This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) consists of 8 regions that span the United States, including Puerto Rico. For this FOA, each region represents an Area of Interest (AOI) in which R&D studies will be completed. The 8 regions spanning the United States were delineated using existing geographic data and DOE carbon storage/hydrogen hub regions. All AOIs have the same objectives: the difference is in the physical Region.

The vision of the Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative is to catalyze regional economic growth and job creation by realizing the full potential value of natural resources, such as coal, throughout the United States. It has been designed to address the upstream and midstream critical minerals and materials (CMM) supply chain and downstream manufacturing of valuable, nonfuel, carbon-based products, to accelerate the realization of full potential for unconventional and secondary sources of CMM and carbon ore across the United States. Feedstocks that could be considered for domestic production to enhance national and economic security of CMM include fossil fuel energy and similar waste streams, such as coal waste and by-products, oil and gas produced waters, active mineral mines tailings and byproducts, and brines produced as part of carbon sequestration efforts. They can also be used as sources of carbon for production of valuable, nonfuel, carbon-based products (CBPs).

The primary objective of this FOA is to competitively award R&D projects to coalition teams (that consist of partners such as private industry; university; local, state, and federal government; local communities; and Tribes and Tribal organizations who will develop and implement strategies that enable each specific U.S. region to realize its full economic potential for producing CMM and valuable, nonfuel, carbon-based products by these acts:

• Carry out/Expand CORE-CM assessments to regions to understand CMM resource potential on a larger footprint.
• Formulate and implement strategies to integrate and leverage regional infrastructure, industries and businesses to spur economic growth by utilizing the regions’ CMM and Carbon Ore resources and waste streams. This includes formulating strategies that address regional infrastructure needs, economic challenges, and supply chain gaps.
• Develop and implement plans for stakeholder outreach and education that are necessary to support CORE-CM economic development activities across a given region, with particular focus on community and environmental justice and meaningful tribal engagement.
• Prepare and start implementing a workforce development plan for the training of the next generation of technicians, skilled workers, and STEM professions for securing domestic CMM and component production.
• Develop and start implementing plans for technology innovation centers that will be operated by regional-specific public-private partnerships to provide a centralized and consistent platform to develop and validate CORE-CM technologies.
• By way of working groups with other awardees and NETL/DOE staff and support contractors, develop best practice guides and similar documents. The areas for working groups include (but may not be limited to): Resource Characterization, Infrastructure, Environmental Justice and Social Responsibility, and Technology Innovation Center.
• Collaborate with adjacent regions/AOIs and with working groups to develop best methods to access and coordinate technologies, transportation, and infrastructure when similar technologies/materials are being researched.
• Develop datasets meaningful to a DOE effort to develop a U.S. nationwide prospectus on critical minerals from unconventional resources and contribute to the drafting of region-specific portions of the prospectus.

Areas of Interest 1-8

• AOI-1 – Regional study of Eastern Coastal area and Puerto Rico
• AOI-2 – Regional study of Appalachian Mountain
• AOI-3 – Regional study of Upper Midwest and Illinois Basin
• AOI-4 – Regional study of Great Plains and Interior Highlands
• AOI-5 – Regional study of Gulf Coast and Permian Basin
• AOI-6 – Regional study of Rocky Mountain
• AOI-7 – Regional study of Pacific Coast & Basin and Range (including Hawaii)
• AOI-8 – Regional study of Alaska and Pacific Northwest