DOE Grants More Funding for Critical Minerals, Battery Materials Projects

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Written by Eric Funderburk for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

The Trump administration has continued its support of projects involving critical minerals and battery technologies in a new round of funding.

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A New Wave of Funding

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has reported a new wave of funding earmarked for various projects throughout the U.S. involving battery technologies and critical minerals--two items that the Trump administration has shown enthusiasm for through both policy decisions and federal monetary support.

Lithium

Lithium, a key battery material on the U.S. Critical Minerals List since 2018, plays a high-priority role in the administration's policy decisions, and a lithium extraction project is Utah is one of the key recipients in the latest round of DOE funding.

Lilac Solutions Incorporated will receive a $100 million grant for its planned direct lithium extraction (DLE) plant on the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The project will use Lilac's extraction technology that would reportedly not deplete water levels by returning the lithium-depleted brine back to the lake. However, the large volumes of water that would be processed have raised some concerns from regulators and environmental organizations. The project, however, clearly has federal backing as demonstrated by the latest round of awards.

The Great Salt Lake project actually is an outgrowth of a pilot plant built to demonstrate Lilac's technology that was completed early last year. The commercial-scale plant would increase production to 5,000 tons per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE). The federal funding could help get construction on the commercial plant rolling. Industrial Info Resources data indicate construction could start by the end of the year, with completion anticipated by the end of 2027. Readers can access details of the project, including construction timelines, key contact details, and equipment and service needs, by clicking here.

Battery Materials

Another big recipient from the DOE was Nth Cycle, which received a $100 million grant for a black mass recycling center at a site under selection in South Carolina. Black mass is the mixture of metals including lithium, cobalt, nickel and others that can be recovered from crushed rechargeable batteries at the end of their life cycle. The material can be recycled and used for new batteries. Nth Cycle intends to do just that as it proceeds with its Project SHIELD (Strategic Hub for Industrial Electroextraction and Logistics Defense) in South Carolina, extracting high-purity nickel mixed hydroxide precipitate and lithium carbonate.

With site selection still underway, construction on the project may not begin until next year, but Nth Cycle's proprietary "Oyster" recycling technology comes in the form of modular units with a quick construction turnaround time. The company's Oyster technology additionally represents a more compact means of extracting the battery materials from a smaller footprint, at a lower construction costs.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Commerce Department banned exports of black mass from the U.S. effective Thursday, August 27, also prohibiting exports of tungsten scrap. Tungsten in used in a variety of applications ranging from defense to oil and gas drilling to semiconductor production. China earlier this year tightened its tungsten exports, restricting supply and elevating prices. For more on that, see June 1, 2026, article - China Restrictions Lead to Tungsten Supply Crunch.

Another battery materials project receiving a DOE grant is Princeton NuEnergy's demonstration-scale recycling plant in Commerce, Georgia, which will specifically concentrate on recovering and rejuvenating cathode materials containing nickel, using a low-temperature process.

Previous DOE Awards

The projects join a growing list of similar undertakings supported by the federal government that escalated under the Biden administration and has continued in Trump's second term. One of the largest of these loans came in late 2024, when the DOE awarded a $2.26 billion loan for Lithium Americas Corporation's Thacker Pass lithium mine and processing plant in Nevada.

Also in Nevada, American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) received a $57 million grant for its Tonopah Flats Lithium Project, a planned open-pit mining operation along with an onsite refinery to yield an initial 5,000 tons per year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate. The award initially was granted under the Biden administration but was withdrawn along with other DOE awards in October 2025. ABTC successfully appealed the decision, with the company announcing the funding had been reinstated, along with a revised project timeline, in June this year.

Key Takeaways

• The second Trump administration continues federal support for critical minerals and battery materials projects with a $500 million wave of funding.
• Among the biggest recipients are Lilac Solutions for its Great Salt Lake lithium plant and Nth Cycle for its Project SHIELD battery-recycling plans.

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