A Kent State University researcher is leading a project that could change how the U.S. searches for critical minerals used in everything from electric vehicle batteries to solar panels.
Dr. David Costello has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for a new research initiative that will use artificial intelligence to analyze more than 50 years of water-quality data from rivers and streams across the country.
Instead of drilling or launching expensive surveys, the AI will look for chemical clues in existing water samples that could point to underground deposits of important minerals like copper, cobalt and manganese.
Those minerals are essential for modern technology, but the U.S. currently imports much of its supply.
Costello’s project was one of just 278 selected from more than 5,000 applications nationwide, making it one of only four Ohio-led projects chosen for the Department of Energy’s inaugural Genesis Mission program.
If successful, the research could help identify new domestic sources of critical minerals, reducing reliance on foreign imports while saving time and money in the search process.
The nine-month project is a collaboration between Kent State, the U.S. Geological Survey, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Virginia Tech.
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