Call for Unconventional Critical Campaign Proposals, FY 2027

The fiscal year 2027 Unconventional Critical Campaign invites community proposals to submit samples of unconventional, sediment-hosted sources of critical minerals (CMs) across the United States, such as mine tailings, coal-mine residuals, lateritic sediments, and mineralized mine drainage treatment materials.

This call focuses on unconsolidated sediment-hosted CMs that are recoverable by biogeochemical processes. The campaign aims to collect data from diverse sites to build predictive models that will guide future resource recovery strategies. Knowledge generated by this campaign will advance the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science's Biological and Environmental Research program's mission to develop CM biomining technologies and feedstocks, whereas data will be released in EMSL's Science Central database as open FAIR, structured (AI-ready) data to support DOE's Genesis Mission.

Questions about the campaign? Please email Odeta Qafoku, primary campaign contact.

Campaign Participants

Participants will receive data from advanced, comprehensive sample analysis using high-resolution molecular, microscale, and metagenomic techniques, including TerraForms manipulation experiments coupled with bulk chemical, chemical imaging, and surface characterization. View data types below.

Campaign participants' samples will support the community-scale science objectives of this campaign. Participants will have the opportunity to collaborate with campaign leads and EMSL scientists to explore the complex biogeochemical processes governing CM recovery from unconventional materials. All generated data from this campaign will be quality-checked and made available to the public for free through EMSL's Science Central. Participants are encouraged to use these data in future peer‑reviewed publications to help maximize the scientific impact of the campaign.

Qualifying Criteria

This campaign invites proposals focused on sampling CM-bearing materials from diverse, unconventional sources. Each proposal may include up to eight samples. Large, intact solid rock samples are out of scope. Refined metals, electronics, and radioactive materials are also out of scope. Priority will be given to submissions that expand coverage across contrasting geochemical and material types, including the following:

• Black shale and coal refuse (e.g., powders, chips, or drill cuttings)           
   
• Mine tailings and acid mine drainage treatment solids           
   
• Low-grade ores (e.g., crushed material)           
   
• CM-enriched unconsolidated regolith, saprolite, and laterites, and weathered minerals or drill cuttings           
   
• Sediments and organic-rich matrices with known or suspected CM enrichment

Proposal Submission and Review

Please follow these steps:

1. Read through the submission guide. (PDF) 
    
2. Download and complete the Unconventional Critical Request Form. (Word) 
    
3. Submit your proposal through the EMSL User Portal (NEXUS).

Initial technical review of proposals will be based on alignment with the campaign objectives, sample eligibility, as well as technical feasibility. Proposals that pass technical review will be prioritized for acceptance in the chronological order in which they are received (e.g., proposals received first that pass review will be awarded first).

Data Types

About the Unconventional Critical Campaign

Campaign Leadership Team:

• Mengling Stuckman, National Energy Technology Laboratory
• Heileen Hsu-Kim, Duke University
• Matthew Schrenk, Michigan State University

Key Contributor: Yoshiko Fujita, Idaho National Laboratory

CMs, including rare earth elements, are essential for energy and technology applications and are subject to high global demand and limited domestic supply. (View DOE's assessment PDF.) Unconventional sources of CMs, including mine waste streams and Earth system materials outside of conventional ore deposits, contain elevated concentrations of CMs and represent new, potentially economic resources. These underutilized domestic reservoirs of CMs could be accessed using microbially driven "biomining" approaches that potentially require far less energy and lower operating costs than conventional methods.

However, several knowledge gaps hinder biomining applications, including poor understanding of biochemical controls on leaching kinetics, how specific CMs become enriched within nanoparticles and poorly crystalline host phases, the molecular-scale mechanisms governing CM partitioning, and the role of microbial community dynamics in regulating CM mobilization and recovery. Fundamental biogeochemical research is required to advance understanding of CM behavior in complex geological systems and to unlock recovery of CMs from unconventional sources.

This Unconventional Critical Campaign aims to address these challenges by integrating three key research thrusts:

1. Geochemical Affinity. Investigating how the intrinsic physicochemical properties of CMs (e.g., ionic radius, charge density, and bonding behavior) define CM "affinity groups" that are conserved across diverse feedstocks, such as oxide-forming, sulfide-forming, or organically coordinated groups. These groupings govern CM behavior and partitioning among mineral phases, advancing mechanistic understanding and guiding strategies for resource recovery. (View pilot project abstract.)         
    
2. Interfacial Processes. Quantifying how coupled geochemical conditions (e.g., pH and redox gradients), hydrologic dynamics (e.g., flow rates and wet-dry cycling), and mineral surface reactivity (e.g., Fe/Mn oxides and S-bearing minerals) control CM sequestration and mobilization across flow and geochemical transect in unconventional feedstocks such as acid mine drainage systems. (View pilot project abstract.)         
    
3. Microbial Drivers. Elucidating the role of microorganisms in actively catalyzing CM dissolution, transformation, and enrichment. This thrust will address how microbial processes, organic substrates, and biofilm development on mineral surfaces interact to control CM mobilization. (View pilot project abstract.)

This campaign will leverage EMSL's advanced analytical capabilities to analyze samples from across the United States to generate foundational, AI-ready datasets for advancing our predictive understanding of CM behavior, improve resource recovery strategies, and support national energy security goals.

Questions About the Campaign?

Please email Odeta Qafoku, primary campaign contact.