1. (1) serve as the state's primary partner for issues related to developing critical mineral extraction and processing from research to commercialization, including:

   1. (a) workforce training;
   2. (b) the testing and piloting of technology;
   3. (c) federal grant coordination; and
   4. (d) development of processing capacity;
2. (2) coordinate the center's operations with the strategic plan established by the council in accordance with Subsection 79-10-302(1);

3. (3) partner with industry and academia to:

   1. (a) develop processing and separation processes;
   2. (b) provide technology benchmarking and performance validation;
   3. (c) provide pilot-scale demonstrations and scale-up;
   4. (d) integrate physical, chemical, electrochemical, and thermal processing; and
   5. (e) provide for autonomous sampling and real-time analysis; and
4. (4) lay groundwork for securing federal designation of an entity within the state as a United States critical minerals national laboratory.

Enacted by Chapter 493, 2026 General Session