backbone of batteries, nuclear energy, solar cells, magnets, semiconductors, steel, aerospace alloys, electronics and lasers.
Enrollment in mining education programs has plunged about 45 % since 2015, creating shortfalls that have allowed foreign workforces to outpace U.S. competitors at every supply‑chain stage.
“A strong domestic mining and minerals workforce is essential to powering America’s future, strengthening our national security, and ending our dependence on foreign adversaries for the materials that underpin modern energy, manufacturing and defense,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in the department’s statement.
More Investments
The $100 million DOE investment is part of the $180 million funding President Donald Trump announced on Aug. 7 to expand the mining workforce, a plan unveiled at a roundtable with nearly 200 industry leaders, officials and educators.
Trump earmarked $80 million of the total for the military to fund workforce and technology development programs at Colorado School of Mines, the South Dakota School of Mines and Johns Hopkins University.
Trump warned that half of the current mining workforce will retire within three years, underscoring the urgency of the administration’s push.
The president also announced nearly $2 billion in mining investments, including a $1.4 billion loan to Sila Nanotechnologies for a battery plant in Washington, a potential $1 billion loan to Ivanhoe Electric’s Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona, and a $400 million investment in Sunrise Energy Metals for high‑heat aluminum alloys used in spacecraft and fighter jets.
“We’re putting our miners back to work, and we’re reclaiming America’s rightful place as the minerals superpower of the world,” Trump declared.
Since January 2025, the Trump administration has approved or signed 160 minerals deals valued at roughly $40 billion, according to a White House fact sheet.
Trump has invoked Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose tariffs and negotiate with trading partners, actions the White House says protect domestic manufacturing, ensure a level playing field for U.S. producers and bolster national security.
