Available for Licensing Electrochemical Rare Earth Tender - 137176740

Procurement Summary

Country: USA

Summary: Available for Licensing Electrochemical Rare Earth Recovery from Coal Fly Ash Turn Waste Stockpiles into Critical Materials Revenue

Deadline: 01 May 2026

Posting Date: 05 Mar 2026

Other Information

Notice Type: Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 137176740

Document Ref. No.: BA-1747

Competition: ICB

Financier: Self Financed

Purchaser Ownership: Public

Tender Value: Refer Document

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Tender Details

Electrochemical Rare Earth Recovery from Coal Fly Ash: Turn Waste Stockpiles into Critical Materials Revenue
Technology Overview
Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory have developed an electrochemical process that selectively extracts rare earth elements (REEs) from coal fly ash leachate using electricity instead of chemical reagents. The technology employs tuned anodic electrosorption with functionalized mesoporous carbon electrodes to achieve superior separation of REEs from competing metal ions.
Opportunity
Coal fly ash represents a massive, untapped resource:
158 million tons produced annually in the U.S.
1.5 billion tons currently stockpiled
Contains 74, 000-106, 000 metric tons of rare earth elements
Current extraction methods don't work at scale. Traditional solvent extraction relies on large volumes of chemical reagents, generating significant hazardous waste and requiring costly disposal. Poor selectivity (separation factor around 1) means you need 50-200 extraction cycles to achieve high purity. This translates to slow processing times (days to weeks), high operating costs, and growing regulatory pressure.
Bottom line: there's no efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable technology for REE recovery from coal fly ash at commercial scale.
Competitive Advantages
Conventional solvent extraction approaches:
Separation factors typically below 10, requiring 50 to 200 extraction cycles
Processing times measured in days to weeks
Heavy reliance on chemical reagents
Significant hazardous waste generation and disposal costs
Large footprint, batch-based systems
Increasing regulatory and ESG pressure
INL electrochemical process:
Separation Factor ~7
Processing completed in hours
Electricity-driven, reagent-free operation
Minimal waste generation
Compact, modular system design
Lower disposal burden and ESG-al...
Notice ID: ba-1747

Department/Ind. Agency: energy, department of

Sub-tier: energy, department of

Office: battelle energy alliance–doe cntr

Product Service Code: aj11 - general science and technology r&d services; general science and technology; basic research

NAICS Code: 21229 - Other Metal Ore Mining

Inactive Dates: may 16, 2026

Inactive Policy: 15 days after response date

Documents

 Tender Notice