The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has announced two significant federal funding opportunities that together could reshape America’s critical minerals landscape. With combined investments expected to reach into the hundreds of millions, these programs are designed to secure domestic supply chains, drive American industrial leadership, and reduce reliance on foreign imports.

Opportunity #1: Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator

FECM plans to release a $50 million Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator. This program will fund projects that prototype and pilot innovative technologies across four Areas of Interest:

  1. Rare Earth Magnet Supply Chains – Recycling and production from post-consumer and post-industrial sources.
  2. Advanced Semiconductor Materials – Refinement of gallium, gallium nitride, germanium, and silicon carbide.
  3. Direct Lithium Extraction – Cost-competitive methods for lithium separation and recovery.
  4. Byproduct and Scrap Utilization – Recovery of critical minerals while creating value-added coproducts.

This Accelerator is about technology innovation: advancing next-generation processes that can eventually scale into full commercial deployment.

Opportunity #2: Mines & Metals Capacity Expansion – Piloting Byproduct Recovery

FECM also released a Notice of Intent (NOI) for the Mines & Metals Capacity Expansion – Piloting By-Product Critical Minerals and Materials Recovery at Domestic Industrial Facilities. This planned NOFO will focus on piloting technologies at U.S. industrial facilities that can recover valuable critical minerals from existing processes.

Industries such as mining, power generation, coal, oil and gas, specialty metals, and basic materials all generate byproducts that could fill America’s most severe mineral vulnerabilities. For example, the U.S. is nearly 100% dependent on foreign recovery for gallium, germanium, indium compounds, antimony, and bismuth. As of August 2025, China has restricted exports of these materials, triggering supply disruptions and price volatility.

This program aims to de-risk technologies at industrial scale by supporting pilot facilities that test recovery processes under real-world feedstock and operating conditions. Two topic areas are expected:

  • Topic Area 1: Recovery from coal-based industries (up to $75M).
  • Topic Area 2: Recovery from other industries (up to $175M).
    Awards will range from $10–$50 million, with a required 20–50% cost share depending on scale.

Preparing for These Opportunities

To position for either program, organizations should start now to:

  • Align project data with DOE requirements (scale, feedstock throughput, and Technology Readiness Level).
  • Verify registrations with SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and DOE’s eXCHANGE platform.
  • Leverage partnerships through DOE’s Critical Minerals & Materials Matchmaker (CM3) to build consortia and identify collaborators.

How LNE Group Can Help

Both opportunities represent major investments in securing America’s critical minerals future—but they require different strategies. The Accelerator will demand a strong technology innovation case, while the Mines & Metals program will emphasize industrial-scale readiness and byproduct recovery potential.

At LNE Group, we have decades of experience helping clients align technical concepts with funding priorities, structure cost-share strategies, and navigate the complexities of federal funding programs.

➡️ If your organization is developing technologies or facilities relevant to these initiatives, now is the time to prepare. Contact us to discuss how we can position your project for success.