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The West Virginia Water Research Institute (WVWRI) is requesting proposals for research expected to be funded March 1, 2021 through February 28, 2022. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Department of the Interior, will sponsor the research. Faculty from all West Virginia colleges and universities are encouraged to submit proposals. Funding selected proposals is dependent upon the availability of funds. It is expected that 3-5 projects will be funded in the range of $10,000 – $20,000 each. It is expected that approximately $90,000 will be available for new projects in 2021.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded a contract with a base award of $149,980 for a conceptual design. The contract includes one option period for a Feasibility Case Study, which if exercised will be $1,567,889.  West Virginia Water Research Institute’s project at WVU is focused on developing a domestic supply chain that uses the Institute’s technology to capture REEs as oxide powders that can be converted into the rare earth metals used by U.S. manufacturers.

Rare earth elements are important to today’s society because they allow electronic devices to be smaller, faster, and more energy efficient.  This makes REEs critical to national security and a major concern because China mines and exports most of the world’s REE supplies. Developing a new, U.S. source of REEs from AMD has been a priority for WVWRI since 2016. Their work has been funded by the U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory.