News: Suppliers
4 June 2026
ElementUSA and Colorado School of Mines awarded $67m by DOE for construction of rare-earth processing plant
ElementUSA Inc of Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA and Colorado School of Mines (CSM) of Golden, CO, USA have been awarded $67m from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to advance the design, construction, commissioning and operation of a rare-earth element (REE) processing facility in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana.
The award builds on ElementUSA’s ongoing $29.9m project with the Department of War (DOW) focused on gallium and scandium recovery and commercialization.
Together, these programs materially advance ElementUSA’s plan to onshore critical mineral supply chains by scaling a proven, proprietary process that converts bauxite residue, the byproduct of aluminium refining, into pig iron and a diversified suite of critical minerals and REEs.
“This project represents a significant step toward establishing a new domestic source of critical minerals and rare-earth elements essential to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, energy systems and national security,” says ElementUSA’s CEO Ellis Sullivan. “Beyond gallium and scandium, this program advances the recovery of a uniquely valuable mixed rare-earth oxide basket with strong heavy rare-earth and yttrium content. By combining Colorado School of Mines’ world-class expertise with ElementUSA’s commercial development platform, we are advancing a practical pathway to recover strategic materials from bauxite residue at commercial scale while strengthening America's critical mineral supply chains and transforming an under-utilized industrial waste stream into a nationally strategic resource.”
Technical credibility, scale and commercial pathway
- Proven technical process: ElementUSA’s integrated hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical flowsheet is engineered to co-produce pig iron and recover critical metals and REEs, including scandium, gallium, germanium, yttrium, neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, gadolinium, titanium, vanadium, niobium, and tantalum, improving unit economics through diversified revenue.
- Commercial facility target: ElementUSA is advancing a phased development pathway to a full-scale commercial facility targeting about 1 million tons per annum feed capacity at full scale. Estimated capital expenditure is about $1.1bn. This facility has the potential to make the Louisiana residue one of the only depleting bauxite residue waste resources in the world. ElementUSA will be breaking ground on the first phase of this project in Louisiana later in June.
- Exclusive resource access: ElementUSA has secured exclusive access to the bauxite residue resource in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana which is currently ~34 million tons (and growing) of proven reserves. At scale, this single resource has the potential to produce 45–385% of US annual demand for gallium, scandium, yttrium, germanium, ytterbium, dysprosium and gadolinium, along with significant concentrations of additional critical minerals.
- Competitive positioning: The Louisiana bauxite residue resource is said to be uniquely differentiated from both traditional mined deposits and other industrial waste streams due to its highly polymetallic composition, containing more than 95% payable metals across iron, rare-earth elements and critical minerals. This co-production capability is reckoned to represent a significant competitive advantage versus single-commodity mining projects by enabling lower production costs, diversified revenue streams and improved resilience to volatile pricing environments for rare earths and trace critical minerals. In addition to the Louisiana project, ElementUSA’s process platform is designed as a scalable global deployment model for bauxite residue resources worldwide. With more than 4 billion tons of bauxite residue estimated globally, the firm believes that its technology platform has the potential to unlock a substantial new domestic and international source of strategic minerals while addressing one of the world’s largest industrial waste challenges.
ElementUSA & Colorado School of Mines collaboration
ElementUSA’s Critical Resource Accelerator (CRA) in Cedar Park, Texas, is its integrated lab-to-pilot hub for process validation, product qualification and scale-up. The CRA collaborates closely with Colorado School of Mines on technical validation, mineral characterization, development and scale-up studies. Led by Elizabeth Holley, the Colorado School of Mines Waste-to-Value Center brings together an interdisciplinary team to advance recovery of critical minerals from mine waste – from site selection through implementation. ElementUSA applauds Holley’s pioneering leadership and CSM’s scientific contributions to accelerating domestic critical minerals capabilities.
Strategic impact and commercialization
ElementUSA says that the DOE and DOW awards strengthen its ability to finalize long-term offtake agreements, attract additional financing, and accelerate facility buildout and commissioning of operations in Louisiana. The firm is engaged with defense primes, semiconductor and advanced materials companies, and specialty off-takers on product qualification and contractual pathways that will enable phased commercial deliveries as the facility scales.
ElementUSA awarded $29.9m in Defense funding to create US supply of gallium and scandium
