The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) is seeking industry input on recovering and repurposing surplus critical minerals and materials from its inventory. The Expression of Interest (EOI) explores potential collaborations that could strengthen domestic supply chains and support U.S. scientific, manufacturing, and energy needs. Responses are due November 2, 2026, with a virtual Industry Day scheduled for September 30.
DOE is gathering information on technical capabilities, material demand, processing approaches, and commercial applications. Industry partners would be responsible for subsequent extraction or reprocessing. The notice is an early-stage engagement opportunity; no Notice of Funding Opportunity exists at this time, and DOE will provide no funding or compensation for responses.
What Is DOE Seeking?
DOE wants to understand how organizations could reuse materials held at its legacy sites, including processed metals, equipment, alloys, shielding materials, and uranium mill tailings. The EOI asks respondents to connect a specific inventory need with a credible recovery approach and a domestic end use.
The agency’s questions cover:
The minerals or materials an organization needs and how DOE’s inventory could meet that demand
Experience handling, processing, mining, or extracting those materials
Minimum viable quantities, optimal quantities, and scalability
Potential applications, domestic markets, and supply-chain benefits
Proposed collaboration arrangements with DOE-EM
Technical, logistical, and regulatory challenges
Management and disposal of waste streams and byproducts
Interest in leasing land or developing a processing facility at a DOE site
Responses should give DOE enough detail to assess whether a proposed collaboration is technically practical, commercially relevant, and aligned with domestic needs.
What Materials Are Identified?
The compiled EOI includes site-specific appendices describing inventories at Paducah, Oak Ridge, Portsmouth, Crescent Junction, and the Nevada National Security Site. These are preliminary inventory and screening analyses. Recovery potential, material availability, contamination, and processing requirements vary substantially by site.
The Crescent Junction appendix deserves particular attention. Its approximately 16.2 million tons describes the total disposed material stream, not the quantity of any individual mineral. Historical vanadium measurements cannot be applied across the entire stream to establish a contained or recoverable resource. Rare earth elements have not been analyzed in that stream.
Organizations should evaluate each material against its own process requirements, product specifications, recovery economics, and ability to manage contaminants.
Who Should Consider Responding?
The EOI may be relevant to mineral recovery and refining companies, metals recyclers, separation-technology developers, specialty-material manufacturers, and organizations with experience handling radiologically affected industrial materials. DOE’s questions also invite input from potential end users with defined domestic demand and organizations considering a processing facility on a DOE site.
A useful response will identify a particular material stream and explain how the organization could put it to productive use. For example, a copper recovery concept should address the material’s form and contamination profile, the proposed treatment process, waste management, transportation, and the specifications required by a domestic customer.
The commercial case needs to account for the full recovery effort. Access to consolidated material may offer advantages, while characterization, decontamination, permitting, infrastructure, and waste disposal can significantly affect cost and schedule. DOE’s appendices repeatedly call for independent technical and economic evaluation before advancing a recovery project.
Key Dates and Response Requirements
DOE will accept electronic responses only through the specified email address. A response does not create a binding commitment to pursue the proposed idea, and submitted materials will not be returned.
DOE recommends avoiding confidential information where possible. If proprietary business information must be included, respondents should follow the notice’s instructions for submitting clearly marked proprietary and redacted copies. DOE will make its own determination regarding confidential treatment.
Preparing a Useful EOI Response
Start with the inventory appendix most relevant to your technology or material demand. Within the five-page limit, prioritize the information DOE needs to evaluate feasibility: the material sought, required quantity, processing capability, domestic application, anticipated constraints, and proposed collaboration model.
The response should distinguish demonstrated capabilities from work that still requires testing. Where sampling, regulatory approvals, transportation authorizations, or new infrastructure are needed, describe those dependencies and how they would be addressed. A realistic waste-management plan is especially important for material streams with radiological or chemical contamination.
This EOI offers an opportunity to engage DOE while potential collaborations are being explored. Companies tracking critical mineral and materials opportunities can use the notice to assess technical fit, identify partners, and explain where their capabilities could support domestic recovery and reuse. Any future funding or acquisition action would require a separate announcement.
EverGlade is a national advisory firm helping innovators and investors navigate the federal funding and financing ecosystem. We support companies across the funding lifecycle, from early-stage strategy through proposal development, negotiations, and program execution.
For additional information on where your capabilities could plug into this solicitation or similar programs, schedule a conversation with our team.
