The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced $16 million to build the nation's first-of-a-kind critical minerals production facilities in two states.
The money will pay to establish domestic supply chains of rare earth elements and critical minerals with an eye toward reducing U.S. dependence on foreign sources, according to an April 4 DOE news release.
"Today's funding will support a first-in-the-nation facility that will convert legacy fossil fuel waste into a domestic source of critical minerals needed to strengthen our clean energy supply chains," Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in the release. "President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is helping reduce our overreliance on adversarial nations and positioning the country as a global manufacturing leader — while supporting communities that have helped power our nation for generations."
The U.S. imports more than 80% of rare earth elements and critical minerals required for clean energy technologies and "other indispensable products that we rely on every day such as smart phones, computers and medical equipment," the news release said.
Billions of tons of coal waste and ash, mine tailings, acid mine drainage and discharged water now sit in waste streams nationwide. Those waste streams "contain a wide variety of valuable rare earth elements and other critical minerals that can be produced and used to build clean energy technologies, while helping to create healthier environments for communities across the country," the release reported.
According to the release, the money comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support projects in West Virginia and North Dakota to develope rare earth element and critical minerals extraction and separation refinery efforts.
"West Virginia University has provided a mining engineering education to generations of students for more than 150 years, helping to build a strong and innovative mining industry that powered our nation and made us a global energy leader," West Virginia Democrat U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said in the release. "This $8 million award, using funding from my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will continue that legacy and help to develop the energy technologies of the future with a first-of-its-kind facility to extract and separate rare earth elements and critical minerals from acid mine drainage and mine waste.
"By deploying this innovative technology to reclaim water from mining waste, we will ensure that we are producing these materials in the cleanest way possible while addressing environmental liabilities," Manchin added, according to the release. "West Virginia and West Virginia University are continuing to lead the way in energy innovation, and I can’t wait to see how the entire nation benefits."
"Along with their industry partners and the U.S. Department of Energy, the University of North Dakota is on the cutting edge of our energy future," U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer said in the release. "This award builds on the group’s efforts to research, find and affordably extract rare earth elements and minerals in North Dakota. The significance of developing this domestic supply chain for national and energy security cannot be overstated."
