Ensuring "Pro-American Worker" Critical Minerals Supply Chain in the Western Hemisphere

The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of International Labor Affairs is soliciting applications for approximately $5 million in cooperative agreement funding to strengthen labor standards compliance and transparency in critical minerals supply chains, with applications due September 21, 2026, and a single award expected. This is a single-award opportunity capped at $5 million in total costs.

Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, for-profit organizations, faith-based organizations, commercial organizations, international organizations, community-based organizations, and public international organizations. No cost share or matching requirement is specified.

The project targets copper, lithium, and/or silver mining operations in Chile and/or Argentina. Applicants may work in one or both target countries and must select at least one critical mineral per country. The period of performance is 36 months from award date, though applicants may propose a shorter duration. Award decisions are expected between September 30 and December 31, 2026.

The objective is to strengthen labor standards compliance in Western Hemisphere critical minerals supply chains to advance U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and support American workers. Projects must engage partner government agencies, regional associations, workers and worker organizations, and the private sector to improve labor enforcement. Applicants must develop context-responsive strategies demonstrating meaningful multi-stakeholder engagement and demonstrate how activities contribute to increased American jobs and wage growth. Illustrative activities include technical guidance to governments and employers, strengthening industrial relations, implementing supply chain assurance systems, and developing policy enforcement measures.

Projects must allocate 5 to 8 percent of total direct costs to monitoring and evaluation activities and either $50,000 (single country) or $75,000 (multiple countries) for communications assets. Applications require a technical proposal (maximum 50 double-spaced pages plus attachments), cost proposal with detailed budget narratives and country-specific budgets for Chile and/or Argentina, and SF-424 forms. Key personnel must be named in resumes submitted with the technical proposal and filled within 30 days of award. Evaluation is based on 100 points across project design narrative, milestones and targets, monitoring and evaluation, work plan, organizational capacity, key personnel, and management plan. The Assistance Listing number is 17.401.