US picks Louisiana, Oklahoma rare earth projects for $134M funding

The US Department of Energy said on Tuesday it has selected projects in Louisiana and Oklahoma for $134 million in funding to extract rare earth elements from waste streams.

Washington has been pushing to boost domestic critical minerals output and cut dependence on China, which dominates the global rare earths supply chain.

The funding includes about $67 million for a project led by the Colorado School of Mines and ElementUSA to build a facility in Louisiana that will extract and refine rare earths from bauxite waste.

The plant is expected to test the process at commercial scale and produce 150 to 1,000 metric tons of rare earths annually from tailings.

The DOE also selected a project by Phoenix Tailings to build a demonstration plant in Oklahoma, in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to convert industrial waste into high-purity rare earth metals and establish a new domestic supply route.

In May, the agency had selected rare earth magnet maker USA Rare Earth to receive up to $19.3 million for a pilot rare earth processing project aimed at boosting domestic supply chains.

(By Varun Sahay; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)