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
Researched for this program: 6 rejection traps · 6 required documentsWhat decides this 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 laboratories. Individual company-led projects typically receive the lower end of the range.
- Deadline
- Topic 1: May 29, 2026; Topic 2: June 25, 2026; Topic 3: July 23, 2026 (all 5:00 PM ET)
- Status
- closed
- 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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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) closed May 29, 2026; Topic 2 (Ga/Ge/SiC refining) closed June 25, 2026; Topic 3 (lithium extraction) closed July 23, 2026. Letter of intent required. Apply through the EERE Exchange portal at eere-exchange.energy.gov.
Not accepting applications right now — get one email when it reopens
GrantCompass tracks DOE AMMTO Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator (DE-FOA-0003589)’s application windows in the live catalog. Leave an email and we’ll tell you the day the next window opens.
Free. One email when the window moves, deadline warnings on your watchlist, and the monthly closing-soon digest. Unsubscribe anytime.
Programs that stack well
Related programs
This program is not taking applications today — these are
Alternatives computed from the live GrantCompass catalog on November 1, 2026 — all 170 open grant programs · filter the database.
Explore more funding
Last updated October 5, 2026. GrantCompass is an independent funding-discovery tool and is not affiliated with any government agency. Always confirm details on the official program page.