US Launches £100m Drive to Strengthen Domestic Rare Earth Supply Chains

The US Department of Energy has announced up to US$134 million (around £100 million) in new funding to boost domestic production and refining of rare earth elements (REEs), aiming to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. The initiative will support projects that extract and process REEs from unconventional sources such as mine tailings, e-waste and industrial waste streams.

The United States imported 59% of its rare earth supply in 2024, despite these elements being critical for advanced manufacturing, defence technologies and high-performance magnets. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the investment marks a strategic shift to rebuild the nation’s minerals and industrial base after “years of complacency.”

Applicants must submit letters of intent by 10 December 2025 and full proposals by 5 January 2026, with a required 50% cost share and participation from an academic partner. The funding follows recent minerals cooperation agreements with allies including Australia, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

Rare earth supply-chain diversification has become a bipartisan US priority regardless of shifting positions on other clean-energy policies.

REEs are essential inputs for wind turbines, EV motors, advanced electronics and defence systems, and 59 percent import dependence in 2024 represents a structural vulnerability the US$134 million funding round is designed to address.

Recovery from unconventional sources - mine tailings, e-waste, industrial waste - also aligns with circular-economy principles.

The academic-partnership requirement and 50 percent cost-share reflect classic DOE innovation-programme design: government risk-capital combined with private co-investment and research-partnership expertise. The parallel minerals cooperation agreements with Australia, Japan and Saudi Arabia suggest the funding is one element of a broader strategy that combines domestic capacity, ally-anchored supply chains, and processing infrastructure.

For mining companies, materials-processing firms, recycling operators and industrial buyers of rare earths, Cognitud's supply chain and operations, sustainability due diligence and market intelligence teams help clients evaluate REE recovery-and-processing opportunities, structure supplier partnerships aligned with US and allied programme criteria, and prepare disclosures aligned with IRMA, TSM and OECD due-diligence standards that increasingly determine access to Western clean-technology and defence supply chains.