The Department of Energy's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation selected nine projects to share 162 million dollars in federal funding aimed at recovering critical minerals and other valuable materials from industrial byproducts, and one of the recipients is a uranium recovery company based in Wyoming. DISA Technologies, headquartered in Mills, Wyoming, was chosen under a funding category for previously developed pilot scale facilities, where selected projects are expected to advance their production processes from prototype stage toward pre-commercial demonstration. The selections stem from a nearly one billion dollar funding announcement the department made in 2025 to scale up mining, processing, and manufacturing technologies across the critical minerals supply chain.
The broader award also included companies working on scandium, copper, antimony, and rare earth element recovery, but the inclusion of a uranium focused recipient reflects the federal government's continued interest in strengthening domestic uranium supply alongside its support for enrichment and fuel fabrication. Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson said the investments let the department use existing bench scale and pilot scale facilities to reduce the risk of scaling up commercial production technology, calling the work necessary for the country's energy, defense, and economic security. The program is managed by the department's National Energy Technology Laboratory. Award selection does not guarantee final funding, since the department and each applicant must still complete a negotiation process before money changes hands, and funding amounts remain subject to change during that process.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy - https://www.energy.gov/cmei/articles/does-office-critical-minerals-and-energy-innovation-announces-162-million-accelerate