Rare earths from U.S. Extractions (REUSE)

The Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center awarded Wayne State University a $3,130,353 cooperative agreement under the Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering program (CFDA 12.630) from September 29, 2021 to September 28, 2023. The award supports developing a nature-based method using fungi to enhance leaching of rare earth elements (REEs) from waste materials including fly ash and electronic waste, and extracting REEs from the leachate using polymer-coated filter media. Wayne State University is the primary awardee and will lead overall project management. The University of California, Los Angeles will receive a subaward to identify and quantify potential U.S. REE feedstocks, review beneficiation methods, develop the bioleaching method, and conduct batch testing of media to separate REEs from leachate. The funding advances technologies for REE extraction from domestic waste streams to support Department of Defense missions.