US DOE funds $75m to five projects to recover aluminium, rare earth from coal waste

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The US Department of Energy (DOE) has funded USD 75 million to five pilot-scale projects aimed at extracting rare earth elements and other critical minerals, including aluminium, from coal waste and coal-based feedstocks. The initiative indicates the nation’s efforts to strengthen the domestic critical minerals supply chain.

The funding marks a phase of a USD 275 million programme announced in November 2025 to support pilot-scale recovery of critical minerals and materials from industrial and coal byproducts across the US.

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Five pilot projects selected

The selected projects fall under the category of Mines & Metals Pilots—Coal-Based Industry, to be managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

The five award recipients under Topic Area 1 are:

• The University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, North Dakota)
• Valor Metals (New York)
• CONSOL Innovations LLC (Pennsylvania)
• American Resources Corporation (Indiana)
• Peabody Energy (Missouri)

According to the DOE, these facilities will focus on producing market-ready critical minerals, including rare earth elements and minerals like aluminium, gallium and germanium, using coal and coal-derived feedstocks.

Commenting on the initiative, Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson said, "American industrial facilities have the potential to produce valuable critical materials from coal and coal byproducts. By investing in these facilities, we can increase domestic critical materials production and help mitigate the financial risk of commercial deployment."

Part of a broader critical minerals strategy

These awards form part of the DOE's August 2025 announcement of about USD 1 billion to accelerate mining, processing and manufacturing technologies across the US critical minerals supply chain. The department also indicated that funding decisions under the Topic Area 2 – Mines & Metals Pilots—All Industries – would be announced in time.

The programme complements the Rare Earth Elements Demonstration Facility Program, aligning with the Trump Administration's broader efforts to reinforce domestic critical mineral production.

With almost USD 700 million committed to coal infrastructure and operations, the initiative aims to unlock coal and coal byproducts as strategic domestic sources of aluminium and critical minerals while solidifying US supply chains.

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