The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation has awarded US$10 million ($13.9 million) across seven projects focused on research and development in critical minerals refining.
The funding is led by the Critical Materials Innovation Hub (CMI Hub) and will focus on rare earth elements, gallium, copper, and other critical materials.
Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson says that the focus will be to address the technical challenges facing the industry.
“This work will unlock new production methods that strengthen domestic supply chains and ensure American manufacturers have access to the materials they need to compete and lead,” Robertson explains.
This latest funding is another step in the US building its critical minerals ecosystem as it looks to reduce its reliance on foreign supply chains.
At the moment, most of the federal spending is still going toward the midstream. The latest US$10 million award will support processing for heavy rare earth metal production, copper extraction from copper sulphides, copper sulphide leaching, and extraction from industrial byproducts, among other areas.
While federal dollars flow into midstream refining and processing, the upstream remains the linchpin of supply security. Without new discoveries and resource growth, the US risks building processing capacity without the feedstock to sustain it.
Viking Mines (ASX:VKA) is advancing a portfolio of tungsten projects in Nevada, US, driven by the historic Linka Tungsten Project.
Viking has taken the project from acquisition in December 2025 to maiden drilling in H2 2026, with work underway across exploration, drilling, metallurgical test work, processing studies, flowsheet design, permitting, and funding.
Viking Mines notes that the Restoring Essential Energy and Security Holdings Onshore for Rare Earths Act (REEShore Act) has boosted the domestic critical minerals environment, with the US Government growing domestic critical minerals stockpiles.
With no tungsten currently being produced domestically, Viking is moving to help fill a critical gap in the US supply chain.
OD6 Metals (ASX:OD6) completed its acquisition of the Quinn Fluorspar Project in Nevada earlier this month, giving the company one of the largest consolidated fluorspar exploration positions in the US.
The company is now focused on resource definition and project development at Quinn, It says “every major work program has continued to strengthen our confidence in Quinn’s potential to become a strategic domestic supplier of premium fluorspar into the United States”.
Fluorspar is a designated US critical mineral, with the country wholly reliant on imports. In 2024, 63% of global supply was sourced from China, with most of the remainder coming from Mongolia and Mexico.
As an essential mineral in AI semiconductor chips, advanced lithium-ion batteries, nuclear fuel processing, and defence, the demand for fluorspar is set to grow in the coming years.
As Washington channels fresh funding into midstream refining, juniors like Viking Mines and OD6 Metals are working to ensure the upstream can deliver the feedstock needed to secure the US’s critical minerals future.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: Viking Mines
