UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI) EarthTalks fall 2025 series, “Critical Minerals — A National Economic and Security Imperative,” will highlight the need for a reliable supply chain of critical minerals and the ongoing research to locate these resources. The seminars are scheduled for 4 p.m. Mondays in 112 Walker Building and will be accessible via Zoom. Seminars are free and open to the public.
The series will begin Sept. 8 with a talk by Ned Mamula, an economic geologist and project manager with more than 30 years of experience, including at the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Energy and the investment and advisory firm GreenMet, formerly Greentech Minerals. He will give the talk “America’s Mineral Wealth — An Embarrassment of Riches That Requires an Immediate Critical Minerals Policy Perspective.”
“American mineral and metal resources and reserves are arguably the largest of any such endowment on Earth,” Mamula said, previewing his remarks. “Yet U.S. mineral imports are at records levels, and this over-reliance has become a major geopolitical and national security concern.”
Fostering “greater appreciation of American mineral wealth requires development of robust university programs, rewarding students who enroll in those programs and increasing public awareness needed to achieve domestic mineral independence,” he said.
Mamula, who earned a master’s degree in geological and earth sciences from Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, serves on the Alumni Advisory Board of the college’s Department of Geosciences. He was a research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey and directed part of the geological characterization efforts for the Energy Department’s critical minerals program. At Greentech, Mamula was chief geologist and involved in international and domestic exploration, ore deposit assessment and hard-rock mining efforts.
Mamula was nominated to be director of the U.S. Geological Survey earlier this year and is currently awaiting Congressional confirmation. He is an author of two books on critical minerals: “Groundbreaking! America’s New Quest for Mineral Independence” (2018) and “Undermining Power — How to Overthrow Mineral, Energy, Economic & National Security Disinformation” (2024).
About the EarthTalks fall seminar series
Critical minerals are vital to domestic economic growth and national security. They are increasingly important to everyday life and to national defense readiness. At the same time, the U.S. is almost completely dependent on foreign sources for these commodities. To help address the need for a secure, dependable and affordable supply of critical minerals, Penn State’s Center for Critical Minerals explores their occurrence in various geologic terrains and industry byproducts. The center also seeks to develop advanced technologies to extract and recover these minerals sustainably from multiple materials including coal, coal waste products and acid mine drainage
This EarthTalks series focuses on the need for a reliable supply chain of critical minerals and on the ongoing research to provide them domestically. For more about the series, visit the EarthTalks website.