Brad Handler, senior fellow for public policy at the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines, said he believes the near-term impact of the leasing moratorium will be much less than the industry says.

For fish, state health researchers are teaming with environmental engineers at the Colorado School of Mines.

“The rare earths are like the vitamins of the manufacturing industry,” said Corby Anderson, the Harrison Western Professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, which is not directly involved in the ....