The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation Aug. 26 proposed awards totaling $10 million for seven projects aimed at recovering and refining critical materials required for key energy technologies.
The projects, led by the agency’s Critical Materials Innovation Hub, will focus on early-stage research and development pertaining to recovery of heavy rare earths, gallium, copper and other materials.
“These seven projects will leverage the Critical Materials Innovation Hub’s strong foundation of expertise to address key technical challenges” involving these materials, Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson said in a statement. “This work will unlock new production methods that strengthen domestic supply chains and ensure American manufacturers have access to the materials they need to compete and lead.”
The focus areas of the projects selected for award negotiations include:
- Case Western Reserve University: Intensified process enabled by chloride-based molten salt electrolysis for highly efficient heavy rare-earth metal production
- Colorado School of Mines: Improved copper extraction from primary copper sulfides using hydro and bio-hydro metallurgical processes
- University of Arizona: Enhanced copper sulfide leaching using nanobubbles, surfactants, and reactive oxygen species to enhance copper sulfide leaching
- FAST Metals: New domestic sources of critical minerals, including extracting gallium and rare earth mixed oxides from industrial byproduct residue streams
- Indium Corp.: Improved ion-exchange resin for gallium extraction from bauxite-alumina processing
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Redox-adsorbents for the selective electrochemical recovery of gallium from mining byproducts and end-of-life waste
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory: A process to transform selective separation and recovery of gallium from zinc refinery residues using solid-phase extraction
According to DOE spokesperson Maria Payan, gallium is found in high-voltage semiconductors, light-emitting diodes, high-strength magnets, space solar photovoltaics, integrated circuits and optoelectronics. Copper is used in electric grid cables, machines and transformers for power generation and distribution, electronics and batteries. Heavy rare earth elements, such as dysprosium and terbium, are used to improve the performance of high-strength magnets for wind turbines and electric vehicles, among other applications.
DOE’s investments in rare-earths “will ensure American manufacturers have access to the materials they need to produce components and technologies that are vital to our energy economy,” Payan said.
She added that conventional methods for critical mineral recovery and refining rely on “decades-old processes that are ripe for innovation” to lower costs and reduce human health and environmental impacts.
This is the latest DOE award meant to bolster the domestic critical minerals supply chain. Earlier this month, the agency announced $500 million for seven projects to expand domestic critical mineral and material processing, battery manufacturing and recycling capacity.
That award was the DOE’s third round of funding from its Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing and Recycling programs. These grants support battery materials processing, recycling and manufacturing projects including demonstration projects, construction of commercial-scale facilities and retrofitting or retooling existing facilities.
In December 2025, the DOE announced it was making up to $134 million available to projects that demonstrate the commercial viability of recovering and refining rare-earth minerals originating from mine tailings, discarded electronics and other waste materials.
The U.S. Department of Defense has also funded rare-earth minerals projects. For example, it recently signed multiple conditional loan agreements valued at more than $2 billion through its Office of Strategic Capital with battery cell manufacturer Sila Technologies, rare earth magnet maker Niron Magnetics, Australia-based Sunrise Energy Metals and other companies.
