DOE awarded $67 million to Colorado School of Mines and ElementUSA to recover rare earth minerals from Louisiana alumina waste.
Colorado School of Mines and ElementUSA have secured $67 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a rare earth element (REE) extraction and processing facility in Gramercy, Louisiana. The project marks a significant step toward strengthening domestic supplies of critical minerals by recovering valuable resources from industrial waste streams, specifically alumina tailings generated during aluminum refining.
The facility is one of two projects selected by the DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation to design, build, commission, and operate advanced plants capable of extracting rare earth elements from mine tailings and other waste materials. Beyond extraction, the facilities will also refine rare earth oxides into usable rare earth metals, which are essential for a broad range of industries including clean energy, defense, electronics, transportation, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing.
Rare earth elements comprise a group of 17 metals valued for their unique magnetic, optical, and electrochemical properties. These materials play a crucial role in technologies such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, semiconductors, communication systems, and military equipment. As global demand for these minerals continues to rise, the United States has been seeking ways to reduce reliance on foreign supply chains and expand domestic production capabilities.
According to Elizabeth Holley, Professor of Mining Engineering at Colorado School of Mines and principal investigator of the project, modern mining and processing operations are often optimized to recover only a limited number of commercially attractive metals. As a result, many critical minerals remain trapped in waste materials or are stored in tailings facilities that require ongoing environmental management. She noted that recovering valuable minerals from these underutilized resources represents an important strategy for both mineral security and environmental sustainability.
Holley emphasized that Colorado School of Mines has long been a leader in waste-to-value research and workforce development. Through its partnership with ElementUSA and support from the DOE, the institution aims to demonstrate how industrial waste can be transformed into a reliable domestic source of critical minerals needed for future technologies and economic growth.
ElementUSA Chief Executive Officer Ellis Sullivan described the award as a major milestone for the company and a meaningful advancement in efforts to establish new domestic sources of strategic minerals. He stated that the collaboration combines Colorado School of Mines’ research expertise with ElementUSA’s commercial development capabilities, creating a practical pathway for large-scale recovery of valuable materials from bauxite residue. The initiative is expected to strengthen U.S. critical mineral supply chains while generating economic value from resources that have historically been overlooked.
Founded in 2021, ElementUSA focuses on converting industrial waste into marketable mineral products through innovative processing technologies and infrastructure development. The company holds exclusive rights to the alumina tailings located at the Atalco alumina refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana. Situated along the Mississippi River, the site contains more than 30 million tons of “red mud,” a byproduct of alumina production that contains significant concentrations of rare earth elements and other critical minerals.
DOE funding will support construction and operation of a processing plant capable of producing between 150 and 1,000 metric tons of rare earth elements annually for domestic markets. Targeted materials include dysprosium, terbium, yttrium, gadolinium, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, and lanthanum—elements that are critical for magnets, electronics, renewable energy systems, and defense technologies.
In addition to rare earth development, ElementUSA is advancing a demonstration facility in Gramercy focused on recovering gallium and scandium, two other strategically important minerals. This effort is being supported through funding from the U.S. Department of War.
Colorado School of Mines will oversee project execution through its Waste to Value Center, which brings together multidisciplinary expertise across the mineral value chain. The center is responsible for optimizing recovery processes, reducing technical risks, and validating the economic and environmental performance of the project.
Led by Holley, the Waste to Value Center aims to strengthen domestic mineral supply chains while addressing technical, environmental, economic, and social challenges associated with mineral recovery. The center has established ambitious goals of reducing mine waste by 10 percent and lowering U.S. dependence on imported critical minerals by 10 percent within the next decade. The newly funded partnership with ElementUSA represents a significant example of how these objectives are already being translated into practical, large-scale industrial projects.
