(Photos) Stakeholders Present Powder River Basin Business and Energy Solutions at Gillette Conference

Rare Earth Elements President and CEO Randy Scott tells his company’s story. (Mary Stroka/County 17)

GILLETTE, Wyo. – Participants in the Carbon Ore, Rare Earth Element and Critical Mineral, or CORE-CM, project are working together to promote commercial development around energy resources in the Powder River Basin.

Stakeholders to support economic development around these resources met August 30 and September 1 at the Gillette College Technical Education Center.

During networking and discussion sessions, participants shared their successes and challenges. They discussed common issues such as how to use waste from CORE-CM extraction, solving supply chain problems and competing with other countries like China.

75 people attended the annual conference. The Center for Economic Geology Research, along with the Wyoming School of Energy Resources, leads the project. The project aims to connect stakeholders to advance CORE-CM technology, infrastructure and manpower.

Denton Knapp, executive director of the Campbell County Commissioners, said after the event Thursday that the project will provide an opportunity for Campbell County, Gillette and Powder River watershed professionals to develop alternative uses of minerals and coal.

“This is part of our strategic plan that we are building on economic development and diversification, so far our main focus has been agriculture and mining,” he said. “This will create a new usable supply for coal.”

While the event was highly technical, he said it helped him better understand the critical need to find, mine and manufacture rare earth elements and other services that benefit imported coal.

Knapp says China’s control of rare earth elements has military and economic advantages for the US, and he sees that.

“We have to get it,” he said.

Existing coal infrastructure allows the state to repurpose nearby mines, providing space for coal mining research and development at places like the Wyoming Innovation Center.

He encouraged community members to talk to elected officials about energy policy.

“We must continue the freedom to work that we have always had [in Wyoming],” he said.

Anyone with questions about CORE-CM in Wyoming can contact research scientists at the Center for Economic Geology Research here. Companies and organizations interested in participating can contact Erin Phillips, geologist at the Center for Economic Geology Research at ephilli8@uwyo.edu.