Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and NETL announced plans to make available $122 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative for U.S. Basins.

“The Trump Administration is committed to developing technological solutions to extract rare earth elements, critical minerals, and other valuable products from our Nation’s abundant coal reserves,” said Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette. “These projects have an important role; they will help develop a viable domestic supply of these resources while creating new market opportunities for coal.”

This funding is a part of the CORE-CM Initiative, which is sponsored by DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy. This initiative for U.S. basins is intended to catalyze regional economic growth and job creation by realizing the full value of natural resources, including coal, across basins throughout the Nation.

“We’re excited about the path forward with this initiative,” said Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg. “CORE-CM has been specifically designed to develop the upstream and midstream critical minerals supply chain and enable the downstream manufacturing of high-value, nonfuel, carbon-based products. This will help us realize the full potential for carbon ores and critical minerals within U.S. basins.”

Projects under this FOA will be developed by coalition teams of private industry, university, and state, local, and federal government personnel. They will design a multi-year effort to be implemented in three phases. More information on these phases and the basins of interest can be found in the FOA on FedConnect.

DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will host a pre-application webinar on October 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. EDT to provide additional information to potential applicants. Join the event here.