History

2023

Construction of the $240 million Energy and Minerals Research Facility that will jointly house researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and Colorado School of Mines has begun in September 2023. Site preparation is underway on the Mines campus, along 18th Street directly east of the USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center. The 190,000-square-foot building will be occupied by about 250 USGS researchers, 68 Mines researchers and 150 Mines students working side by side, with the intent to expand upon the two institutions’ long-standing partnership and history of collaborative research. Funding for the building comes from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.

2018

  • On October 22, 2018, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke joined Paul C. Johnson, president of Mines, to announce a long-term partnership between the university and the U.S. Geological Survey. The partnership will allow physical co-location of the Mineral Resources Program and its laboratories on Mines campus where government scientists and Mines faculty and students will work together in a new state-of-the-art facility. Johnson and Zinke were joined at the announcement by Senator Cory Gardner and Congressman Ed Perlmutter, as well as Mines Board of Trustees Chairman Thomas E. Jorden and Roseann Gonzales-Shreiner, USGS Associate Director for Administration and Acting Director for Southwest Region.

 

Mines President Paul Johnson and USGS Director Jim Reilly signing bylawas

 

  • Mines President Paul Johnson and USGS Director Jim Reilly signed the bylaws of the Center for Mineral Resources Science on August 9, 2018. The bylaws formalize the partnership between both institutions providing a framework for joint research in economic geology.

2016

Mines President Paul Johnson and U.S. Geological Survey Director Suzette Kimball signed a memorandum of understanding creating the Center for Mineral Resources Science on August 3, 2016. The document established that research on the genesis, exploration, modeling, mapping and economic analysis of critical minerals and materials represents a priority for both institutions.

Mines President Paul Johnson and U.S. Geological Survey Director Suzette Kimball signing a memorandum of understanding
From left: College of Engineering and Computational Sciences Dean Kevin Moore, Senior Vice President for Research and Technology Tony Dean, College of Earth Resource Sciences and Engineering Dean Ramona Graves, President Paul Johnson, USGS Director Suzanne Kimball, USGS Southwest Regional Director Max Etheridge, USGS Head of the Natural Resources Program Larry Meinert and Mines Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Kirsten Volpi.

2019

Colorado School of Mines plans to break ground early next year on a new state-of-the-art research and teaching facility that will bring Mines faculty and U.S. Geological Survey scientists together to tackle critical challenges related to the energy transition, water and mineral resources, subsurface urban infrastructure and more.

The Subsurface Frontiers building marks a major milestone in the continuing long-term partnership between Mines and USGS announced in late 2018. When the 180,000-square-foot facility opens in 2022, more than 150 USGS scientists and their minerals research labs will relocate to the Mines campus, where they will work alongside Mines professors and students with expertise in geology and geophysics.

2017

Following in-depth discussions throughout the year, the Mines and USGS leadership teams presented a proposal to the Mines Board of Trustees on October 27, 2017 to enhance the scientific partnership between both institutions, which would include physical co-location of the Mineral Resources Program on campus. All Trustees provided their approval to move forward to the next step and to commence with the planning of a state-of-the-art facility. The anticipated completion data for the new building is 2021.