8:30am | Registration

9am | Welcome & Opening Remarks
Geneen Auditorium

• Alec Gallimore, Provost
• Manoj Mohanan, Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies
• Jerome Lynch, Vinik Dean of Engineering
• Lori Bennear, Stanback Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment
• Jennifer Mundt, Assistant Secretary of Energy and Infrastructure, North Carolina Department of Commerce

9:30am | Hub Overview & Updates
Geneen Auditorium

• Leanne Gilbertson, Co-Lead, Critical Minerals Hub at Duke University
• Avner Vengosh, Co-Lead, Critical Minerals Hub at Duke University

10am | Building a Resilient U.S. Critical Minerals Supply Chain: Possibilities, Challenges, and Tradeoffs
Geneen Auditorium

What would it take to build a more secure and resilient U.S. critical minerals supply chain? Panelists from industry, academia, and the defense community will examine the opportunities, challenges, and tradeoffs involved in expanding U.S. capabilities-from mineral production and processing to manufacturing, recovery, and recycling. The discussion will consider the roles of technological innovation, economic competitiveness, environmental and community priorities, national security, and international partnerships in determining what a resilient critical minerals strategy could look like.

• Richard Burr (moderator), former U.S. Senator from North Carolina
  
• Ian Lange, Deputy Director, Critical Minerals Innovation Hub & Professor, Colorado School of Mines
  
• Michael Rosenthal, Founder & COO, MP Materials
• Anna Shpitsberg, SVP & Global Head of Research, Power and Renewables, Wood Mackenzie

11:15am | Break 

11:30am | North Carolina & Its Role in Critical Minerals Development
Geneen Auditorium

North Carolina is poised to play a pivotal role in the development of a U.S.-based critical minerals supply chain. This panel will explore North Carolina’s role in developing key industries—from mining and materials processing to the production of magnets and batteries—and its potential to strengthen America’s energy and manufacturing future. 

• Jeff Warren (moderator), Executive Director, NC Collaboratory
• Kate Bashford, NC Battery Industry Partnership, Appalachian Energy Center
• John Maslin, CEO, Vulcan Elements
• Dwain Veach, State Geologist, North Carolina Geological Survey

12:30pm | Lunch & Poster Session
Kirby Reading Room 

• Predicting Critical-Mineral Content of Abandoned Mine Waste / Mo Almarhoun
• Critical Mineral Mining in the Energy Transition: Mitigating Risks & Building out Benefits for Local Communities / Savannah Carr-Wilson
• Gated Pickering Emulsions for Selective and Efficient Lithium Extraction / Zhengkai Chen
• Electric Power Systems’ Simulation to Quantify the Economic, Reliability, and Environmental Benefits of Critical Minerals / Mauricio Hernandez
• Using Isotopic Analysis to Study Critical Mineral Deposits and Supply Chains / Michael Kipp
• Critical Minerals in Acid Mine Drainage Wastes: Mineralogy and Recovery / Anushka Mishrra
• A Scenario-Based Life Cycle Inventory of Critical Mineral Transport Emissions in NMC Lithium-Ion Battery Supply Chains / Shreya Nyayapathi
• Predicting Rare Earth Element (REE) Concentrations in Coal Ash Across Regions of U.S. Power Plants / Vinodhini Rajasekhar
• Oxidative Liberation of Critical Minerals Using Earth Abundant Photocatalysts and Benign Solvents / Jake Richardson

2pm | Breakout Sessions

Recovering Critical Minerals: Connecting Secondary Resources to U.S. Supply Chains
HCA Auditorium

The demand for reliable domestic supplies of critical minerals is increasingly recognized as a national, industry, and defense priority. Manufacturing scrap, end-of-life technologies, mine waste, and geothermal brines could complement primary mining. Yet, valuable materials remain stranded because feedstocks are difficult to access and characterize, recovery technologies are still emerging, and the economics and markets remain uncertain. This interactive breakout brings together leaders from industry, government, and applied research to examine which secondary sources offer the greatest near-term opportunity and what it will take to move recovery from isolated successes to a coordinated system. Brief perspectives from invited speakers will launch a guided discussion on feedstock access, material stocks and flows, technology and market barriers, academic–industry partnerships, and the potential for a coalition that lowers shared barriers to sample access, process development, and commercialization.

• Leanne Gilbertson (moderator), Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University
• Clara Park (moderator) Research Scientist, Political Science, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, Duke University
• Mat Everhart, CEO, Stadler America LLC
• Scott Glover, COO, Vulcan Elements
• Ian Lange, Deputy Director, Critical Minerals Innovation Hub & Professor, Colorado School of Mines
• Evan Leon, Senior Manager, Resources Recycling, Toyota Tsusho America, Inc.
• Allison Ward, Supply Chain & Analytics Lead, IBM Chief Sustainability Office

Source Tracing Across the Supply Chain
Connally Classroom

Global supplies of critical minerals and their associated products are unevenly distributed and largely controlled by a few countries, which induces geopolitical strains and potential shortages in domestic availability. The new initiative for predominance use of domestic supplies of critical minerals put a major challenge for the ability to track the sources of critical minerals in the supply chains. This session aims to present the complexity of the supply chains and new novel scientific methods of using isotope variations as fingerprints to track the sources of critical minerals in the supply chains.

• Avner Vengosh (moderator), Distinguished Professor of Environmental Quality & Chair, Division of Earth and Climate Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
• Jacob Clayton, CEO, SAGINT
• Michael Kipp, Grainger Assistant Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
• Ram Kumar, Staff Scientist, Critical Minerals & Geothermal Energy, Energy and Environment Science & Technology, Idaho National Laboratory
• Michael Rosenthal, Founder and COO, MP Materials

Addressing Critical Minerals Risk in Manufacturing Supply Chains
Class of 2008 Classroom

Most critical minerals discussion focuses on the supply side–where to mine, refine, and process.  This session flips the lens to the buyers: the manufacturers, project developers, and investors whose products depend on critical minerals historically sourced through concentrated, politically exposed supply chains.  Companies building EVs, batteries, electronics, defense systems, and clean energy infrastructure face direct supply chain risks associated with critical minerals, including supply shocks, tariffs, and cost volatility. This session will explore how companies are measuring and managing their critical minerals supply chain risks.

• Dan Vermeer (moderator), Executive Director, Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment & Associate Professor of the Practice, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
• Mark Corgliano, CFO, Phoenix Industrial Copper
• David Nenon, Battery Supply Chain Group Manager, Ford Motor Company
• Torsten Pilz, CEO, Counterpoint Labs
• Anna Shpitsberg, SVP & Global Head of Research, Power and Renewables, Wood Mackenzie

3:15pm | Break 

3:30pm | The Opportunities and Perils of Deep Sea Mining for Critical Minerals
Geneen Auditorium

The pursuit of critical minerals from deep sea mining offers a potential pathway for the recovery of critical minerals for the energy transition but also threatens vulnerable ocean ecosystems. This discussion will explore whether deep sea mining is truly needed as a way to close the gap in the critical mineral supply chain or are there other pathways available.  

• Anna-Marie Laura (moderator), Managing Director, mCDR Hub, Duke University
• Andrew Friedman, National Ocean Protection Coalition
• Patrick Halpin, Professor of Marine Geospatial Ecology, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
• Steven Roady, Senior Lecturing Fellow, Duke University School of Law & Professor of the Practice, Marine Science and Conservation Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University

4:20pm | Conclusion & Key Takeaways 
Geneen Auditorium

• Leanne Gilbertson, Co-Lead, Critical Minerals Hub, Duke University
• Avner Vengosh, Co-Lead, Critical Minerals Hub, Duke University

4:30pm | Reception
Kirby Winter Garden until 5:30pm.