Energy Department Issues Request for Proposal for Conceptual Designs Aimed at Rare Earth Production from Coal-Based Resources
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) issued a request for proposal (RFP) as an unrestricted, full, and open competition for the conceptual design of a system to produce 1–3 tonnes per day of mixed rare earth oxides or rare earth salts from domestic coal and coal by-product feedstocks. The proposal also includes an option to conduct a feasibility study sufficient to support an AACE Class 4 cost estimate to assess the technical and economic feasibility of the approach identified in the conceptual design. The contract award(s) resulting from this RFP will be firm-fixed-price.
A secure, reliable, and sustainable domestic supply of rare earth elements (REEs) is both essential to the continued health of our Nation’s energy and electronics industries and an important contributor to national security. DOE’s Feasibility of Recovering Rare Earth Elements Program, in accordance with Call to Action 1 within Executive Order 13817 on A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals, is developing processes to recover REEs from coal and coal by-products in an environmentally friendly fashion.
DOE’s REE Program has demonstrated the technical feasibility of extracting REEs from coal-based materials. The REE Program has moved into bench-scale and engineering-scale prototype materials processing, with technology and engineering scale up challenges and opportunities being addressed. DOE intends to accelerate the advancement of commercially viable technologies for the extraction of REEs and minerals from U.S. coal and coal by-product sources.
Read the full RFP by going to Fed Connect and searching by Reference number: 89243320RFE000032.
The Office of Fossil Energy funds research and development projects to reduce the risk and cost of advanced fossil energy technologies and further the sustainable use of the Nation’s fossil resources. To learn more about the programs within the Office of Fossil Energy, visit the Office of Fossil Energy website or sign up for FE news announcements.
