A Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences lab is uncovering secrets of the earth's crust by shooting lasers at rock samples 💥🪨 Understanding how ultra-high temperature reactions can mobilize elements in the Earth’s crust, researchers believe this has wider implications for understanding the distribution and concentration of critical minerals, a highly sought-after group of metals that have proved challenging to mine and locate. If scientists can understand the reactions that first redistributed the valuable elements, theoretically, they could better locate new deposits of the materials today. “If you destabilize the minerals that host uranium, thorium and potassium, you're also releasing a lot of rare earth elements,” Andrew Smye, associate professor of geosciences, said. bit.ly/4qv7lZ0 #WeAre