Explore the critical minerals and materials project database and map.
Learn more about critical minerals and materials projects around the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its offices:
Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) catalyzes transformational technologies to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States. ARPA-E funds high-potential, high-impact projects that are too risky to attract private sector investment but could significantly advance the ways to generate, store, distribute and use energy.
The Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF) finances next-generation U.S. energy infrastructure, serving as a bridge to bankability for breakthrough projects and technologies and de-risking them at early stages of investment.
The Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis in the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) monitors the industrial base that supports nuclear weapons components, subsystems, and materials. This office also works to identify potential risks or gaps in the industrial base and mitigate such actions. This office closely monitors critical mineral and material supply chains, DOE’s RD&D portfolio, and current events to assess threats or concerns to the nuclear security enterprise.
The Office of Electricity (OE) works with industry to efficiently use critical materials for both energy storage and transformer applications. Innovations help alleviate supply chain challenges for materials, including lithium, sodium, vanadium, iron, zinc, organic electrolytes, and electrical steel.
The Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI) works across sectors to mitigate supply chain risk through research and development to diversify supply, develop alternatives, improve materials and manufacturing efficiency, and recover and reuse key materials. Visit the CMEI homepage to learn more about the suboffices and their work on critical minerals and materials.
The Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO) is focused on unleashing the full potential of America’s hydrocarbon and geothermal resources to provide affordable, reliable, and secure energy.
The Office of International Affairs (IA) identifies and facilitates opportunities with key foreign and ally partners and serves as a key bridge to other U.S. Government efforts in global supply chains.
The Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) focuses on the development and demonstration of advanced reactor designs that will rely on a variety of critical minerals and materials, such as graphite structures and moderators, advanced moderators using zirconium and yttrium hydrides, and molten salt coolants using beryllium and lithium.
The Office of Science (SC) supports the nation’s best minds, using the world’s best facilities, to keep America at the forefront of discovery. To address critical material and mineral concerns, SC supports foundational theoretical and experimental science to understand the role of critical elements, including platinum group and rare earth elements, in determining material properties and to advance geoscience and separation science to enhance the extraction and chemical processing of critical elements.
The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), in coordination with other DOE offices, analyzes, identifies, and supports technology commercialization pathways and partnership opportunities.