US proposes nearly $1 billion in funds for critical minerals, materials

(Reuters) -The Trump administration is proposing nearly $1 billion in funding to speed the development of U.S. critical minerals and materials, used in everything from electric vehicle batteries to semiconductors, the Energy Department said on Wednesday. 

The department intends to offer funding to advance and scale up mining, processing and manufacturing technologies in the critical minerals and materials supply chains, sectors that have been dominated by China and other countries, the statement said.

"For too long, the United States has relied on foreign actors to supply and process the critical materials that are essential to modern life and our national security," said Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

The department said the move is aligned with President Donald Trump's executive order on maximizing energy development.

The department's Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) intends to offer up to $500 million in funding to expand U.S. critical minerals and materials processing and battery manufacturing and recycling.

MESC also intends to offer up to $135 million in funding to support the domestic supply chain for rare earth elements, by demonstrating the commercial viability of methods to refine and recover the minerals from mining tailings.

The department's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management also intends to announce about $250 million in financial assistance for plants, including coal facilities, that have the potential to produce mineral byproducts from industrial processes.

Other funding includes up to $50 million to support processes in the rare earth magnet supply chain, such as refining and alloying gallium, germanium and silicon carbide for use in semiconductors.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Bhargav Acharya and Ryan Patrick Jones in TorontoEditing by Rod Nickel)