DOE Critical Mineral Resource Potential

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Expression of Interest—DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) Critical Minerals and Materials Inventory.

AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Expression of Interest (EOI).

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) publishes the following questions regarding potential collaboration with interested parties for the reuse of its critical and rare earth minerals and materials. The goal is to ensure surplus critical minerals and materials within the DOE inventory are repurposed to bolster and diversify the U.S. supply chain. This will support domestic scientific, manufacturing, and energy needs.

A list of materials and minerals in DOE’s inventory is supplied as an attachment.  Respondents should note that industry partners would be responsible for the subsequent extraction or reprocessing of the material.

THIS IS AN EXPRESSION OF INTEREST ONLY. THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO). A NOFO DOES NOT EXIST AT THIS TIME. DOE will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this EOI. This EOI is not seeking or accepting applications, and a response to this EOI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue the ideas discussed. No material submitted for review will be returned.

DATES: Responses to the EOI must be received no later than November 2, 2026. A virtual Industry Day will be held on September 30, 2026. For questions and a link to attend, please email Rob Seifert, robert.seifert@em.doe.gov.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are to submit comments electronically to robert.seifert@em.doe.gov with the subject line “EM Critical Minerals Inventory” no later than November 2, 2026. All responses must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document (.doc/.docx) of no more than five (5) pages in length, with black, Times New Roman, 12-point font, and 1-inch margins as an attachment to an email. The document cannot exceed 2MB in size. Only electronic responses to the above email address will be accepted. DOE will not consider responses submitted by any other means. Note: If clicking on the above link gives you an error message, you must CUT AND PASTE the URL into your browser to reach the web page.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rob Seifert, (301)-250-5239, robert.seifert@em.doe.gov.

Questions seeking input on potential collaboration with DOE-EM on Critical Minerals and Materials Inventory

Specific Questions:

Note: The terms recovery, reuse, repurposing, and reprocessing are viewed as interchangeable in this context but DOE will use the term reuse throughout for consistency.

1. What specific needs or demands does your organization have for rare earth metals, critical minerals, or materials that could be met by the DOE inventory?
2. Describe your organization's technical capabilities and experience in handling, processing, mining, or extracting rare earth metals, critical minerals, or materials.
3. Please detail your proposed plan's material requirements, specifying the minimum viable quantity, the optimal quantity for maximizing impact, and how the plan's scalability accommodates varying amounts from the available inventory.
4. What potential applications, domestic sectors, or market demand does your organization foresee for your proposed reuse?
5. Describe how your proposed reuse of inventory material(s) and any resulting products will primarily benefit U.S. domestic needs and contribute to the resilience of the U.S. energy and manufacturing supply chain.
6. How would your organization propose collaborating with DOE-EM to facilitate the reuse of the inventory materials?
7. Outline any significant technical, logistical or regulatory challenges anticipated in the reuse of material(s) from the DOE inventory and how these would be addressed or contingency plans.
8. What are your proposed plans for the management and disposal of any waste streams or byproducts generated from your processing or repurposing activities involving the inventory materials?

1. Would your organization be interested in exploring the possibility of leasing land or developing a facility on a site for material processing, repurposing, or related activities? If so, please provide details on your potential interest and any requirements or considerations for such an undertaking.

Proprietary Business Information: To the extent possible, DOE recommends that responders to this EOI do NOT provide confidential information.  However, if this cannot be avoided, pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information that he or she believes to be proprietary business information and exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via email two well-marked copies: one copy of the document marked as Controlled Unclassified Information – Proprietary Business Information or “CUI//PROPIN” per 18 U.S.C. § 1905 with clear delineations therein as to which information is believed to be proprietary business information, and one copy of the document marked unclassified, uncontrolled information or “UUI” with the information believed to be CUI//PROPIN deleted. Submit these documents via email. Failure to comply with these marking requirements may result in the disclosure of the unmarked information under the Freedom of Information Act or otherwise.  DOE will make its own determination about the confidential status of the information and treat it according to its determination.  The federal government is not liable for the disclosure or use of unmarked information and may use or disclose such information for any purpose as authorized by law.

Signing Authority: This document of the Department of Energy was signed on XXXXX, by XXXXXX, Office of Environmental Management, pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon publication in the Federal Register.