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Federal biotech commission examines Colorado's role in critical minerals production. By Scott Weiser 07/30/2026 | updated 6 days ago China's dominance over critical mineral supplies has left U.S. manufacturers vulnerable. Colorado's biotech and research community is working to ease that dependence. Leaders from the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology met last week at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. The roundtable session was part of the commission's ongoing Biotech Across America series of regional outreach and education meetings. The Colorado stop focused on using microbiology to recover strategic minerals from mining waste and other domestic sources. Commissioner Alexander Titus and commission staff joined participants from the School of Mines, the National Laboratory of the Rockies, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade and local startups. Alta Resource Technologies is developing protein-based methods to separate critical minerals. Nathan Ratledge, co-founder and CEO of the Boulder company, told the group that supply constraints are already forcing production stoppages in semiconductors, aerospace, automotive and defense. "No matter how bad you think it is, it's worse," he said. He linked the shortages to decades of Chinese dominance in mining and processing and said new technology is required to rebuild domestic capacity. Liz Dennett, founder and CEO of Arvada-based Endolith, described the practical obstacles companies face in moving from laboratory work to commercial scale. She said her firm has developed microorganisms that recover copper from copper mine waste piles that can increase total copper production by as much as 10%. "We are going to need somewhere between $50 million and $100 million to build our first commercial field pilot," Dennett said. Mining customers move slowly, she said, and investors typically require firm purchase commitments before providing that level of capital. Ratledge agreed, calling the resulting barrier a classic problem. "A lot of this is chicken and egg," he said. Customers will not buy until a company is producing, he said, and project finance is hard to obtain until buyers are lined up. Ratledge said Colorado has technical strengths but is being outcompeted by states offering larger, faster incentives. He pointed to Texas, where companies in related fields have secured multimillion-dollar grants tied to projects expected to create hundreds of jobs and attract more than $1 billion in capital investment each. Texas has also established a $350 million advanced nuclear development fund and deployed semiconductor innovation grants that have supported rare earth and magnet manufacturing expansions. Colorado supports the biotechnology sector mainly through its Advanced Industries Accelerator Program. The program offers proof-of-concept grants up to $150,000 and early-stage capital grants up to $250,000 for companies in energy and natural resources, advanced manufacturing and related fields. The state also provides investment tax credits and job-growth incentives. Recent Advanced Industries awards have totaled several million dollars across dozens of recipients. A new Governor's Competitiveness Council, announced this month, is examining policy and regulatory changes to improve the state's business climate. Eve Lieberman, executive director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, pointed to existing state grant programs and the competitiveness council as tools to address these gaps. Commission staff said federal tools such as advance purchase commitments and quicker pathways for demonstration projects could help close the gap between promising technology and market-ready production. Participants at the Mines gathering described both the opportunity created by Colorado's research institutions, biotech startups and the financing and market barriers that continue to slow commercial scaleup.

Metals, Minerals and Mining capital raises and investors in the U.S. - november 16th to december 31st, 2025. Several interesting transactions closed in the Metals, Minerals and Mining sector over the past month. If you would like more info or would like to discuss the capital raising market for your company, please contact me. * Sienna Resources, exploration-stage company that focuses on exploring for and developing high-grade deposits in politically stable, environmentally responsible and ethical mining jurisdictions, received CAD 1.9 million of development capital from an investor over 2 tranches. * S. Gold, exploration and development company that owns certain mining leases and other mineral rights comprising the CK Gold Project in Wyoming, the Keystone Project in Nevada, and the Challis Gold Project in Idaho, received $31.24 million of development capital from Franklin Templeton Investments United Kingdom, Mackenzie Financial and Libra Advisors. * Constantine Metal Resources, mineral exploration services that explore and develop mineral properties in North America, was acquired by Vizsla Copper for CAD 15 million. * Disa Technologies, materials liberation technology that optimizes the world's use of resources and disrupt best practices in the mining and reclamation industries, raised $35.08 million through a combination of Series A and Series A-2 venture funding in a deal led by Evok Innovations, putting the company's pre-money valuation at $112.92 million. * Rithmik Solutions, artificial intelligence platform that leverages predictive maintenance on mobile mining equipment, raised Series A venture funding from Hitachi Construction Machinery, Fire Phoenix Capital and Chrysalix Venture Capital. * Alta Resource Technologies, mining technology for the extraction of critical minerals from a diversity of feedstocks, raised $28.38 million through the combination of Series A venture funding from investors, putting the company's pre-money valuation at $79.12 million. * pH7 Technologies, economical and sustainable process for extracting platinum group metals from primary and secondary resources and waste materials, closed on $25.6 million of Series B venture funding in a deal led by F-Prime Capital. * Transition Biomining, custom products that increase metal recovery and processing speed from low-grade sulfides, raised $6 million of seed funding from SOSV and IndieBio, putting the company's pre-money valuation at $10 million. Tina vital. Managing director. Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss your capital raise: