Energy Department Releases Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator Funding Opportunity

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) and Office of Geothermal (OG) on April 7, 2026, issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $69 million to support innovative critical minerals and materials (CMM) production technologies. The NOFO is designed to derisk and scale processes and technologies crucial for establishing a competitive and robust domestic supply chain of CMMs. DOE aims to build collaborative industry partnerships to protype and pilot innovative processing technologies that have demonstrated proof of concept at the bench scale but require further development to reach commercial viability.

The opportunity is divided into two phases: In Phase 1, awardees will advance technologies from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 to TRL 6. They will then be eligible to compete for additional funding under Phase 2 to advance from TRL 6 to TRL 7. The NOFO provides some flexibility for technologies starting at TRL 2 under Topic Areas 1 and 2 (learn more about DOE's TRLs).

Key Dates and Deadlines

To be eligible to submit a full application, all applicants are required to submit a nonbinding Letter of Intent (LOI) by April 21, providing a brief (max 6,000 characters) abstract of the project. LOIs will not be used to evaluate applications during the selection process; they are meant to help DOE gauge interest in each topic area and prepare for the review process. Applicants do not need to have fully scoped their project when submitting an LOI, and the content within the abstract is not binding for the full application.

An informational webinar will be held on April 16 at 11:30 a.m. ET. View information and register.

Focus on Partnerships and Collaboration

Through this NOFO, DOE is seeking to develop a robust pipeline for technology maturation and domestic commercialization within a larger, government-wide CMM strategy. Developing industry partnerships is a key component of the NOFO's goals. Selected projects will be required to participate in DOE's Critical Materials Collaborative, which coordinates innovation across federal agencies, industry and academia.

Applicants are also encouraged to collaborate with other DOE program offices and consider potential coordination with other DOE and federally funded projects.

DOE also strongly encourages selected projects to leverage the expertise and facilities of the national lab system throughout their work. For all topic areas except 3B and 3C, DOE will facilitate this collaboration through a voucher system to national labs, which will cover costs associated with technical assistance initiatives, including subject matter expertise, technoeconomic analysis, life cycle assessments and leveraging capabilities such as those at the Minerals to Materials Supply Chain Research Facility (METALLIC). Awardees who utilize these vouchers will not be required to contribute any additional cost share to account for them.

Topic Areas and Phase 1 Funding Information

Topic Area 1 (TA1): Production and Material Efficiency for Critical Materials Including Rare Earth Elements

TA1 seeks projects that will validate and prototype processes or technologies that improve recycling recovery and refining of CMM from scraps and improve efficiency. Recycling methods may include pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical or other innovative approaches. Projects are also encouraged to utilize digital twins, artificial intelligence and machine learning tools for process enhancement.

• Topic 1A: Recovery and production from postindustrial manufacturing scrap, including slag from steelmaking, magnet swab from griding and cutting magnet blocks, copper anode slimes from refining, and sludge from zinc refining.
• Topic 1B: Recovery and production from postconsumer scrap, considering technical solutions across collection, sorting and separation, recovery and refining, and qualification and reintroduction with interest in electronic waste and electric drivetrains containing permanent magnet machines. Note: postconsumer lithium batteries are not of interest.
• Topic 1C: Recovery and production from combinations of feedstocks, including mine tailings, postindustrial scrap and postconsumer scrap. Note: fossil fuel-derived mine tailings and legacy mine tailings are not of interest.

TA1 Specific Applications of Interest

• Translational recycling technologies that can be tailored to recover different target materials
• Projects that co-produce multiple CMM and other valuable commodities contained in a given waste stream
• Projects that valorize by-production of a singular high value CMM, such as cobalt or strategically important CMM that can readily close the gap between domestic supply and demand such as gallium (Ga) or germanium (Ge)
• Improvements to refining and manufacturing processes that reduce the generation of CMM waste such as reduction or elimination of defects

Topic Area 2 (TA2): Processes to Refine and Alloy Gallium, Gallium Nitride, Germanium and Silicon Carbide for Use in Semiconductors

TA2 seeks projects to prototype processes with clear domestic market integration and in areas with limited domestic capability today. Through these projects, DOE aims to enhance national security and technological leadership across these essential materials for next-generation power electronics, advanced communications and other high-performance semiconductor components.

TA2 Specific Applications of Interest

• Prototyping of processes for the purification, refining, solidification, crystallization, powder and ingot formation, and single crystal growth for raw Ga, gallium nitride (GaN), Ge or silicon carbide (SiC) to semiconductor-grade purity, specifically targeting areas with limited domestic capability
• Processes that reduce or eliminate the precursor and process chemicals sourced from outside the U.S. to purify and prepare metals and alloys for use by the U.S. semiconductor industry
• Methods for producing bulk GaN single crystals or high-purity Ga metal from domestic sources and feedstocks
• Technologies to reduce or eliminate critical impurities in Ga, Ge, GaN or SiC during processing and forming
• Processes for alloying Ga, Ge or Si to create specific semiconductor compounds with controlled stoichiometry and purity, with clear domestic market integration

Topic Area 3 (TA3): Cost-Competitive Direct Lithium Extraction, Separation, and Processing, Exploration and Co-Production

Topic 3A: Cost-Competitive Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE), Focused on Developing DLE Prototypes with a Clear Pathway to Cost-Competitive Lithium Production

Topic 3A Applications of Particular Interest

• By the end of the Phase 1 project, the applicant establishes partnership with resource providers to potentially host the piloting of the DLE technology.
• By the end of the Phase 1 project, the applicant establishes offtake partners downstream who will facilitate the post-treatment of extracted materials and facilitation to end users.
• Applicants that coordinate upstream and downstream partners (Subtopic B) to produce and validate lithium purity from real lithium feedstock.
• Technologies that reduce or eliminate the use of energy-intensive chemicals (e.g., acid stripping), reduce waste and lower consumption of energy and water.
• DLE technologies that can be designed to co-produce multiple critical elements uncovering their commercial value.

Topic 3B: Advancing Pre- and Post-Treatment and Disposal Technologies for DLE of Geothermal Brines

Topic 3B Applications of Particular Interest

• Projects that improve pretreatment and/or post-treatment of geothermal brines to increase DLE selectivity, yield and purity and reduce steps to battery‑grade lithium.
• Removal or reduction of materials that interfere with lithium extraction and minimization of post-treatment requirements.
• Clear identification of current technologies and new or novel engineering solutions.
• Projects addressing materials reinjected, recovered or disposed of after extraction.
• Identification of naturally occurring and added materials and documentation of current practices.
• Novel approaches to reusechemicals, create economic byproducts or ensure safe disposal.
• Focus may include pretreatment, post-treatment and/or disposal.
• Technologies must operate under geothermal conditions and address all relevant stages of the proposed work.

Topic 3C: Exploration and Characterization of Critical Materials and Rare Earth Elements from Volcanic-Hosted Geothermal Systems

Topic 3C Applications of Particular Interest

Applications of interest include projects that explore and characterize critical materials and rare earth elements (REEs) of economic quantities found in geothermal brines that are hosted in volcanic systems. At a minimum, applicants should respond to the following questions:

• What economic critical material(s) and/or REEs are found in a resource, and what are the quantities?
• What controls the concentration of these critical material(s) and/or REEs, what are the potential sources, what controls the solubility, and what are the transport mechanisms (i.e. how are these materials getting into the geothermal brines)?
• How fast will these resources decrease over time as a result of commercial co-production of geothermal power or direct use generation and extraction of critical material(s) and/or REEs?
• What is the size and nature of the coincident geothermal resource, and what are the potential geothermal power or direct use applications at the site, and how does the coproduction of geothermal energy and critical material and/or REEs impact the viability of the resource?

Other Considerations and Next Steps

Equity Considerations for Negotiation

DOE invites applicants to indicate in their applications whether they are open to offering equity interests or other derivatives. DOE may seek to negotiate equity interests or warrants in recipient entities now or in the future. Any such equity considerations would be addressed during award negotiations and will not be a factor in the merit review or selection process.

Registration and Submission Requirements

Applicants must complete several registrations prior to submission:

• SAM.gov. Maintain an active registration, obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), include the UEI in the application and keep SAM.gov registration current. DOE cannot issue an award until these requirements are met.
• eXCHANGE. Register in DOE's eXCHANGE system. Each submission should use a single organizational account, with designated backup contacts.
• Grants.gov. Register (requires Login.gov) to receive NOFO updates and follow all application-related instructions posted there.

Holland & Knight's Energy Technology Team is available to discuss the opportunity with interested applicants and support drafting of LOIs and full applications. Reach out to the authors with any questions or to discuss further.