This $239,788 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) supports collaborative research by Georgia State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology to study the occurrence and geochemistry of rare earth elements (REEs) in highly weathered sedimentary rocks and kaolin deposits in Georgia. The key objectives are to obtain a fundamental understanding of the geochemical factors controlling the...
This $350,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences (CFDA 47.050) program will enable researchers at The Washington University to investigate the biogeochemical processes affecting critical mineral resources in mine tailings and weathered ore zones in the United States. The primary research focus is characterizing rare earth elements in iron oxide-apatite and carbonatite ore waste materials, as well as platinum group elements in weathered ore zones, using...
This $451,225 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) to the University of Kentucky Research Foundation will support collaborative research to explore new sources of rare earth elements (REEs) in the Southeastern U.S. The project aims to investigate the provenance and delivery of the REE-bearing mineral monazite from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Researchers will utilize advanced analytical techniques such as mass...
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $180,189 Project Grant under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to The Washington and Lee University. The grant, effective August 15, 2024, with a projected completion date of July 31, 2027, will support collaborative research to investigate the potential for extracting rare earth elements and yttrium from acid mine drainage using biotic and abiotic hydrous manganese oxides. The research aims to identify optimal conditions for concentrating...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Project Grant award under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) will support collaborative research to investigate the provenance of rare earth element-bearing monazite minerals in the Southeastern U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain. The $147,775 award, made to Syracuse University, aims to explore potential bedrock and sedimentary sources of monazite and develop improved methods for locating these critical mineral deposits. The research will employ mass...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) Project Grant award in the amount of $369,810 will support collaborative research to investigate the potential for recovering rare earth elements (REEs) and yttrium from acid mine drainage remediation systems. The research will examine how various biogeochemical conditions impact the uptake of REEs and yttrium by hydrous manganese oxide minerals found in acid mine drainage. Through a combination of laboratory and field...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Geosciences program grant, with a total funding amount of $296,901.00 awarded on September 1, 2023, supports a systematic investigation of sorption mechanisms of light rare-earth elements (REEs) on iron oxides at Oklahoma State University. The key objectives are to elucidate how mineral structure, crystallinity, morphology, and interfacial dynamics affect REE sorption at mineral-water interfaces, which is critical for predicting the occurrence and formation...
This $206,024 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award under the NSF Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) supports research by an early-career scientist at the University of the South (Sewanee) to investigate the influence of cation substitution on the stability and geophysical properties of hydrous phases in the Earth's lower mantle. The project combines computational modeling and high-pressure, high-temperature experimental techniques to evaluate how the incorporation of aluminum and iron...
This $347,924 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) supports research at North Carolina State University to identify and characterize biogenic ligands that promote the solubilization and uptake of rare earth elements by bacteria from soils and other matrices. Over a three-year period from January 2023 to December 2025, the university will combine microbiology with coordination, soil, and analytical chemical approaches to discover and study...
This Project Grant award of $277,601.00 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences supports a collaborative research project titled "GEO-CM: The Occurrences of the Rare Earth Elements in Highly Weathered Sedimentary Rocks, Georgia Kaolins." The award, effective September 15, 2023 through August 31, 2026, aims to obtain a fundamental understanding of the geochemical factors controlling the sequestration, redistribution, and fractionation of rare earth elements...