The University of Alberta is fast becoming a global hub for expertise in critical minerals, encompassing the entire “value chain” from exploration and extraction to assembly, end-use products and recycling. Its researchers are international leaders in the extraction of minerals from oilsands waste.
As the world rapidly shifts toward next-generation technologies that will affect every aspect of our lives, it will increasingly rely on critical minerals to drive them. These minerals are essential in everything from batteries and electric cars to wind turbines and solar panels. Copper and other minerals also play a crucial role in the defence, aerospace and electronics industries.
In some ways, critical minerals and rare earth elements already form the bedrock of modern technology. Rare earth elements — a group of 17 metals on the periodic table — are often called the vitamins of modern industry. You don’t need a lot, but without them much of our technology — from smartphones to electric vehicles to radar systems — would be virtually impossible.
To meet the growing demand, the federal government launched the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022 — with 34 nationally dedicated minerals — calling it “a generational opportunity” to create “significant wealth and sustainable jobs in every region of this country.” Alberta also has a Minerals Strategy and Action Plan designed to put the province “at the forefront of global mineral exploration and development.”
And though the global clamour for minerals might seem like a relatively recent trend, the U of A has been acquiring leading-edge expertise in their extraction and processing for more than a century, leveraging a fruitful partnership with the Alberta Geological Survey and benefiting from a long history of adapting oil and gas engineering to modern “green” resource extraction.
Consider that the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, established in 1912, is one of the oldest in Canada, today housing a Mineralogy and Petrology Collection with more than 12,000 specimens.
“The University of Alberta is well positioned with the knowledge and expertise to develop new solutions to meet the increasing global demand for a reliable, responsible and sustainable source of these minerals,” says Dr. Aminah Robinson Fayek, vice-president of research.
Late last year, the federal government devoted $443 million over five years to strengthen critical minerals research and industrial partnerships. The U of A is home to some 65 researchers or teams focused on some aspect of the value chain. Many are housed in three centres: the Centre for Energy and Mineral Processing, the Canadian Centre for Isotopic Microanalysis and the Arctic Resources Geochemistry Laboratory.
The university also plays a key role in the Western Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy, a memorandum of understanding struck in 2026 and including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
In addition to providing expertise, Alberta sits atop 15 critical minerals, including Canada’s “top six” — lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements — so designated because they underpin the country’s entire domestic battery supply chain, from mines in Ontario and Quebec to battery plants in Windsor and St. Thomas.
“Mining, processing and manufacturing critical minerals can bring billions of dollars into the economy and support high-quality jobs, especially in northern and rural communities,” says Robinson Fayek. “These mineral resources could help diversify Alberta’s economy.”
Here are just a few critical minerals research projects underway at the U of A:
- Dr. Andre McDonald in the Department of Mechanical Engineering is using critical minerals to develop ultra-high strength coatings, fabricated by using a high-temperature industrial process known as thermal spraying, for the protection of machines and equipment from environmental damage due to erosion and abrasion. The thermal-sprayed coatings can also be used to de-ice wind turbine blades and aircraft wings, boosting equipment operations while reducing carbon emissions.
- Chemist Dr. Arthur Mar and his team in the Department of Chemistry are investigating the photoluminescence of certain rare earth elements to see how they might be used in light-emitting diodes and display technologies. In collaboration with Dr. Mostafa Yakout, his lab is also using rare earth elements to improve corrosion resistance in alloys for building small modular nuclear reactors.
- Jiayao Cui, a doctoral student in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, is analyzing interactions between electrolytes and zinc electrodes, with a view to improving zinc-ion battery performance. “Canada could benefit greatly from a more affordable option for storing electricity generated by renewable energy once zinc-ion batteries become commercialized,” says Cui.
Some of the most innovative research involves reclaiming minerals from the waste streams of Alberta’s oil, gas and geothermal industries. U of A researchers are world leaders in extracting vanadium, titanium and rare earth elements, for example, from oilsands tailings and bitumen waste streams.
- Mechanical engineering professor Dr. Ge Li and her teamare exploring new resource streams — such as extracting lithium from brine — and converting waste materials from oil production into essential battery materials, such as graphite and hard carbon. The group is also developing recycling and upcycling strategies for spent battery materials.
- Farzin Sadehlari, a PhD candidate in chemical and materials engineering working in Dr. Stevan Dubljevic’s group, is exploring sustainable and scalable separation technologies for recovering valuable and critical metals from complex industrial waste streams. Their green emulsion liquid membrane processes separate critical metals such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium for battery materials, reducing the environmental impact associated with conventional solvent extraction processes while contributing technologies that support domestic supply chains.
All of this research is part of the U of A’s Canadian Net-Zero Energy Solutions, an initiative launched in 2024 that brings together five interconnected research areas to drive CO2 emissions reductions and diversify Alberta’s economy while building Canada’s energy future.
“Critical minerals will shape the future of energy, technology and advanced manufacturing, and universities have a vital role in bringing together the partnerships needed to turn discovery into impact,” says U of A president Bill Flanagan.
