Critical Minerals (2020 Transition)

Book 2 - Issue Papers
Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020

Critical materials are used in many products important to the U.S. economy and national security. The assured supply of critical materials and the resiliency of their supply chains are essential to the economic prosperity and national defense of the United States. Of the 35 mineral commodities identified as critical on the list published in the Federal Register by the Secretary of the Interior, the United States lacks domestic production for 14 and is more than 50% import-reliant for 31. This dependence puts supply chains and U.S. companies and material users at increased risk.

On December 20, 2017, President Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 13817, A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals, which identified actions to reduce our Nation’s reliance on imports, preserve our leadership in technological innovation, support job creation, and improve national security and the balance of trade. The Department of Commerce was directed to submit a report on critical minerals to the President once the Department of the Interior had published a list of critical minerals. The Department of Commerce published this report on June 4, 2019.

On September 30, 2020, President Trump issued EO 13953 on Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain from Reliance on Critical Minerals from Foreign Adversaries. This directed agencies to examine potential authorities and prepare agency-specific plans to improve the mining, processing, and manufacturing of critical minerals.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is the agency authorized by Congress to work R&D around mining, processing, and manufacturing of critical minerals (as well as other minerals). When the United States Bureau of Mines was closed in 1996, Congress transferred to DOE the research on the extraction, processing, use, and disposal of mineral substances, and functions pertaining to mineral reclamation industries and the development of methods for the disposal, control, prevention, and reclamation of mineral waste products. See Pub. L. No. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321-167 (1996).

DOE is engaged in achieving the goals in the Executive Orders through a crosscut of our entire enterprise. DOE’s strategy for addressing critical materials has three pillars: diversify supply, develop substitutes, and improve reuse and recycling. The Department was a key agency in the development of the Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals and serves as the co-chair of the National Science & Technology Council (NSTC) Critical Minerals Subcommittee. DOE has forged a strong working relationship with other agencies (Department of Defense, Department of the Interior, Department of Commerce, Department of State) as well as with Canada, Australia, the European Union, and Japan.

Issue(s)

The United States is more than 50% import-reliant on foreign sources for 31 of the 35 minerals deemed critical by the Department of the Interior. The United States not only lacks the mining for many of these materials, we also lack downstream domestic processing and manufacturing capabilities for critical materials like neodymium for magnets. Ores and other raw materials mined or produced in the United States have to be exported for further processing into more value-added products. This makes the United States vulnerable to supply disruption. Without investing in downstream supply chain activities like processing and manufacturing in parallel with increased domestic production, we simply shift the risk down the supply chain.

For example, rare earth elements are essential for the manufacturing of high strength magnets used in electric vehicle motors and offshore wind turbine generators. Lithium and cobalt are vital to the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries used for electric vehicles and grid energy storage.

In order to develop a sustainable and robust supply chain here in the United States, we have to innovate to reduce the costs of the materials and reduce the environmental impacts of production. We also have to develop cost-effective substitutes and improve the recycling and reuse of critical materials.

Status

• In support of Executive Order 13817, multiple DOE offices are addressing key parts of the critical minerals supply chain. For example, the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) is focused on diversifying supply, with the goal of producing market-ready rare earth elements from primarily coal resources. Research and development (R&D) includes resource characterization, extraction and separation, process and systems modeling, and techno-economic analysis. For FY 2020, FE is soliciting pre-feasibility studies for the development of systems that can produce one to three tons per day of mixed rare earth oxides or rare earth salts (REOs/RESs). The FY 2020 solicitation builds on previously completed small-scale (bench-pilot) projects. The FY 2020 work focuses on researching processes for scale-up, optimization, and efficiency improvements for Rare Earth Elements (REEs) and critical materials recovery from coal refuse, acid mine drainage, and fly ash. FE has conducted 20 early stage R&D projects looking at transformational methods to identify, extract, recover and process critical minerals.
• The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy also funds substantial R&D into critical minerals. In FY 2020, EERE has a variety of efforts related to critical minerals and rare earth elements: Critical Materials Institute (CMI); ReCell Lithium Battery Recycling R&D Center at Argonne National Laboratory; Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize; Commercialization of Electric Vehicle Batteries; and recovering critical minerals from geothermal brines and seawater.
• CMI is an Energy Innovation Hub, funded by the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) and led by Ames Laboratory, that leverages decades of these DOE investments. CMI brings together facilities and complementary expertise located at 18 U.S. corporations, 13 universities, and four DOE national laboratories (Ames Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory).
• CMI, with its partners, focuses on R&D towards DOE’s three pillars: diversifying supply, developing substitutes, and recycling. CMI’s efforts have largely been on rare earth elements (for magnets and lighting) and lithium. New efforts on cobalt, graphite, indium, and gallium are also underway. As of October 2020, CMI has issued 137 invention disclosures, received 19 patents, created three open-source software packages, and won four R&D awards. It has licensed 10 technologies to U.S. companies.
• In FY 2020, AMO released a $30M Funding Opportunity Announcement for research and development that focuses on field validation and demonstration, as well as next-generation extraction, separation, and processing technologies for critical materials. Selections are expected in late 2020.
• EERE’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) has established the ReCell Lithium Battery Recycling R&D Center at Argonne National Laboratory to develop innovative, efficient recycling technologies for current and future battery chemistries. ReCell funds R&D across four research areas: design for recycling; recovery of other materials; direct recycling or cathode-to-cathode recovery; and modeling and analysis (including reintroduction of recycled materials).
• In January 2019, the Department (through EERE’s VTO and AMO) announced the launch of a Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize to incentivize American entrepreneurs to create cost-effective, disruptive solutions to collect, sort, store, and transport 90% of spent or discarded lithium-ion batteries for eventual recycling. Phase I winners have been announced with Phase II winners expected to be announced in November 2020.
• EERE’s VTO is pursuing several R&D paths to mitigate the potential issues associated with the supply of cobalt including:

1. funding R&D to reduce cobalt content in the battery cathode to less than 5% by weight in the mid-term by increasing nickel content or substituting manganese, aluminum, or other earth abundant metals; and
2. funding high risk research completely eliminating the need for cobalt in the long term, such as lithium sulfur, solid state, and lithium metal battery technology

• Long-term investments by the Office of Science (SC) set the stage for applied R&D. Current Basic Energy Sciences critical materials research includes advancing the understanding of the role of rare earth materials and other critical materials in determining the properties of materials at length scales ranging from electronic interaction distances to atomic and microstructural scales. A key aspect of basic research in this field is identifying methodologies to reduce or replace rare earth elements in materials used in electronic and magnetic applications as well as alternatives to elements such as lithium and cobalt in batteries and platinum in catalytic reactions. In FY 2021, SC plans to increase R&D to advance the understanding of rare earth elements and other critical materials at atomic and microstructure scales; develop synthesis approaches and materials discovery; and research the chemistry of rare earth elements.

Milestones

As a result of the report published by the Department of Commerce, A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals, the National Science & Technology Council (NSTC) Critical Minerals Subcommittee (CMS) requested DOE to take the lead for coordinating interagency activities to advance transformational research, development, and deployment across critical minerals supply chains, including development of an R&D roadmap to identify key needs. DOE also has a key role in other aspects of the Federal Strategy, including to increase international exchanges with partner nations; enable commodity specific mitigation strategies; and encourage the use of secondary and unconventional sources of critical materials. In EO 13953, DOE is responsible for:

Milestone One

Within 30 days of the date of the order, developing and publishing guidance clarifying the extent to which projects that support domestic supply chains for minerals are eligible for loan guarantees pursuant to Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as amended; and funding awards and loans pursuant to the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) incentive program established by section 136 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, as amended.

Milestone Two

Within 30 days of the date of the order, reviewing its regulations (including any preambles thereto) interpreting Title XVII and the ATVM statute, including the regulations published at 81 Fed. Reg. 90,699 (Dec. 15, 2016) and 73 Fed. Reg. 66,721 (Nov. 12, 2008); and identifying all such regulations that may warrant revision or reconsideration in order to expand and protect the domestic supply chain for minerals (including processing, remediation, and reuse of materials already in interstate commerce or otherwise available domestically).

Milestone Three

Within 90 days of the date of the order, proposing for notice and comment a rule or rules to revise or reconsider any such regulations for this purpose, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.

Milestone Four

Examining available DOE authorities and identifying any such authorities that could be used to accelerate and encourage the development and reuse of historic coal waste areas, materials on historic mining sites, and abandoned mining sites for the recovery of critical minerals.

See also

• Electric Battery