Carbon ore, rare earth and critical minerals (CORE-CM)

Project Details

• Project ID:

  1659

• Nickname/Abbreviation:

  CORE-CM

• Parent Project:

  Energy Resources Section projects

• Status:

  Active

• Description:

  The objective of this project is to reduce our nation's reliance on imported Rare Earth and Critical Minerals (REE-CM) by establishing Alaska's resources as competitive sources of supply. This project will systematically perform a set of broad basinal assessments of Alaska's Carbon Ore, Rare Earth and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) found in several of Alaska's basins. Included in the analysis will be two obvious basins: (1) the basin hosting Alaska's only operating coal mine, and (2) the basin hosting North America's largest large-flake graphite deposit. This is a joint project in collaboration with UAF, UAA, Technology Holding LLC, ESP Research Inc., JWP Consulting LLC, and Green Leaf Carbon Technologies, and Ahtna, Inc. with industry partners of Ucore Rare Metals Inc., CVMR Inc., Graphite One (Alaska), Inc., and Usibelli Coal Mine. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory. Field project areas in 2025 include: Matanuska Valley, Deadfall Syncline Coal Mine area, Healy/Jumbo Dome, and Ray River area.

• Project Date(s):

  2021 - present

• Primary Contact:

  Wartes, Marwan A.

• DGGS section:

  Energy Resources

• Alternate Url:

  Find out more...

• Project Participants:

  Marwan A. Wartes, Melanie B. Werdon, Robert J. Gillis, Jean A. Riordan, Trystan M. Herriott, Evan Twelker, Nina T. Harun, Alicja Wypych, Joshua H. Long

Publications

There are no primary publications for the Carbon ore, rare earth and critical minerals (CORE-CM) project at this time.

Posters and Presentations

Szumigala, D.J., 2026

Szumigala, D.J., 2026, Alaska sources of critical minerals (poster): 2026 Alaska Geological Society Technical Conference, Fairbanks, Alaska, April 18, 2026: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, 1 sheet. https://doi.org/10.14509/32118

Wartes, M.A. and Sheets, B.J., 2022

Wartes, M.A., and Sheets, B.J., 2022, Bringing Alaska’s CORE-CM potential into perspective (presentation): Resource Sustainability Annual Project Review Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 25-27, 2022: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, 24 p. https://doi.org/10.14509/30906