Research university Colorado School of Mines and mid-stream minerals processing company ElementUSA have been awarded $67-million in funding from the US Department of Energy (DoE) to build a plant for the extraction and processing of rare earth elements (REEs) from alumina tailings in Louisiana. 

The project, in Gramercy, Louisiana, is one of two announced on June 3 by the DoE's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation to design, construct, commission and operate an REE facility capable of separating REE from mine tailings or other waste and refining the resulting oxides into rare earth metals.

REEs, a group of 17 elements prized for their magnetic, optical and electrochemical properties, are essential to energy systems, defence, electronics, transportation, healthcare and more.   

“Today’s active mines and processing facilities are optimised to produce just a few commonly used metals, with valuable critical minerals discarded as waste or stored in tailings facilities that require long-term environmental management. Recovering critical minerals from these untapped wastes is a key strategy for domestic mineral security and environmental stewardship,” says Colorado School of Mines mining engineering professor Elizabeth Holley, who is also a principal investigator on the project.

She adds that Colorado School of Mines has been a leader in waste-to-value research and workforce development for decades. "With support from DoE, and in collaboration with ElementUSA, our research is changing the world, transforming waste into the minerals that we need.” 

ElementUSA CEO Ellis Sullivan feels honoured at receiving the DoE's support and to partner with Colorado School of Mines on this important initiative.  

"This project represents a significant step toward unlocking a new domestic source of critical minerals essential to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, energy systems, and national security. By combining Colorado School of Mines' world-class expertise with ElementUSA's commercial development platform, we are advancing a practical pathway to recover strategic materials from bauxite residue at scale, strengthening America's critical mineral supply chains while creating long-term value from an underutilised domestic resource," Sullivan explains.

Founded in 2021, ElementUSA specialises in waste-to-market solutions and innovative midstream processing infrastructure to recover minerals from both primary and secondary sources. The company holds exclusive rights to the bauxite residue (alumina tailings) at the Atalco alumina refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana.

Located on the banks of the Mississippi river, the alumina tailings impoundments contain more than 30-million tons of “red mud”– residual materials from the alumina refining process that include REEs and other critical minerals. 

The funding from DoE will support the development of a plant operated by ElementUSA capable of supplying 150 t/y to 1 000 t/y of REEs for domestic use from the Gramercy tailings. Target elements include dysprosium, terbium, yttrium, gadolinium, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium and lanthanum. 

ElementUSA is also currently developing a demonstration plant in Gramercy for the extraction of two other critical minerals, gallium and scandium, with funding from the US Department of War.

In turn, Colorado School of Mines - recognised as a national leader in mining and minerals, including recovering critical minerals as by-products from active mines and wastes - will lead the project through the Mines Waste to Value Center. The centre will leverage the school's expertise across the mineral value chain to optimise, derisk and validate all stages of the project. 

The Waste to Value Center unites an interdisciplinary team to advance the recovery of critical minerals from mine waste, from site selection to implementation. This work is aimed at strengthening domestic mineral supply chains while addressing challenges including waste characterisation and recovery processes as well as the environmental, economic and societal dimensions of production.  

“The goal of the Mines Waste to Value Center is a 10% reduction in mine waste and a 1% reduction in critical mineral imports in ten years,” Holley says, adding that projects such as this DoE-funded partnership with ElementUSA will accelerate these efforts.