TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS FOR MINING AND RECOVERY OF CRITICAL MINERALS FROM UNCONVENTIONAL RESOURCES (Invited Presentation)

The National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Critical Minerals and Materials (CMM) Program aims to carry out the U.S. Department of Energy’s Division of Minerals Sustainability funded activities to rebuild U.S. leadership in extraction and processing technologies to support an economically, environmentally benign, and geopolitically sustainable domestic supply chain for critical minerals and materials. Several promising domestic, unconventional sources of CMM exist, particularly in sedimentary systems, legacy byproducts of coal mining and utilization, and those associated with oil field brines. The CMM Program is developing technologies to discover, develop, and produce CMM from these unconventional sources at a market competitive price and with a minimal environmental footprint.

The overarching goals of the CMM program are to: i) validate the technical and economic feasibility of domestic small pilot-scale facilities to produce high-purity CMM from carbon ore and coal-based resources and other secondary wastes, ii) produce 1–3 tonnes/day of high-purity, mixed rare earth oxides/salts in domestic demonstration-scale facilities and refine to metals or alternative user-specified products with co-recovery of other CMMs as required for use in the CMM supply chain using coal-based and alternative resources as feedstock materials, and iii) develop a national prospectus of CMM and novel high-value, nonfuel carbon-based products. To meet these goals, RD&D efforts are focused on resource characterization and technology development, critical mineral processing, and advanced critical mineral extraction technology.

Since its inception in 2014, the CMM Program serves to accelerate socially and environmentally sustainable domestic CMM resource characterization, extraction, and processing through its in-house research activity as well as the awarding of federal research dollars to academic, industry, and national lab partners with the goal of developing and maturing technologies that ensure responsible recovery while minimizing environmental impact. A domestic supply of critical minerals and materials is necessary to support the creation and growth of intermediate supply chain manufacturing facilities that support the clean energy transition and secure supplies for the domestic manufacturing sector.