The Institute for Mineral Resources (IMR) is a newly created interdisciplinary research center at the University of Arizona, jointly administered by the economic geology faculty in the Geosciences Department and the faculty in Mining and Geological Engineering. The IMR is an Arizona-based national center that bridges pure and applied science, engineering, business leadership, health, and responsible stewardship that has a global impact. The IMR will have a director with responsibility for coordinating mineral resources related research across campus, an outreach coordinator to work on K-12 outreach as well as technical training for the skilled labor workforce, a research/teaching staff. The IMR will have a technical advisory board of industry, government, and outside academic stakeholders as well as an independent board that provides oversight for the entire enterprise.

Sustainable development of mineral resources requires the support of large-scale integrated science that can only be done through expanded cooperation among government agencies, universities, industry, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders. Recognizing that the sustainable development of mineral resources is fundamental to the prosperity of the United States in the next century, the IMR will foster and expand the USGS-university-private partnerships to undertake mineral resource scientific research and inventories. The geological forces already arrayed in Tucson present an exceptional opportunity to build an active, cooperating mineral resources research community that addresses national, educational and other needs, and can build bridges to other groups both within and outside the geosciences community, ideally providing a model for high-quality, cost-effective, long-view research and education.

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