30 Geological and Geochemical Investigations of Critical Minerals in New Mexico and Beyond, and Technological Advances in Extraction of Critical Minerals

We welcome contributions ranging from geological/geochemical investigations of CM mineralization to fundamental experimental and theoretical approaches to investigations of critical elements that can be applied to extraction of CMs from various types of resources.

Tuesday, 19 May 2026
1:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Alvarado B

Participants

• Chair Yongliang Xiong
• Chair Virginia McLemore
• Chair Guangping Xu

Presentations

• 1:30 PM
  The Petrological and Geochemical Analysis of the Grant Intrusive Breccia and Vaughn Intrusive Within Hicks Dome, Hardin County, Illinois
  Aaron Beirl, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL and Daniel Hummer, Southern Illinois University, Earth Systems and Sustainability, Carbondale, IL and Harvey Henson, Southern Illinois University STEM Education Research Center, Carbondale, IL and Joe Devera, ISGS, Carterville, IL
  410487 (Technical Sessions)
• 1:50 PM
  Assessing Domestic Sources of Gallium: Evaluating Coal Ash as a Critical Mineral Resource
  Bidemi Fashina, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Debasis Banerjee, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Koushik Ghosh, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Mark Rigali, Critical Materials LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Guangping Xu, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  410498 (Technical Sessions)
• 2:10 PM
  Experimental Determination of the Solubility of Al(OH)3 in Alkaline Solutions: Applications to Hanford Tank Waste Sludge and to Extraction of Aluminium from Gibbsitic Bauxite Ores
  Vanessa Mercado, Sandia National Laboratories , Albuquerque, New Mexico and Yongliang Xiong, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
  410500 (Technical Sessions)
• 2:30 PM
  Experimental Determination, and a Thermodynamic Model, of the Solubility of Magnesium Citrate in Concentrated Brines: Applications to Extraction of Magnesium from Produced Water
  Yongliang Xiong, Sandia National Laboratories, albuquerque, New Mexico and Jianjia Yu, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico and Guangping Xu, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM and Matt Powell, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM and Charles Xu, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Sean Dwyer, Sandia National Laboratoriies, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  410502 (Technical Sessions)
• 2:50 PM
  Estimation of Pitzer Parameters using Neural Network, Random Forest, and exTreme Gradient Boosting: A comparative analysis of machine learning applications in critical mineral extraction and nuclear waste management
  Nikhet Chowdhury, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Vanessa Mercado, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM and Yongliang Xiong, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
  410512 (Technical Sessions)
• 3:10 PM
  Fluorite Geochemistry and Machine Learning Fingerprint Critical Mineral Systems
  Ian Hillenbrand, Denver, CO
  410623 (Technical Sessions)
• 3:30 PM
  Lithium Pegmatite Mineral Resource Assessment of the United States with an Emphasis on the Black Hills, South Dakota Region
  Joshua Rosera, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Fairfax, VA and George Case, Alaska Science Center, Anchorage, AK and Christopher Holm-Denoma, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Denver, CO and Niki Wintzer, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Spokane, WA and Dalton McCaffrey, National Minerals Information Center, Las Vegas, NV and Kelsey Crocker, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Spokane, WA and Lucas Evart, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Spokane, WA and Joshua Coyan, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Spokane, WA
  410639 (Technical Sessions)
• 3:50 PM
  Experimental Determination of Gibbsite Dissolution Kinetics in NaOH Solutions: Applications to Hanford Tank Waste Sludge and to Extraction of Aluminium from Gibbsitic Bauxite Ores
  Amanda Sanchez, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM and Vanessa Mercado, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM and Yongliang Xiong, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
  410723 (Technical Sessions)
• 4:30 PM
  Groundwater Surveys to Cosmic Catastrophes: Addressing Questionable Geology with New Mexico Links
  Mark Boslough, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
  410590 (Technical Sessions)