Fertilizer from coal a key part of North Dakota critical minerals processing plans

“We’ve got to get it done,”
  • Dan Laudal, executive director and research professor with the University of North Dakota College of Engineering and Mines, provides a tour of the critical minerals research facility in Grand Forks on May 26, 2026, to Sen. Kevin Cramer, center, and Department of Defense official Michael Duffey. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)
    Dan Laudal, executive director and research professor with the University of North Dakota College of Engineering and Mines, provides a tour of the critical minerals research facility in Grand Forks on May 26, 2026, to Sen. Kevin Cramer, center, and Department of Defense official Michael Duffey. (Photo by Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)

    North Dakota’s abundant supply of lignite coal has been touted as a domestic source for critical minerals needed in magnets and electronics.

    But research at the University of North Dakota shows the potential for another lignite byproduct — fertilizer.

    UND has secured a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its critical mineral refining to the first commercial-scale test site at the F…