CMI researchers at Missouri S&T conducted the research for this highlight
Innovation
Conducted a discrete choice experiment and modeled the preferences of people in Missouri, Minnesota, and Idaho regarding critical mineral mining projects.
Achievement
Article submitted to The Extractive Industries and Society titled: “Public Preferences for Critical Mineral Mining in the U.S.: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment.”
Significance and Impact
- The study shows that participants prefer battery-critical mineral projects that create jobs and reprocess tailings, reject projects with high groundwater and surface-water impacts, and are only minimally affected by the framing of a project as a critical minerals project vs. a precious metals project.
- This has implications for socio-political risks during permitting because it shows that, despite the U.S. Government’s push for domestic critical minerals production, the participants do not have a more favorable view of it than precious metals mining.
Hub Target Addressed
Assessing economic, environmental, and social acceptance impacts.
