DOE AMMTO Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator (DE-FOA-0003589)
U.S. Department of Energy — Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO)
$1M–$3M per award
DOE funds industry R&D on critical materials supply chains
DOE's Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator funds industry-led research, development, and demonstration projects to secure U.S. supply chains for critical materials — including rare earth elements, gallium, germanium, silicon carbide, and lithium. Up to $69 million total across three topic areas with awards of $1M–$3M each. Targeted at companies developing cost-competitive domestic extraction, processing, refining, and recycling technologies for materials essential to clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing.
- Funding type
- Grant
- Level
- Federal
- Amount range
- $1,000,000 – $3,000,000
- Realistic amount
- Awards are $1M–$3M per project. Most awardees are partnerships between companies and universities or national laboratori…
- Deadline
- Topic 1: May 29, 2026; Topic 2: June 25, 2026; Topic 3: July 23, 2026 (all 5:00 PM ET)
- Status
- active
- States
- Nationwide
- Payment model
- reimbursement
Who qualifies
- U.S.-based for-profit businesses, universities, national laboratories, and nonprofit organizations are eligible
- Must address one of the three topic areas: (1) REE production and material efficiency; (2) Gallium/germanium/silicon carbide refining and alloying; or (3) Direct lithium extraction and processing
- Industry-led partnerships are preferred — for-profit companies can lead projects with university or national lab partners
- Projects must focus on U.S. domestic supply chain development
- Must comply with SAM.gov registration requirements and EERE application requirements
Hard requirements
- Must be incorporated
What it covers
Eligible expenses
- Salaries and wages for project team members
- Equipment and instrumentation for R&D
- Laboratory supplies and materials
- Subcontract costs for university or national lab partners
- Travel for project coordination and reporting
- Overhead and fringe benefits per negotiated rates
Ineligible expenses
- Non-U.S. activities
- Commercial production scale-up beyond pilot/demonstration stage (this program funds R&D, not commercial deployment)
- Land acquisition
- Unallowable costs under federal cost accounting standards (FAR Part 31)
How to apply
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1
Read the full FOA and select your topic area
Download the full Notice of Funding Opportunity DE-FOA-0003589 from eere-exchange.energy.gov. Review eligibility requirements, cost-share rules, and technical scope for your chosen topic (1, 2, or 3). Confirm your project fits the R&D scope.
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2
Submit Letter of Intent (LOI)
Submit a Letter of Intent through the EERE Exchange portal before the LOI deadline for your topic area. LOIs are typically due 4-6 weeks before the full application deadline.
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3
Prepare and submit full application
Prepare a full application including: project narrative (technical approach, management plan, team qualifications), budget and cost-share documentation, letters from partners. Submit through EERE Exchange before your topic's deadline.
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4
Peer review and selection
DOE conducts merit review of full applications by subject matter experts. Selection is competitive. Notification of selection and award negotiation typically takes 3-6 months after submission deadline.
Industry & certifications
NAICS codes: 2122, 2123, 3313, 3334, 3344
Industry-led team with a national lab or university subcontractor has a meaningfully higher win rate than purely academic teams — DOE explicitly prefers industry leadership for this program given its supply chain focus.
Deadline & timing
Three rolling topic deadlines: Topic 1 (REE production/recovery) closes May 29, 2026; Topic 2 (Ga/Ge/SiC refining) closes June 25, 2026; Topic 3 (lithium extraction) closes July 23, 2026. Letter of intent required. Apply through the EERE Exchange portal at eere-exchange.energy.gov.
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Last reviewed 2026. GrantCompass is an independent funding-discovery tool and is not affiliated with any government agency. Always confirm details on the official program page.