Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Energy Department is making up to $134 million available to projects that demonstrate the commercial viability of recovering and refining rare earths originating from mine tailings, discarded electronics and other waste materials, according to a Dec. 1 press release.
- The department launched the Notice of Funding Opportunity as another step in the Trump administration's effort to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources for critical minerals essential to military and domestic industries, per the release.
- “We have these resources here at home, but years of complacency ceded America’s mining and industrial base to other nations," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.
Dive Insight:
Pursuing a domestic critical mineral and rare earth supply chain has been a priority for multiple presidential administrations. In August, the current Energy Department introduced plans to provide nearly $1 billion to advance and expand mining, processing and manufacturing technologies for critical mineral supply chains.
Later that month, the agency made $60 million available for two additional programs: one to support technologies that shorten the evaluation timeline for ore deposits, and the other to foster AI use and experimentation in creating new types of rare-earth magnets.
The funding initiatives stem from President Donald Trump's January executive order, instructing the Energy Department to ensure federal support for critical mineral projects.
Meanwhile, the Energy Department’s most recent funding announcement is under its Rare Earth Demonstration Facility program within the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation. The department designed the program to demonstrate full-scale extraction and separation facilities in the U.S. for rare earths, such as praseodymium, neodymium, terbium and dysprosium.
Rare earths, a specific critical mineral group of metals, are vital components in advanced manufacturing, defense systems and high-performance magnets used in power generation and electric motors. The U.S. Geological Survey recently published its final 2025 list of 60 critical minerals vital to the U.S. economy and national security and vulnerable to supply chain disruption. The list added 10 more minerals, including copper, lead and silicon.
