Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) – Mines & Metals Capacity Expansion – Piloting Byproduct Critical Minerals and Materials Recovery at Domestic Industrial Facilities | DE FOA 0003583

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003583

The grant opportunity titled "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) - Mines & Metals Capacity Expansion - Piloting Byproduct Critical Minerals and Materials Recovery at Domestic Industrial Facilities" (Funding Opportunity Number DE FOA 0003583) is a discretionary federal funding program administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory. It is structured as a cooperative agreement, meaning awardees should expect substantial federal involvement during the project period, such as collaboration on technical direction, milestones, reporting, and project management expectations beyond what is typical in a standard grant.

The core purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to strengthen domestic supply chains for critical minerals and materials by investing in U.S. industrial facilities that can recover valuable critical material byproducts from processes that are already happening today. Instead of relying solely on new mines or greenfield extraction projects, the program emphasizes the practical idea of finding and capturing critical materials that may already be present in existing waste streams, byproducts, process residues, tailings, slag, brines, ash, or other intermediate and end-of-process materials generated by current industrial operations. The intent is to move the country toward reduced vulnerability where key minerals are currently imported, constrained, or geopolitically exposed, by tapping domestic industrial capacity that can be expanded, retrofitted, or optimized.

The opportunity specifically highlights industries where these byproduct recovery pathways are most likely to exist at meaningful scale. This includes mining and mineral processing operations, power generation facilities (where ash or other residues may contain recoverable elements), coal-related operations, oil and gas activities (including produced water or other streams that may contain valuable constituents), specialty metals manufacturing, and broader basic materials industries. The throughline is that many large industrial systems already handle huge volumes of material, and even relatively low concentrations of critical minerals can become significant when aggregated, especially if recovery methods can be proven technically and economically at pilot scale.

Funding under this NOFO is substantial. The award ceiling is listed as $75,000,000 per award, with an expected total of 13 awards. That combination suggests the agency is looking for a portfolio of projects that can demonstrate different feedstocks, industrial contexts, and recovery approaches, rather than a single pathway. While the excerpt does not provide topic areas, cost share requirements, technical readiness targets, or required deliverables, the use of the word "piloting" signals an emphasis on taking concepts beyond lab validation into real-world industrial demonstrations that can inform scale-up decisions. In practice, projects of this type typically need to show credible integration with existing plant operations, provide measurable recovery performance data, address permitting and environmental considerations, and demonstrate a plausible path to commercial viability.

Eligibility is listed as "Unrestricted," which generally indicates a broad applicant pool may apply, such as private companies, industrial facility operators, technology developers, universities, nonprofits, state and local entities, and consortia, subject to the full NOFO terms. Because the objective is to pilot recovery at domestic industrial facilities, competitive applications will likely be those anchored by a host site with access to a relevant process stream and the operational ability to run a pilot while collecting defensible technical and economic data. Partnerships between facility owners and specialized technology providers are a common fit for this kind of program, since one side controls the industrial stream and operating environment while the other brings separation, extraction, or processing expertise.

Key administrative details include the CFDA number 81.089, the original closing date of December 15, 2025, and a creation date of November 14, 2025. Overall, the program is aimed at accelerating practical, near- to mid-term domestic production of critical minerals and materials by turning existing industrial byproducts into new sources of strategic supply, thereby improving U.S. resilience, reducing import dependence, and expanding industrial capacity aligned with IIJA priorities.

• The National Energy Technology Laboratory in the iij sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) – Mines & Metals Capacity Expansion – Piloting Byproduct Critical Minerals and Materials Recovery at Domestic Industrial Facilities" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-11-14.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-12-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $75,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 13 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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