Nucor Mineral Industries Building

A groundbreaking was held September 30, 2022, for the new Nucor Mineral Industries Building and construction began the following week. The building will be a hub for the geology, geological engineering, mining engineering, and metallurgical engineering programs. The facility will provide state-of-the-art teaching and research spaces for these core disciplines.

The building is being constructed thanks to both public and private funding. The two largest partners include the state of South Dakota, which provided $19 million, and Nucor, which provided an additional $5 million. Nucor is the largest recycler and domestic steel producer in North America with the broadest and most diversified offerings in the U.S. market. The total estimated project cost for the new facility was originally $34 million. Rising construction costs have increased that to $41.8 million. The university is committing $6.8 million to the project. The South Dakota Mines Center for Alumni Relations & Advancement (CARA) is raising the final private funding for the building, bringing in a total of $12 million in private investment.

“This investment, from public and private sources, will pay huge returns in the coming decades,” says Mines President Jim Rankin, Ph.D., P.E. “Work in the Nucor Mineral Industries Building will yield both high-tech solutions to modern problems and top-tier engineers and scientists who can lead the charge into a bright future.”

South Dakota Mines is one of a small number of universities in the United States to have all three mineral industry disciplines: geology and geological engineering, mining engineering and management, and materials and metallurgical engineering. This multidisciplinary combination has a history of creating innovation and advancements that benefit society. Research in these disciplines also has a proven record of attracting high-tech employers to the Black Hills area. Furthermore, the innovation in this facility will continue spur creation of new high-tech companies and economic development in the Black Hills, because these departments are actively engaged in groundbreaking research and innovation.