Project Grant DESC0025053

The Colorado School of Mines received a $232,591 cooperative agreement award from the Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center to develop advanced inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) speciation methods in support of rare earth element discovery and recovery. The three-year award, issued on September 28, 2021 under the Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering program (CFDA 12.630), will fund research to advance...

This $275,999 National Science Foundation Project Grant supports the development of an environmentally friendly rare earth element extraction process from recycled fluorescent light bulb powder. The awardee, IM Technologies LLC, will engineer a prototype reactor system that uses precision ultra-high temperature heating to evaporate and subsequently condense targeted rare earth constituents from light bulb waste. Research tasks include optimizing thermal energy applications to efficiently extract...

This Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Fossil Energy Research and Development (CFDA 81.089) program, totaling $3,692,531, aims to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) with machine learning (ML) to provide real-time monitoring and control of feedstock characteristics for hydrogen-producing gasifiers. The prime awardee, Lehigh University, will lead the project to: 1) assemble a material inventory and sampling...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $143,652 Project Grant under the Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) to La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This funding will support the acquisition of a Rigaku MiniFlex 6G X-Ray Diffractometer and an IXRF Iridium Ultra Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy System. These instruments will enable undergraduate research and education in environmental biogeochemistry and mineralogy at La Salle, as well as promote collaborative research...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) awarded a $550,000 Cooperative Agreement under the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (CFDA #15.073) to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) to characterize potential rare earth element resources in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The project will involve identifying target granites and related rocks, collecting and analyzing rock, weathered rock, and soil samples across the three states. The key deliverables include a...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083) Project Grant award of $384,660 to Lake Superior State University will support the acquisition of a micro X-ray fluorescence (?XRF) spectrometer with remote operation capabilities. The ?XRF instrument will enable high-resolution imaging and elemental analysis to benefit a consortium of 14 researchers across eight institutions and their collaborators. The ?XRF will facilitate external research, education, and industrial...

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences awarded a $615,305 Project Grant entitled "GEO-CM: PROSPECTING FOR CRITICAL ELEMENT DEPOSITS: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH USING EXPERIMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND FIELD-INFORMED MODELING OF SEDIMENT TRANSPORT" to the University of Rochester. The grant aims to develop new tools and methods to help geoscientists locate undiscovered deposits of critical minerals, such as cobalt, niobium, and tin, that are essential for...

Stratajam LLC received a $276,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships federal grant program (CFDA 47.084) to develop a real-time mineral data collection and identification module. The module aims to improve mining and geotechnical drilling activities by eliminating the need for handling bulky samples and water usage in the drilling process. This will mitigate risks to public and wildlife drinking water sources from...

This $289,851 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Integrative Activities (IA) program supports research at the University of Delaware that aims to develop new pathways for the recovery and recycling of rare-earth elements (REEs). The project focuses on investigating the formation and properties of high-temperature REE-sulfate liquids, with the goal of advancing alternative REE extraction and separation technologies that could enable more circular manufacturing...

This National Science Foundation Project Grant of $481,459 awarded on January 15, 2023 will fund the acquisition of a laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer system to replace aging instrumentation at the Peter Hooper Geochemical Laboratory at Washington State University. The funding supports the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) goal of expanding fundamental earth science knowledge through basic research. The new laser ablation and mass spectrometer will provide...