DOE demonstration plant award — Rare Element Resources ($21.9 million)

U.S. Department of Energy financial award of $21.9 million toward the engineering, construction and operation of the rare earth processing and separation demonstration plant in Upton, Wyoming. On January 21, 2021, DOE selected General Atomics and Rare Element Resources, Inc. (with LNV, an Ardurra Group company) to enter negotiations under the Critical Materials Funding Opportunity Announcement; DOE funding represents one-half of total estimated project costs and was contingent on negotiation of mutually agreeable documents. The cited sources do not state the award execution date; DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's December 21, 2023 approval of the construction budget under the award demonstrates an executed award no later than that date (recorded as an inferred obligated event), and the November 2025 update references the active DOE financial assistance award. Typed as a grant; the sources say 'financial award' without specifying grant versus cooperative agreement.

Facts on this page last re-verified Aug 11, 2026 — the oldest verification date among its current claims. How we verify.