Advancing Technology Development for Securing a Domestic Supply of Critical Minerals and Materials (CMM) | DE FOA 0002955

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002955

Advancing Technology Development for Securing a Domestic Supply of Critical Minerals and Materials (CMM) is a Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) notice of intent that signals an upcoming funding opportunity focused on strengthening domestic supply chains for critical minerals and materials. This posting is not the funding announcement itself; it is an informational preview indicating that DOE plans to issue a future Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) (referenced as DE-FOA-0002956 in the notice). Because it is only a Notice of Intent (NOI), applications are not being accepted yet, DOE is not requesting public comments, and the details described can change when the actual FOA is released.

The planned effort sits under DOE's Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) program and is expected to use cooperative agreements as the funding instrument, which typically means DOE anticipates substantial involvement during the project period (for example, collaboration on technical direction, milestones, or reporting). The assistance listing associated with the opportunity is CFDA/Assistance Listing 81.089, and the activity category is Energy and Natural Resources. The listing shows an "unrestricted" applicant pool at the NOI stage, but eligibility requirements will ultimately be defined in the final FOA, so prospective applicants will need to rely on the final published rules rather than the NOI for definitive eligibility.

DOE indicates the future FOA will be organized around four Areas of Interest (AOIs), all aimed at advancing technologies that can increase U.S. access to critical minerals and materials, particularly rare earth elements (REEs), from non-traditional or currently underutilized sources. The first Area of Interest focuses on the coproduction of critical minerals and materials alongside carbon manufacturing precursor materials derived from unconventional coal and other carbon-based feedstocks. In practical terms, this suggests R and D that simultaneously extracts valuable mineral content while also generating carbon-based precursor products that could feed downstream manufacturing, potentially improving project economics by producing multiple revenue streams from the same feedstock.

The second Area of Interest targets the recovery of heavy rare earth elements from secondary and unconventional resources. Heavy rare earths are often more supply constrained and strategically important for advanced magnets, electronics, and defense applications, so this track is likely intended to push technologies that can economically extract and separate these elements from non-traditional sources such as legacy materials, industrial byproducts, or other unconventional deposits rather than relying solely on conventional mining.

The third Area of Interest is aimed at critical mineral recovery from produced water, which is water brought to the surface during oil and gas production and other subsurface operations. This area typically involves developing processes to extract dissolved minerals from high-salinity brines, while addressing operational realities like variable water chemistry, scaling, pretreatment needs, and disposal constraints. If successful, produced-water recovery approaches could turn a costly waste-management stream into a domestic resource pathway for certain critical minerals.

The fourth Area of Interest emphasizes process diversification for producing rare earth elements from secondary or unconventional resources and recycled materials. This track signals interest in broadening the toolkit of separation, refining, and processing routes, including methods that can work with recycled inputs or complex mixed-material streams. It is essentially a call for alternative process pathways that can reduce bottlenecks, improve resilience, and expand the range of viable U.S.-based feedstocks for REE production.

The notice directs readers to obtain the full NOI through NETL's exchange site at https://netl-exchange.energy.gov, which is also where the final FOA would typically appear once issued. The record associated with this notice includes an original closing date of 2024-09-27, but since this is an NOI and applications are not currently accepted, the meaningful submission deadlines and award details will be established in the eventual FOA. The listing also shows an award ceiling value of 2 and expected awards of 0, which should be treated as placeholder or preliminary metadata rather than a confirmed funding plan until DOE publishes the final announcement with the official funding amounts, number of awards, cost share requirements (if any), and technical merit review criteria.

Overall, the NOI communicates DOE's intent to fund technology development that can expand domestic, non-traditional sources of critical minerals and rare earth elements, with an emphasis on extracting value from carbon-based feedstocks, secondary and unconventional resources, produced water, and recycled materials. The key takeaway for interested organizations is that this is an early heads-up to prepare, track the NETL Exchange posting for the actual FOA release, and wait for the final eligibility and application instructions before taking formal action.

• The National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Advancing Technology Development for Securing a Domestic Supply of Critical Minerals and Materials (CMM)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-08-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-09-27. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for DE FOA 0002955

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: