Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at Mines, co-authored this column. It discusses how the Chinese mineral export ban could cause the U.S. defense industry to experience short-term mineral shortages and higher prices.

Morgan Bazilian, director of the Payne Center for Public Policy at Mines, co-authors this column.

Paul Santi, Mines geology professor, is quoted in this article that was written after a Pennsylvania woman is believed to have fallen to her death in a sinkhole.

Christopher Higgins, civil and environmental engineering professor at Mines, is quoted about minor levels of PFAS, a class of chemicals that can cause serious health effects, being detected at eight testing sites in Leadville and Lake County.

At its centennial annual conference September 23-25 in New Orleans, the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) named Jennifer L. Miskimins, PhD, PE incoming president for 2026.

Mines graduate students Kenneth Liang and Chris Tolton are helping NASA harvest, move and store energy sources on the moon.

Mines graduate student Jalen Thomas, a fullback for the Orediggers football team, is the founder and CEO of FUNtastic, a company focused on bringing interactive entertainment to Colorado. Thomas, a mechanical engineer who graduates in December after he completes a certificate in Space Resources, recruited fellow Colorado School of Mines students to develop the business. Their first product — a portable escape room.

At Colorado School of Mines, the beloved mascot is Blaster the Burro. His job is a big one to fill, and two different burros, Pepsi and Winkie, have mascot responsibilities.

Victoria O'Malley, Mines' chief marketing officer, is interviewed about the new Colorado School of Mines child care facility where she has her daughter enrolled. The Mines Early Childhood Center operated by Massachusetts-based Bright Horizons opened Sept. 16, 2024 to full-time faculty, staff and students.

“In a purely commercial sense, it has been hard to justify an investment outside of China even though there is a lot of talk,” said Roderick G. Eggert, a minerals economist at the Colorado School of Mines.