Project Selections for FOA 3105: Critical Material Innovation, Efficiency, and Alternatives (Set 3)
Area of Interest 2: Value Added Products
2A: Value Added Products Phase I
Continuous Production of Sustainable Carbon Building Materials from Carbon Ore. Ohio University (Athens, Ohio), with project partners CONSOL Innovations, Engineered Profiles, Kinetics Noise Control, Appalachian Ohio Manufacturers' Coalition, and Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program, will develop and demonstrate the viability of a novel continuous engineered foaming process to produce value-added carbon building materials from coal and coal waste containing critical materials and minerals. This process would directly convert carbon ore into high-quality and sustainable lap siding and brick building components that meet or exceed building codes and ASTM performance specifications. If successful, the project would 1) support the diversity and security of domestic critical materials and minerals supply chain by using impoundment wastes generated by coal mining, which is an economic legacy of the Appalachian region, 2) create manufacturing jobs and tax revenue for the Appalachian region, and 3) create new lightweight, fire-resistant, and inexpensive carbon building materials that would potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve buildings’ energy efficiency.
DOE Funding: $2,000,000
Non-DOE Funding: $0
Total Value: $2,000,000
Driving Domestic Rare Earth Mining and Decarbonization through Value-added Advanced Alloys. Loukus Technologies, Inc. (Calumet, Michigan), with project partners Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Ames National Laboratory,will establish a semi-continuous process to convert cerium oxide with scrap aluminum machining chips to produce advanced aluminum-cerium alloys. The technology developed through this project will enable large volumes of cerium, overly produced in domestic rare earth mining, to be used in aluminum alloys via a process that has significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions and decreased embodied energy and enables greater usage of low-value aluminum scrap. This project will help reduce the environmental impact of rare earth element production, create a domestic supply chain for aluminum, and reduce reliance on foreign sources.
DOE Funding: $2,000,000
Non-DOE Funding: $500,000
Total Value: $2,500,000
Sustainable Production Processes for Geopolymer Bricks, Lightweight Aggregates, and Ceramic Tiles from Mine Tailings of Critical Minerals and Materials. Trustees of the Colorado School of Mines (Golden, Colorado) will develop a bench-scale continuous processes to produce sustainable, economical, and durable building materials—specifically geopolymer bricks, lightweight aggregates, and ceramic tiles—from mine tailings that contain critical minerals and materials found in mine tailings. The project will target mine tailings containing tellurium, zinc, rare earth elements, nickel, cobalt, platinum, and palladium. This project aims to address technical complexities, optimize production processes, and validate the economic and environmental viability of utilizing mine tailings. Additionally, this project will help address the mining industry’s environmental and human impacts and the construction sector's sustainability needs by converting mine tailings into building materials.
DOE Funding: $1,990,000
Non-DOE Funding: $0
Total Value: $1,990,000
An electrochemical process to enable the domestic, sustainable, and economic production of copper and its metal co-products. Still Bright, Inc. (Newark, New Jersey) will develop a novel electrochemical technology to extract metal co-products from copper concentrate. This project will enable the efficient and domestic production of copper and metal co-products and will further increase domestic production of metals that are used to manufacture clean energy technologies. Developing novel technologies that enable domestic processing of copper is essential to a pollution-free electricity sector by 2035 as well as net-zero emissions by 2050.
DOE Funding: $1,468,000
Non-DOE Funding: $669,000
Total Value: $2,137,000
Continuous solution melt processing to enable multiple critical element production from clay-rich ore. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, California), with project partners Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries and the Washington University’s McKelvey School of Engineering, will develop a domestic supply of lithium while co-producing up to 10 other critical and valuable metals, graphite, and Portland cement. Over the next decade, lithium is projected to be the most in-demand critical mineral. This demand is driving large-scale utilization of unconventional lithium resources such as lithium clays, which are the largest known lithium resource in the United States. If successful, this project will 1) address major challenges in the supply chains for clean energy materials like batteries, 2) reduce carbon emissions, water use, chemical use, and hazardous waste from the production of critical energy materials, and 3) maximize the production of value-added products that can ensure long-term security and stability of sustainable mineral resource use.
DOE Funding: $2,000,000
Non-DOE Funding: $0
Total Value: $2,000,000
Pre-pilot scale demonstration of co-production of lithium, potassium and magnesium from Great Salt Lake Brine. University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah), with project partners Idaho National Laboratory and Nexgen Materials, will develop a pre-pilot process by validating and scaling up direct lithium extraction fractional crystallization, and nanofiltration to demonstrate co-production of lithium salt, potassium salt, and magnesium salt. If successful, this project will help develop a flexible pilot that integrates multiple unit operations to demonstrate co-production of critical and/or valuable minerals from the Great Salt Lake and Paradox Basin brines. A consortium of mineral producers, technology providers, environmental group, the State of Utah will operate and oversee the flexible pilot. This project will use the direct lithium extraction technology from University of Utah, the direct lithium extraction fractional crystallization technology from Idaho National Laboratory, and commercialized nanofiltration technology.
DOE Funding: $2,000,000
Non-DOE Funding: $0
Total Value: $2,000,000
Chromium Iridium Platinum for Decarbonization (CRIPTID): Integrating Platinum Group Metal Recovery from Chromite Accessory Minerals in Ultramafic Mineral Carbonation Processes. National Energy Technology Laboratory (Albany, Oregon) will partner with Twin Sisters Olivine, Eion, and the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center to define optimum parameters for chromite concentration and platinum group elements extraction. The platinum group elements—in particular iridium and platinum—are critical components needed to enable green hydrogen production. Platinum group elements minerals, and specifically iridium minerals, occur within chromite phases of dunite, an ultramafic rock, that naturally reacts with atmospheric carbon dioxide during weathering processes with rainwater. If successful, this project will provide a stream of critical metals for green hydrogen production and reduce costs of enhanced rock weathering for carbon dioxide removal.
DOE Funding: $1,027,000
Non-DOE Funding: $150,000
Total Value: $1,177,000
Repurposing End-of-Life Graphite for Efficient Energy Storage Solutions. UT-Battelle LLC (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) (Oak Ridge, Tennessee), with project partner Li Industries, will repurpose end-of-life graphite from spent lithium-ion batteries into high-value graphitic materials for energy storage, aiming to minimize environmental impact and material criticality through sustainable recycling methods. This innovative process generates commercial-grade anodes, enhancing profitability, recovery rates, and reducing emissions. It broadens applications beyond lithium-ion and assesses economic feasibility, contributing to resource conservation and sustainability.
DOE Funding: $1,900,000
Non-DOE Funding: $475,000
Total Value: $2,375,000
Leveraging Critical Materials Byproducts for Efficient Industrial Alloy Production. National Energy Technology Laboratory (Albany, Oregon), with project partners American Flux & Metal and Haynes International, will design electroslag remelting slags containing rare earth elements byproducts in the form of oxides and/or fluorides. Rare earth elements have become increasingly important due to the growing demand for clean technologies. However, the production of rare earth elements leads to a broad range of elements and low-value rare earth elements cerium, lanthanum and yttrium, which represent approximately 8% of shared market value, but account for approximately 70% of the total production volume. This project will (1) improve efficiency of advanced alloys production by improving slag properties and/or significantly reducing loss of rare earth elements and (2) will result in a high-volume high value application for the low-value rare earth elements. This project will create high-paying jobs, increase U.S. competitiveness, and enable domestic materials production.
DOE Funding: $1,021,000
Non-DOE Funding: $0
Total Value: $1,021,000
Extraction of Critical Materials and Technology Metals from LIB-containing Electronic Waste. Airtronics, LLC (Tucson, Arizona) will demonstrate regional materials circularity through transition to a semicontinuous approach, a co-dissolution method that utilizes materials within electronic waste. This project focuses on creating a circular economy for consumer portable electronic devices, particularly those with integrated lithium-ion batteries. The aim is to develop efficient recycling technologies to recover critical materials, precious metals, and base metals from end-of-life devices, addressing supply chain constraints, environmental regulations, and the increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries.
DOE Funding: $1,600,000
Non-DOE Funding: $400,000
Total Value: $2,000,000
2B: Alternative Products Phase II
Flexible Pilot Plant for Producing Graphite Anode Material from North American Sources for Li-ion Batteries. Mexichem Fluor Inc. (St. Gabriel, Louisiana), with project partners Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will demonstrate the technical, economic, and commercial feasibility of a flexible pilot plant for graphite anode active material production from both graphite waste from battery recycling and mined graphite flake. This project will increase process efficiency to reduce waste, introduce more sustainable energy efficient practices, and scale value-added materials from battery recycling waste. This project will also reduce reliance on foreign sources for graphite and provide additional domestic alternatives for battery materials.
DOE Funding: $9,998,000
Non-DOE Funding: $10,006,000
Total Value: $20,004,000
Manufacturing Value-Added Products from Tungsten Carbide Waste Streams. Melt Technologies LP (DBA AMERMIN) (Briggs, Texas) will implement a pilot facility to produce tungsten carbide products from feedstock with greater efficiency and lower cost. At full capacity, the pilot facility will have the ability to process over 60,000 pounds of tungsten carbide waste material per month, a ten-fold increase over the bench facility. Tungsten and tungsten carbide products are essential for many U.S. industries, including aerospace, electronics, oil and gas, power, manufacturing, construction, and defense. This project will provide an innovative and secure domestic source of tungsten and tungsten carbide that is environmentally friendly and creates good-paying jobs for Americans.
DOE Funding: $5,737,000
Non-DOE Funding: $5,737,000
Total Value: $11,474,000