Carbon Ore, Rare Earths and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative for U.S. Basins | DE FOA 0002370

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002370

The Carbon Ore, Rare Earths and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative for U.S. Basins is a U.S. Department of Energy opportunity run through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) that was introduced via a Notice of Intent (NOI). The NOI is strictly informational, meaning DOE put it out to signal an upcoming Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) rather than to request public feedback or comments on the notice itself. The planned FOA referenced in the notice is DE-FOA-0002364, and the listing also shows an opportunity number of DE-FOA-0002370, reflecting how these opportunities can be tracked across DOE and grants databases.

At its core, the initiative is about helping specific U.S. resource basins develop practical, coordinated strategies to unlock economic value from materials tied to carbon-bearing resources. The focus is not on producing energy as a fuel; instead, it emphasizes production of rare earth elements (REEs), other DOE-designated critical minerals (CMs), and high-value carbon-based products that are nonfuel in nature. In plain terms, the program aims to move basins beyond traditional extraction concepts and toward integrated plans that identify what valuable minerals and carbon-derived materials exist locally, how they can be recovered or manufactured, and what steps are needed to make those activities technically and economically viable at basin scale.

A key objective described in the notice is the development and implementation of "basin strategies." That phrasing signals place-based, systems-level planning rather than isolated lab projects. A basin strategy would typically include elements like resource assessment and characterization, identification of promising feedstocks or waste streams, technology pathways for extraction, separation, and refinement, supply chain and market considerations, and the coordination needed among industry, universities, workforce groups, and regional stakeholders. The point is to prepare each basin so it can realize the "full economic potential" of producing REEs, critical minerals, and nonfuel carbon products, which also aligns with broader national goals around domestic supply chains and reduced reliance on foreign sources for strategically important materials.

The notice also highlights workforce and education outcomes as a central expected benefit. Projects funded under the anticipated FOA are expected to build a foundation for training and educating the next generation of technicians, skilled trades, and STEM professionals who would be needed to execute a basin's strategy over time. That emphasis suggests DOE was looking not only for technical progress, but also for durable regional capability: people, programs, and partnerships that can sustain a new minerals-and-materials economy in those basins. In practice, that can mean developing curricula, hands-on training pipelines, internships and apprenticeships, and university-industry collaboration that directly supports the technologies and industries the basin strategy prioritizes.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and would be awarded using a cooperative agreement, which typically implies substantial federal involvement during project execution compared to a standard grant. The funding activity category is energy, and the CFDA number listed is 81.089, which is associated with DOE research and development assistance. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning in principle it is open to a wide range of entity types (for example, universities, companies, nonprofits, state or local entities), although the final FOA text would control any specific requirements, teaming expectations, or basin-related constraints. The listing shows an award ceiling of 2, which usually indicates a maximum award amount (often expressed in millions in the full FOA, though the unit is not stated in the excerpt), and it lists expected awards as 0, which often appears in database records when the number of anticipated awards is not specified or was not populated at the time of posting.

Timing details in the record indicate a creation date of June 26, 2020, and an original closing date of November 9, 2020. Because this posting is an NOI, those dates should be interpreted cautiously; the operative deadlines and submission requirements would be defined in the actual FOA and any subsequent amendments. Overall, the CORE-CM initiative is best understood as a DOE effort to catalyze regional, basin-focused plans and projects that connect resource potential, technology deployment, and workforce development to expand domestic production of rare earths, critical minerals, and valuable carbon-based materials that are not used as fuels.

• The Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Carbon Ore, Rare Earths and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative for U.S. Basins" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 26, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 09, 2020. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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