University of Utah leads $7.5M DOE effort to find critical minerals in Rocky Mountain coal and mining waste
attheu.utah.eduA University of Utah-led consortium has won $7.5 million from the Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management to search for critical minerals and rare earth elements in Rocky Mountain coal seams, mining waste, oil and gas wastewater, and acid mine drainage. Non-DOE partners add more than $2 million, bringing the total project value to nearly $9.6 million. The work is part of the DOE's Carbon Ore, Rare Earth and Critical Minerals initiative, which aims to build domestic supply chains for materials used in electronics, clean energy technology, and defense. The team will build on earlier CORE-CM phase one research and expand it across the region with partners including the Colorado School of Mines, Idaho National Lab, Sandia National Lab, and several state geological surveys. They plan to characterize resource volumes, publish data on the DOE Energy Data Exchange, and eventually produce a roadmap for technology innovation centers. The broader goal is to turn existing fossil fuel infrastructure and waste streams into a practical source of critical materials for the energy transition.