US government promises $75m for critical minerals research
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management has announced a support package to boost the domestic critical minerals sector.
The USD 75 million will fund a project to develop a Critical Minerals Supply Chain Research Facility. The scheme, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is designed help US firms to meet growing domestic demand and thereby reduce reliance on foreign imports.
The project is the latest strand of President Biden’s Executive Order 14017, which was introduced to create resilient, diverse, and secure critical mineral and material supply chains for the energy, manufacturing and defence sectors.
“Critical materials are the building blocks of technologies needed for the transition to a net-zero clean energy future and for our national security,” said Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM). “To help ensure a secure domestic supply, DOE is investing in projects to help accelerate the production of essential critical minerals and materials from a diverse set of sources, working with other agencies and the private sector as part of a government-wide strategy.”
Prior to this announcement, FECM had committed an estimated USD 58 million to projects since January 2021. Its subsidies are designed to support critical minerals and materials exploration, resource identification, production, and processing in traditional mining and fossil fuel-producing communities across the country.
