
Matthew Kinsella
76:41 - 77:37
"This bill puts our instrument to work inside that proven program, directing the USGS to fly quantum gravity surveys over priority mineral zones compare the results head-to-head against classical methods, and make all of it public, fueling private investment without a new authorization of federal spending."
“This bill puts our instrument to work inside that proven program, directing the USGS to fly quantum gravity surveys over priority mineral zones compare the results head-to-head against classical methods, and make all of it public, fueling private investment without a new authorization of federal spending.”
The technology for mineral mapping specifically is real and it's advancing fast. What's already proven and ready today is Earth MRI itself, the established USGS program this bill builds on with existing data platforms, state partnerships, and users across industry and academia. This bill puts our instrument to work inside that proven program, directing the USGS to fly quantum gravity surveys over priority mineral zones compare the results head-to-head against classical methods, and make all of it public, fueling private investment without a new authorization of federal spending. I'd ask the subcommittee to understand this in the context of two competitions with China at once: the competition for critical mineral supply chains and the competition for quantum technology leadership. Independent analysts estimate China's government investment in quantum technology at roughly $15 billion, alongside a separate $138 billion state-backed fund for emerging technologies.
The federal geological mapping program that nearly doubled Alaska's publicly available subsurface data expires at year end. Two House bills heard Tuesday would reauthorize it through 2031 and layer quantum gravity sensing onto the effort, with Alaska's unmapped interior at the center of the case for both.

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources heard testimony Tuesday on a bipartisan bill that would cut the FAST-41 permitting threshold from $200 million to $50 million, potentially opening the program to broadband, water, and small energy projects that rural and tribal communities depend on, but a former council director warned the bill cannot compel agencies to act in good faith.
