Minerals Sustainability

NETL work for FECM’s Minerals Sustainability Program seeks to ensure a secure domestic supply of critical minerals and materials from secondary and unconventional resources, extract the full economic value from carbon ore, and remediate legacy impacts associated with past extraction and utilization practices.

This program includes efforts in the areas of Critical Minerals & Materials and Carbon Ore Processing:

Critical Minerals & Materials

The Critical Minerals and Materials (CMM) Program aims to rebuild U.S. leadership in extraction and processing technologies for the production of critical minerals and materials (CMM) that include rare earth elements (REE), critical minerals (originally defined by the U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]), and materials deemed critical by the Department of Energy (DOE), from secondary and unconventional resources to support an economical, environmentally benign, and geopolitically sustainable U.S. domestic supply chain. 

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Carbon Ore Processing

Focuses on utilizing materials associated with past extraction and utilization practices to produce valuable products such as carbon fibers and building materials.