The U.S. Department of Energy has announced plans for funding opportunities of nearly $1 billion to enhance mining, processing and manufacturing technologies essential for critical minerals and materials supply chains.
This has been announced in accordance with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order “Unleashing American Energy” which has been issued to “ensure a more secure, predictable, and affordable supply of critical minerals and materials that are foundational to American energy dominance, national security, and industrial competitiveness.”
“For too long, the United States has relied on foreign actors to supply and process the critical materials that are essential to modern life and our national security,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the Energy Department will play a leading role in reshoring the processing of critical materials and expanding our domestic supply of these indispensable resources.”
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The proposed funding opportunities include the Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator program, which is expected to release a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) of up to $50 million. This program aims to advance the development of technology to attract investment of capital, and promote domestic commercialization. Some of the main focus areas include the rare-earth magnet supply chain, semiconductor materials, lithium extraction and critical-material separation technologies for byproduct utilization.
The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management is also set to issue an NOFO supporting approximately $250 million for U.S. industrial facilities to produce mineral byproducts from existing processes. The Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) plans to issue an NOFO of up to $135 million to strengthen domestic supply chains for rare earth elements (REEs).
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The MESC also intends to issue an NOFO of up to $500 million to expand critical mineral and materials processing, as well as battery manufacturing and recycling. This will support facilities that process, recycle or use critical materials for manufacturing, including traditional battery minerals and other commercially important minerals. In order to be awarded this funding, the recipient needs to hold a cost-share of at least 50%. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy is also preparing to announce selections for its $40 million program targeting the recovery of critical minerals from industrial wastewater.
While the Energy Department has not mentioned China, this comes shortly following China’s moves to restrict the supply of critical minerals to Western defense contractors. More than 80,000 parts in weapons used by the Defense Department rely on critical minerals supplies that China controls, according to The Wall Street Journal.