The US Department of Energy (DoE) has uncorked $156m in project finance to develop next-generation processes to extract and separate a range of critical minerals and rare earth materials from mining waste that are key to wind and solar power and battery technologies. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm called the funding from last year’s $1trn bipartisan infrastructure law an “historic opportunity to turn legacy waste into the components of clean energy technology in a way that bolsters domestic supply chains and enhances our national security”. “The demand for clean energy technology continues to grow at a rapid pace and an American-made critical minerals refinery will help generate jobs and increase our competitiveness on the global stage, ” she said. The announcement clears the way for applications from US academic institutions for a front-end engineering design study…
US funds ‘first-of-a-kind’ pilot to mine clean energy minerals from legacy waste
