Notice of Intent to issue Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator Notice of Funding Opportunity

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) intends to issue a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) titled “Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator” with up to $50 million for research and development. This NOFO aims to support industry-led partnerships in prototyping and piloting innovative processing technologies for critical minerals and materials (CMM), advancing them from bench-scale to commercialization within 3-7 years. Key goals include fostering partnerships, validating technologies that reduce demand or extend CMM lifespan, enabling informed decisions through Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA), and addressing the urgent need for secure and sustainable CMM manufacturing. Areas of interest include rare earth magnet supply chains, refinement of gallium, germanium, and silicon carbide for semiconductors, direct lithium extraction, and cost-competitive critical material separation. The DOE plans to award multiple cooperative agreements, each lasting 1-4 years. A Teaming Partner List is available for interested entities. Applicants must register with Login.gov, SAM.gov, eXCHANGE, FedConnect, and Grants.gov, with registrations potentially taking several weeks.