EMRTAI Selects New Technology Developers for Critical Minerals Recovery Assessments

The third application round expands independent testing of innovative technologies designed to recover and characterize critical minerals from legacy mine waste and mining-influenced water.

The Environmental Monitoring and Remediation Technology Assessment Initiative (EMRTAI) recently accepted five technology developers from its third round of applications for assessments of technologies to characterize or recover critical minerals in mining and mineral processing waste. Infinite Elements, AlkaLi Labs, Advanced Environmental Technologies, Transition Metal Solutions and Stalagmite submitted successful applications to participate in the EMRTAI technology assessment process during its recent application window. The EPA-funded initiative, focused on driving technological innovation in characterizing and recovering critical minerals in waste materials at Superfund legacy hard rock mine and mineral processing sites, has worked with seven technology developers to date.

EMRTAI's technology assessments began in fall 2025 and include demonstrations in three general categories of technologies, which include recovery of critical minerals from mining influenced water, recovery of critical minerals from solid mining and mineral processing waste materials (e.g., tailings, waste rock, slag, chat) and technologies that can be used to characterize solid mining and mineral processing waste materials (e.g., field portable x-ray fluorescence). Technologies for recovering rare earth elements (REEs), and other metals such as cobalt, manganese, nickel, gold, and copper from both mining-influenced water and solid mining and mineral processing wastes are undergoing initial testing with feedstocks from across the western U.S.

“We continue to be impressed by the wide range of technologies that developers submit for the assessment process,” said Jana Heisler-White, Program Manager for the EMRTAI. “The number of applicants has grown during each application round, as well as in the types of technologies. This tells us that we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg as far as innovation is concerned and that those working in this space benefit greatly from the independent, third-party assessments that serve as the cornerstone of this initiative.”

Technology assessments will take place throughout the summer and fall 2026. The EMRTAI’s source materials or feedstocks for technology assessments come from Superfund sites across the U.S. Access to real mining and mineral processing waste materials as feedstocks is integral to technology advancement. With this recent call for applications, EMRTAI accepted two technology developers for onsite pilot-scale demonstrations, which will focus on recovery of critical minerals from mining influenced water and smelter slag.

“There’s tremendous benefit from using sites and feedstocks from within the Superfund program for technology demonstrations,” Heisler-White said. “Recovering critical minerals from legacy mining and mineral sites has the potential to expedite the cleanup of Superfund sites while supporting the development of a U.S. supply chain for critical minerals. EMRTAI supports technology developers in advancing technologies from bench- to pilot- scale to drive site remediation and recovery forward.”

The initiative expects reports from technology assessments to be available for use in decision-making across the industry later this year.

To learn more about EMRTAI and its technology assessments, visit www.emrtai.org.

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