Ky Holland, September 12, 2026 (Post thumbnail and map image below from USGS Alaska Science Center)

Alaska has always been a resource state. Today, a new generation of resources is creating an opportunity for Alaska to play an even larger role in the nation’s economy and security: critical minerals.

This summer, the National Science Foundation selected the University of Alaska Fairbanks to lead the NSF Critical Mineral Accelerator Engine in Alaska, one of 12 new Regional Innovation Engines nationwide. The Engine will receive $15 million during its first two years and could receive as much as $160 million over the next decade. It brings together more than 40 partners and is designed to move Alaska’s mineral potential from research and discovery toward new technologies, businesses, workforce opportunities and commercial production. 

That award did not happen overnight. It reflects years of work by UAF researchers, industry partners, Alaska Native corporations, communities, state agencies and others. It also demonstrates why state investment can have an outsized return.

During development of the FY27 state budget, my office worked to secure state funding for the Alaska Critical Minerals Collaborative at UAF. The final budget signed into law included $500,000 in state general funds, contingent upon UAF receiving the NSF award. The University of Alaska said at the time that state support strengthened UAF’s competitiveness for the federal award. Less than three weeks after the governor signed the budget, NSF announced that Alaska had won. 

For a relatively modest state investment, Alaska helped position its university to compete for a federal investment potentially worth $160 million—and, more importantly, to build an industry that could generate benefits for Alaskans and our communities and economy for decades.

Ky

Links for more information

NSF Critical Mineral Accelerator Engine in Alaska
https://acma-engine.alaska.edu/

National Science Foundation Funds UAF-Led Critical Minerals Coalition
https://www.uaf.edu/news/national-science-foundation-funds-uaf-led-critical-minerals-coalition.php

NSF Regional Innovation Engines — Cohort 2
https://www.nsf.gov/funding/initiatives/regional-innovation-engines/cohort-2

Alaska Critical Minerals Collaborative
https://acmc.alaska.edu/

Alaska CORE-CM Project
https://dggs.alaska.gov/energy/core-cm.html

2026 Alaska Minerals Commission Annual Report
https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/Portals/4/pub/Mineral%20Commission/2026%20Alaska%20Minerals%20Commission%20Annual%20Report.pdf

What exactly is a “critical mineral”?

The term can sound technical, but the concept is straightforward. Critical minerals are minerals and elements that are essential to the modern economy, technology, energy systems or national defense, but whose supply chains are vulnerable to disruption.

They include familiar names such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, as well as less familiar materials such as gallium, germanium, antimony and rare earth elements. They are found in cell phones, computers, batteries, electric grids, aircraft, satellites, semiconductors, solar panels, medical equipment and military systems.

Their importance became particularly clear when China restricted exports of gallium, germanium and antimony. At the time, China supplied a substantial share of U.S. imports of all three materials. 

That dependence has economic consequences, but it also presents a national-security vulnerability. The February 2026 Economist briefing included a striking chart (no public free link) showing how China dominates the refining of several important minerals even where it does not dominate the mining itself. 

IEA — China’s Share of Global Mined Production and Reserves, 2024
https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/chinas-share-of-global-mined-production-and-reserves-2024

USGS — Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 PDF
https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026.pdf

Alaska is unusually well positioned to help change that picture. The new NSF Engine reports that 56 of the 60 federally designated critical minerals occur in Alaska, along with more than 5,000 known critical-mineral occurrences. 

Alaska has the rocks. The challenge is turning geology into an economy.

Having minerals in the ground is only the beginning.

Alaska is enormous, geologically diverse and still comparatively underexplored. The Alaska Minerals Commission notes that much of the state’s 663,000 square miles has never been systematically studied or sampled for mineral-resource potential. That is why basic geological mapping, airborne surveys, sample analysis and publicly available geologic data matter so much. 

2026 Alaska Minerals Commission Annual Report
https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/Portals/4/pub/Mineral%20Commission/2026%20Alaska%20Minerals%20Commission%20Annual%20Report.pdf

There are already signs of the potential.

Red Dog is the nation’s largest zinc mine, and UAF researchers have identified opportunities involving graphite, lithium, rare earth elements and critical-mineral byproducts. Research under UAF’s Alaska Critical Minerals Collaborative has also identified unusually high concentrations of gallium and germanium in coal from the Yukon River region. 

Antimony provides another real-world example. China has historically dominated global production, while the United States has relied heavily on imports. That has sent companies looking to Alaska. In 2025, U.S. Antimony identified Alaska as its primary focus for new supply and acquired claims near Fairbanks, Tok and the Maclaren River, while another company pursued antimony opportunities near Fairbanks. 

Fueled by Trade Tensions and Foreign Wars, a Rush for an Obscure Mineral Heats Up in Alaska https://anchoragepress.com/fueled-by-trade-tensions-and-foreign-wars-a-rush-for-an-obscure-mineral-heats-up-in-alaska/

Meanwhile, exploration at the Nikolai project has identified substantial nickel, cobalt, chromium and platinum-group-metal potential. 

Critical Minerals exploration Banned in China, Booming in Alaska. https://akheadlamp.com/banned-in-china-booming-in-alaska/

These are not simply interesting rocks. They represent possible future private investment, jobs, infrastructure and revenue—if Alaska can solve the technical and economic challenges required to develop them responsibly.

CORE-CM built the foundation

That is where UAF’s CORE-CM program enters the picture.

In early 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded UAF $7.5 million to expand critical-mineral research in Alaska and the broader Northwest. The program is collecting samples, mapping mineral systems and studying both conventional deposits and unconventional sources such as mine waste, coal and other materials that may contain valuable minerals. 

CORE-CM essentially asks:

Where are the critical minerals, what form are they in, and which resources have the greatest potential?

That work has included evaluating mine tailings that were once considered waste. At Greens Creek, for example, researchers identified substantial mineral value remaining in tailings. At Usibelli, researchers found elevated tungsten, germanium and yttrium. 

The program has also helped build UAF’s research infrastructure. Through the Alaska Critical Minerals Collaborative, researchers are linking laboratories and sophisticated analytical equipment that previously operated in separate university silos. That means more mineral samples can be analyzed in Alaska rather than being routinely shipped Outside. 

Alaska Critical Minerals Collaborative
https://acmc.alaska.edu/

The NSF Engine is the next step: from discovery to deployment

If CORE-CM provides the geological foundation, the NSF Critical Mineral Accelerator Engine is intended to become the multiplier.

Its focus is not simply finding mineral deposits. It is about finding faster, less expensive and more responsible ways to move resources toward production.

UAF’s Engine plans to work on AI-enabled geochemical exploration, advanced mineral processing and purification, biomining and bioextraction, commercialization and workforce development. Its stated mission is to increase domestic production by developing cost-reducing technologies and creating opportunities for Alaskans to participate in the resulting economy. 

That progression matters:

CORE-CM: map, sample and understand the resource.

NSF Engine: innovate, demonstrate, commercialize and build the workforce around it.

That connection is also visible in the Alaska Critical Minerals Collaborative’s earlier planning. Before the NSF award, UAF organized its Engine proposal around three pillars: use-inspired research and development, workforce and talent development, and translating research to the marketplace. 

NSF Engine and Opportunities to Engage — Alaska Critical Minerals Collaborative https://acmc.alaska.edu/

In other words, Alaska is moving from asking, “What do we have?” toward asking, “How do we turn what we have into businesses, jobs, a growing economy, and secure domestic supply chains?”

The opportunity should extend far beyond Fairbanks

One of the most important elements of this effort is that success should not simply mean additional research positions on a university campus.

The opportunity extends to miners, engineers, equipment operators, pilots, welders, technicians, geologists, entrepreneurs, Alaska Native corporations and communities throughout the state.

The Engine specifically intends to develop workforce pathways and business opportunities, including in remote communities. UAF’s existing Critical Minerals Collaborative has partnerships with Alaska Native corporations including NANA, Bering Straits Native Corporation, Calista Corporation and Doyon, recognizing both the potential benefits and the importance of local participation in decisions about development. 

The work also has to extend beyond mining itself.

Today, concentrates from Alaska mines are generally shipped elsewhere for smelting and refining. The Alaska Minerals Commission argues that Alaska should examine whether more processing can economically occur here, allowing the state to capture more of the value chain instead of exporting raw or semi-processed material. 

That is a much larger economic-development question: Can Alaska move from simply being a place where minerals are found to a place where technology is developed, minerals are processed, new products and processes invented, companies are created, a critical mineral economic cluster thrives, and skilled workers build careers?

The NSF Engine gives us an opportunity to find out.

A critical-minerals strategy also has to be about more than identifying deposits and attracting investment.

Responsible development means evaluating environmental and social impacts early, engaging the communities closest to proposed projects, and making sure local knowledge and concerns help shape decisions before development occurs. In Alaska, that includes questions about fish and wildlife habitat, caribou migration, water quality, subsistence access, and the cultural practices that depend on those resources. It also means being realistic about who benefits from new jobs and investing in training so more of those opportunities go to Alaskans, including residents of rural and Alaska Native communities.

UAF’s Critical Minerals Collaborative has emphasized community engagement, environmentally conscious extraction technologies, and partnerships with Alaska Native corporations, while the new NSF Engine includes workforce development and community participation as part of its broader mission.

Those commitments should remain central as projects move from research toward commercialization.

State investment can unlock much larger opportunities

That is why securing the FY27 state support mattered.

The Legislature ultimately provided $500,000 in state funding for UAF’s Critical Minerals Collaborative, contingent on the NSF award. The enacted budget also authorized the federal receipts necessary for the Accelerator. 

Our office supported that investment because Alaska should be prepared to compete when federal dollars, private capital and national priorities line up with something our state does exceptionally well.

The state’s investment did not replace federal or private investment. It leveraged it. Before the award, UAF reported more than $300 million in committed private-sector in-kind support associated with the Engine proposal, and UA publicly stated that Alaska’s budget support strengthened the university’s position in the NSF competition. 

That is the kind of leverage we should look for in the state budget: relatively targeted Alaska dollars that bring substantially greater federal and private resources into the state and leave behind research capacity, workforce training, intellectual property, businesses and jobs.

What comes next

Winning the NSF Engine is a milestone, not the finish line.

Alaska still has major challenges: enormous distances, high energy and transportation costs, limited infrastructure, workforce constraints, permitting timelines, community concerns and the lack of in-state refining for many minerals.

Responsible development also requires early and meaningful engagement with the communities closest to potential projects. The recent interest in antimony around Fairbanks shows both sides of the issue: significant economic opportunity alongside legitimate questions from nearby residents about roads, industrial activity and environmental impacts. 

Those conversations should be part of the work, not treated as obstacles to it.

At the state level, we should continue building the basic ingredients that make responsible development possible: high-quality geologic data, modern permitting systems, workforce education, infrastructure, affordable energy, community engagement and a comprehensive mineral-development strategy. Those priorities are also reflected in the Alaska Minerals Commission’s 2026 recommendations. 

Alaska has spent generations shipping natural resources to markets around the world. Critical minerals give us the opportunity to think bigger—to pair our geology with Alaska research, Alaska technology, Alaskas future economy and value-added output, Alaska workers and Alaska businesses.

The federal government has recognized the opportunity. Industry has recognized it. UAF has built a nationally competitive team around it. It’s important for Alaska and our state agencies to engage and support this effort. The match funds were a small step. The 2027 update to our state’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and alignment of AIDEA and other state resources and offices will be critical.

Our job now is to make sure Alaskans capture the benefit.

Securing the state investment in the FY27 budget was one step in that direction. Winning the NSF Critical Mineral Accelerator Engine was another.

What comes next will help determine whether Alaska becomes not simply a source of America’s critical minerals, but a center of innovation, expertise and economic activity that develops those resources responsibly. That means pairing research and commercialization with early community engagement, careful evaluation of environmental and social impacts, respect for fish, wildlife, subsistence and cultural values, and workforce development that helps more Alaskans benefit from the jobs and businesses this emerging industry can create.

If Alaska can do those things well, critical minerals could strengthen both our economy and our communities for decades to come.

Ky