Alan Collins

Professor of Natural Resource Economics, West Virginia University

Alan Collins

MP Materials’ Mountain Pass mine and processing facility in California was for years the only U.S. rare earth elements mine.

The missing link in America’s critical minerals push isn’t mining — it’s processing expertise

Hélène Nguemgaing

12 May 2026

5 min read

Acid mine waste turns rocks orange along Shamokin Creek in Pennsylvania.

America’s next big critical minerals source could be coal mine pollution — if we can agree on who owns it

Hélène Nguemgaing

23 Jan 2026

4 min read