Rob Pell talking rare earth criticality in USA
Robert Pell travelled to the USA early in September to present his research on rare earth criticality and integration of criticality into life cycle assessments. This was greatly assisted with the financial support of the Camborne School of Mines Trust.
New Haven and Yale University's Industrial Ecology group was the first stop on Friday 8th September. A presentation to the department and other interested parties was followed by a number of interesting meetings with a number of academics with expertise in criticality, life cycle assessments and economic modelling. Particular highlights included meeting with Professor Thomas Graedel and Dr Barbara Reck, both giants in field of material and metal criticality.
Next on the agenda was the USGS National Minerals Information Center in Reston, near Washington DC. A packed day included meetings with a range of rare earth and technology metal, criticality, and life cycle assessment specialists as well as Steven Fortier, Center Director for the National Minerals Information Center. Fortier discussed the growing need for criticality studies and highlighted that USGS is looking at early identification of critical metals and new ways to interpret the large quantities of data available to them. The presentation, which was attended by USGS staff and streamed live, evoked lively discussion around data quality for the rare earth market and uncertainty analyses.
Rob's presentation can now be found online
Robert Pell, September 2017
