By Amy Dalrymple | Editor
Dan Laudal, executive director and research professor with the UND 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)
By Jeff Beach
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 Falkirk coal mine near Underwood.
Dan Laudal, executive director and research professor with the UND College of Engineering and Mines, in a presentation last month to legislators, said a key to making the pilot project work is its ability to make enough money so that it can survive beyond the five-year Department of Energy contract.
Michaela Ficek, a fair housing specialist for the High Plains Fair Housing Center, is pictured July 24, 2026, near apartment buildings and homes in Bismarck. She is at risk of being furloughed due to a gap in federal funding. (Photo by Jack Dura/North Dakota Monitor)
By Jack Dura
The only fair housing organization in the Dakotas is holding on until Sept. 1 for a key federal grant to arrive or it will furlough some of its staff.
The North Dakota-based High Plains Fair Housing Center has been awaiting the $425,000 Fair Housing Initiatives Program grant since May. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the three-year grant in 2023, but the third installment hasn’t shown up.
Center Executive Director Michelle Rydz said North Dakota’s congressional delegation is working to help address the grant funding, prompting the center’s board to delay furloughing staff.
“We don’t have a definitive date, and so that is still stressful for half the staff,” she said.
A view of mining operations at Eagle Summit Resources in Charleston, West Virginia, as seen on March 12, 2026. (Photo by James Pinsky/USDA)
By Sam Gauntt
President Donald Trump said Friday the federal government will fund $180 million in grants for mining schools across the county as part of his administration’s goal of rebuilding the U.S. coal industry.
The grants will include $100 million from the Department of Energy spread across the 14 accredited mining schools in the U.S., while the Department of War will dedicate just over $80 million for three major schools of mining and metallurgy: the Colorado School of Mines, the South Dakota School of Mines and Johns Hopkins University.
Trump framed the announcement as part of his ongoing effort to rebuild the U.S. coal industry and reopen mines, a central pillar of his energy policy. He has previously sought to shorten the regulation process for new mines and limit the impact of environmental regulations.
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More than 186,000 people in North Dakota and a neighboring county in Minnesota sought food assistance in the past year, a record for the Great Plains Food Bank.
Monitor reporter Michael Achterling talks to host Craig Blumenshine about the increase and the impacts from cuts to federal programs.
In the second half of this week’s podcast episode, deputy editor Jeff Beach talks about his recent reporting on low water levels at Lake Sakakawea and impacts to recreation.
A Closer Look with the Monitor is a partnership with Prairie Public's Main Street.
EARLIER ND MONITOR NEWS AND COMMENTARY
North Dakota reports first case of West Nile virus in 2026 | Monitor Staff
Great Plains Food Bank sees record numbers seeking food assistance | Michael Achterling
FROM STATES NEWSROOM
Rob Stone, pictured with his mother, Jeneva, has a rare genetic movement disorder, dystonia-parkinsonism, that limits his mobility and speech. He has advocated for the preservation of state-funded services that allow him to live in his community, rather than in an institution. (Photo courtesy of Jeneva Stone)
By Anna Claire Vollers
Disability advocates around the country are fighting a surge of federal and state actions that have eroded protections meant to keep people with disabilities living and working in their communities, rather than in institutions.
The federal government has walked away from decades-old requirements that states deliver disability services to people where they live. At the same time, state leaders, citing budget shortfalls, have rolled back community services the feds don’t require them to fund.
“It’s really hard,” said Rob Gorski, an Ohio father of three sons with autism who runs a popular social media account called TheAutismDad. “You try to wrap your head around one thing, and by the time you even figure out a path forward from there, they’ve thrown more stuff at you.”
US employers shed 23K jobs in July | Tim Henderson
During Operation Metro Surge, ICE arrested dozens of immigrant crime victims | Minnesota Reformer
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