June 15, 2023

Manchin Announces $3 Million to West Virginia University to Support Domestic Production of Rare Earth and Critical Minerals

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Armed Service Committee, announced $3 million from the Department of the Army for West Virginia University’s (WVU) program to use acid mine drainage to establish a domestic supply of rare earth minerals and critical minerals instead of relying on foreign sources of rare earth elements. WVU will be working on this project with Virginia Tech and Montana Technological University.

“From solar panels to semiconductors, the United States needs critical and rare earth minerals to strategically compete in the 21st century. However, we are increasingly dependent on adversarial nations for processing and refining them,” said Senator Manchin. “That’s why I proudly secured this funding to support West Virginia University’s efforts to increase our domestic supply of these minerals, strengthening our national security and economic prosperity. I can’t wait to see how the entire nation benefits, and I will continue to advocate for resources for West Virginia University as they continue to lead the way in energy innovation.”

In 2022, Senator Manchin secured this priority in both the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the annual funding bill. Earlier this year, Senator Manchin sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, urging his support for the WVU program.

"Senator Manchin recognized early the potential of this approach to environmental remediation of AMD while recovering strategic minerals that are critical to our domestic and defense economies.  Our team at WVU and Virginia Tech, the West Virginia DEP and our industry partners have worked hard to bring this concept to successful pilot scale testing.  Thanks to his continued support through USDOE and now, USDOD, we will push this novel source of REE/CM toward commercial reality," Dr. Paul Ziemkiewicz, Ph.D., Director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute stated.

Click here to read the Senators’ letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.