Notice of Intent related to Regional Scale Collaboration to Facilitate a Domestic Critical Minerals Future: Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative | DE FOA 0003076

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003076

The Department of Energy (DOE), through its Fossil Energy and Carbon Management program and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), has published a Notice of Intent (NOI) signaling that it plans to release a future funding opportunity announcement (FOA) focused on expanding the Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative. The planned FOA is identified as DE-FOA-0003077 and is described as "Regional Scale Collaboration to Facilitate a Domestic Critical Minerals Future: Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative." This NOI is strictly informational, meaning DOE is not accepting applications, not requesting public comments, and not taking questions at this time. DOE also notes that details may change once the FOA is formally issued, and that instructions for questions (if allowed) would appear in the FOA itself.

At a high level, the opportunity is tied to DOE's broader strategy to strengthen U.S. supply chains for critical minerals and materials (CMM). The central goal is to help secure a more diverse, resilient, and domestic source of materials that are essential for modern energy technologies, manufacturing, and national economic security. The NOI emphasizes reducing reliance on imports of rare earth elements (REEs) and other critical minerals (CMs) by improving the ability to find, extract, process, and commercialize these materials from U.S.-based resources that have not traditionally been viewed as primary mineral sources.

The planned FOA would continue and scale up work already underway within the CORE-CM Initiative, which has focused on "basinal assessment" and the development of supply chains from unconventional and secondary feedstocks. In practice, this means looking beyond conventional hard-rock mining and exploring how valuable elements can be recovered from sources such as coal and coal-related materials, produced waters, industrial byproducts, and other secondary materials streams. In addition to REEs and other critical minerals, the initiative also highlights the production of novel, high-value, nonfuel carbon-based products (CBPs). That is an important point: this effort is not limited to mineral recovery alone, but also includes pathways that turn carbon-rich feedstocks into higher-value material products rather than fuels, supporting the idea of next-generation domestic materials.

A key shift described in the NOI is the move from a "basin scale" focus to a larger "regional scale" approach, with an explicit aim of building toward nationwide coverage. The basin-scale work generally concentrates on specific geologic basins or localized resource areas; the regional-scale approach suggests broader collaboration and planning across larger multi-state or multi-basin footprints. The intent appears to be building a more connected and scalable ecosystem: mapping and assessing resources across regions, aligning stakeholders, and developing the pieces needed for functional supply chains, such as feedstock aggregation, processing options, product qualification, transportation and logistics considerations, and potential end-user markets for recovered minerals and carbon-based products.

From the administrative details provided, this is expected to be a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement instrument, which usually indicates substantial DOE involvement during the project period (for example, collaboration on technical direction, milestones, or project management). The activity category is research and development in energy, science, and technology, and the CFDA listing is 81.089. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, which typically means a wide range of applicants may be able to apply when the FOA is released, such as universities, private companies, national laboratories, non-profits, and state or local entities, though the final FOA would define the specific eligibility rules and teaming requirements.

The notice metadata includes an original closing date of 2024-03-31, but because this is an NOI and not an active FOA, that date should be treated as informational rather than an application deadline. The entry also lists an award ceiling of 2 (as posted in the source data), and expected awards are shown as 0, which commonly happens when a notice is preliminary or when the program has not yet finalized award counts. The most important practical takeaway is that no submissions are being accepted yet, and prospective applicants need to wait for the formal FOA to understand the actual technical areas, required deliverables, funding levels, cost share expectations (if any), and submission instructions.

Overall, the NOI previews a DOE effort to broaden and connect regional partnerships that can identify and develop domestic sources of rare earth elements, critical minerals, and high-value carbon-based products from unconventional and secondary feedstocks. The underlying policy objective is to strengthen U.S. materials independence by translating resource assessments into real, regionally coordinated supply chains that can support U.S. manufacturing and energy technology needs at scale.

• The National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent related to Regional Scale Collaboration to Facilitate a Domestic Critical Minerals Future: Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative" 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 2024-01-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-03-31. (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 $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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