Notice of Intent to Issue DE-FOA-0003390

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), has announced a Notice of Intent to issue a funding opportunity titled "Mine of the Future – Proving Ground Initiative." This initiative seeks to address critical challenges in the U.S. mining sector by establishing proving grounds to test and advance innovative mining technologies, ultimately strengthening the domestic supply chain for critical minerals and materials essential for the energy economy and national security. The anticipated Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is expected to be issued in the fourth quarter of 2025. The initiative responds to growing concerns over U.S. reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals, including an over 80 percent dependence on imports. Recent Executive Orders have emphasized the urgency of securing domestic mineral supplies to ensure energy and defense resilience. By creating technology proving grounds and funding signature research projects, DOE intends to close the gap in domestic mineral production, reduce reliance on imports, and promote new, cleaner mining technologies. The program also emphasizes government-industry-academia partnerships, recognizing that such collaborations are essential to accelerate technology transfer and adoption. The scope of this program includes development, demonstration, and optimization of advanced mining technologies at a field scale. Proving ground facilities will be designed and constructed during the first two years of awards, with subsequent years dedicated to technology testing. Funded projects may involve up to two major R&D efforts per site, focusing on advancing technologies from bench-scale (TRL 3) to field-scale readiness (TRL 6). Areas of research include automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, electrification of mining equipment, real-time sensing technologies, selective recovery methods, in-situ leaching, and new approaches for ore characterization and extraction. Each applicant must provide detailed proposals that include technical designs, flowsheets, pilot-scale facility plans, and techno-economic analyses, as well as assessments of environmental and waste impacts. Projects should demonstrate economic and technological advantages over conventional methods. Applicants must also present clear integration strategies into supply chains, identify target materials, and provide letters of support or justifications for needed equipment and facilities. Training a skilled workforce is an additional program objective, with proving grounds intended to serve as education and demonstration centers for the mining sector. Funding for this initiative is set at a total of $80 million, with up to four awards anticipated at a maximum of $20 million each. Cost share requirements will range from 20 to 50 percent, depending on project specifics. Applicants must be registered in federal procurement and grants systems, including SAM.gov and Grants.gov, and will be required to have Unique Entity Identifiers (UEIs). Subrecipients must also obtain UEIs, though they are not required to be registered in SAM. The timeline for the funding opportunity includes anticipated release in late 2025, with applications to follow once the official NOFO is published. Concept papers, letters of intent, or applications are not being solicited at this time, as this announcement is only a notice of intent. Once the full NOFO is released, applicants will be able to submit questions and seek clarifications through official DOE channels. At present, no pre-application deadlines or specific submission dates are provided, though the initiative is expected to recur in subsequent years as part of DOE’s broader Critical Materials Collaborative.