Rare Earth Exchanges

U.S. Department of Energy Critical Materials Innovation Hub Announces $10m in Funding for Rare Earth Element Innovation–Submit Proposal by Dec 20th

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Highlights

  • The DOE’s Critical Materials Innovation Hub is seeking up to eight research projects focused on:
    • Rare earth metals
    • Gallium
    • Copper technologies
  • Funding of up to $1.5 million per project will support innovative research to secure domestic supply chains for critical materials.
  • Research areas include:
    • Environmentally friendly metal production
    • Semiconductor manufacturing improvements
    • Resource recovery from mine waste

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Critical Materials Innovation Hub (CMI Hub) (opens in a new tab) announced (opens in a new tab) up to $10 million in federal funding to accelerate the early-stage technology research and development (R&D) necessary to reduce material criticality for energy innovations requiring critical materials – rare earth elements, gallium, and copper. 

The Organization

Founded in 2013, the Critical Materials Innovation Hub, formerly the Critical Materials Institute, is a DOE Energy Innovation Hub (opens in a new tab) led by Ames Laboratory (opens in a new tab) focused on eliminating and reducing reliance on critical materials that are subject to supply disruptions and price fluctuations. DOE renewed the CMI Hub (opens in a new tab) for a third, five-year phase of operations that began in November 2023. The CMI Hub is part of DOE’s broader investment on critical minerals and materials (opens in a new tab).  

The Director

Chris Saldaña (opens in a new tab), director of DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office  went on the record about the announcement:

“The continued investment into innovative R&D critical materials projects is key to securing domestic, reliable, and resilient supply chains.” Saldaña continued “DOE and the CMI Hub are putting a specific emphasis on industry partnerships to facilitate adoption and bring these solutions to market.” 

This request for proposals (RFP) solicits proposals for projects across the following topic areas: 

  1. Environmentally benign rare earth metal and alloy production.   
  2. Efficient gallium byproduct recovery, separation, and concentration.   
  3. New compounds to reduce gallium content in gallium nitride semiconductors.   
  4. Improved processes for gallium semiconductor manufacturing that minimize waste generation.  
  5. Improved copper sulfide leaching to unlock copper resources from mine waste.

These topics are informed by the CMI Hub roadmap (opens in a new tab) and represent complementary research areas to the existing CMI Hub project portfolio. The selected projects will bring new membership to the CMI Hub, expanding focus and expertise on gallium, which is used to manufacture LED light bulbs, communications chips in smartphones, and high efficiency power supplies. Other projects will explore new research areas related to copper, which is essential for renewable energy, energy storage, and electric vehicles, and expand the CMI Hub’s long-standing efforts on rare earth elements.     

How many Awards?

The Hub anticipates making up to eight awards, with all projects receiving a maximum of $1.5 million in federal funds including a required 20% cost share for funds that go to industry partners. Projects will have a period of performance of up to 30 months. 

Due Dates

Concept papers are due by 6:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 20, 2024. 

View the full request for concept papers and submission requirements. (opens in a new tab) 

Join the information session on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 2:00 p.m. ET, to learn more about the request, areas of interest, proposal process, and more.  

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