Doctoral student earns fellowship, advances copper research
(From left) Amy Cook, Muhid Hassan and Sarah Patterson are among the engineering students receiving 2025-2026 graduate fellowships and advancing high-profile research at the University of Arizona.
Herbold Fellow Sarah Patterson charted her career toward mineral extraction after taking two courses with Isabel Barton, associate professor in the School of Mining Engineering and Mineral Resources.
“She was my first introduction to mining engineering; she later had an opening in her lab, and that inspired me to get my master’s,” the SMEMR doctoral student said. “I’ve never looked back.”
Patterson was one of 10 students who won a 2025-2026 Herbold Fellowship. Robert J. (Bob) Herbold is president of The Herbold Foundation and former COO of Microsoft. Each year, a handful of outstanding students at the U of A receive significant funding in their first year of study.
Graduate fellowships are crucial to supporting students as they engage in critical research at the College of Engineering.
Solutions for copper demand
Taking note of Barton’s efforts to identify critical minerals in mine waste, Patterson wants to develop a process that chemically extracts copper domestically while reducing environmental harm – keeping the mineral stateside and cutting transportation costs.
“Mining engineers often focus on greener and safer physical extraction methods, but addressing the chemical barriers in mining with metallurgical solutions can also allow us to be more environmentally friendly,” she said.
Patterson has zeroed in on chalcopyrite, a copper-iron-sulfide that resists hydrometallurgy, a method that separates minerals from ore with a liquid combining water and acid.
“Chalcopyrite requires a lengthy extraction process,” she said. “My goal is to understand chalcopyrite’s behavior and increase safe, economic copper recovery.”
Most chalcopyrite copper concentrate produced in the United States is shipped overseas for refining. Patterson’s research is aimed at developing an on-site hydrometallurgy process that cuts emissions while supporting the domestic demand for copper.
The Department of the Interior listed copper as a critical mineral in 2025 due to its use in electronic devices and machinery.