The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation announced $75 million for five projects that use coal and coal-based feedstocks to produce rare earth elements and other critical materials.
The projects selected will support the development of pilot-scale facilities at their respective industrial sites. These facilities will produce market-ready critical materials, including rare earth elements, and other value-added minerals such as germanium, gallium and aluminum.
“American industrial facilities have the potential to produce valuable critical materials from coal and coal byproducts,” said Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson. “By investing in these facilities, we can increase domestic critical materials production and help mitigate the financial risk of commercial deployment.”
DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will manage the five selected projects:
- University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, N.D.)
- Valor Metals (NYC)
- CONSOL Innovations (Canonsburg, Pa.)
- American Resources (Fishers, Ind.)
- Peabody Energy (St. Louis, Mo.)
The award announcement advances the Trump administration’s efforts to strengthen the U.S. coal sector, including nearly $700 million recently announced for coal infrastructure and operations, and reflects a broader commitment to unlock the value of coal and coal-based feedstocks as domestic sources of critical minerals and materials.
Source: Department of Energy