Photo: MBisanz talk / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
US government allocates $500M in grants for domestic minerals projects
The Department of Energy is funneling hundreds of millions into critical mineral processing and battery manufacturing as Washington races to untangle itself from foreign supply chains.
The US Department of Energy has announced up to $500 million in grants aimed at supercharging domestic production of critical minerals, battery manufacturing, and recycling. The funding, announced through a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), targets projects involving lithium, graphite, nickel, copper, aluminum, and rare earth elements.
What the money looks like
Individual awards will typically range from $50 million to $200 million. There’s a floor of $50 million for demonstration-scale projects and $100 million for commercial-scale facilities.
The DOE is requiring a minimum 50% cost-share, meaning companies need to match at least half the federal dollars with their own capital.
The bigger picture
The DOE first signaled its intent for this funding round back in August 2025, when it outlined nearly $1 billion in critical minerals opportunities. The current NOFO, dated March 13, 2026, represents the largest single tranche of that broader commitment.
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Beyond the DOE grants, the government has announced billions in additional defense financing and workforce grants exceeding $180 million, all directed at the minerals sector.
What this means for markets and industry
The 50% cost-share requirement means the total capital deployed across these projects could approach $1 billion when private contributions are included.
The recycling component of the funding addresses a problem that’s about to get much bigger: the first wave of EV batteries is approaching end-of-life, and the materials locked inside them, lithium, cobalt, nickel, represent both an environmental liability and a domestic resource opportunity.