Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy (CM2AE) Tech Hub
Lead Agency: University of Missouri Systems
State Served: Missouri
Applicant-Defined Region: Carter, Crawford, Dent, Howell, Iron, Madison, Oregon, Phelps, Reynolds, Shannon, St. Francios, Ste. Genevieve, Texas, and Washington Counties
Core Technology Area: critical mineral processing
Contact: Kwame Awuah-Offei ([email protected])
Media Contact: Kwame Awuah-Offei ([email protected])
Organizational Link: https://criticalminerals.mst.edu/techhub/
The Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy (CM2AE) Tech Hub, led by the University of Missouri System, aims to position south-central Missouri as a global leader in critical minerals processing to provide the materials needed to support battery technology. This Tech Hub will build on the region’s mineral rich geography, expertise in hydrometallurgical refining, and existing assets to increase processing capacity to convert minerals into materials necessary for advanced energy and critical goods, including lithium-ion and primary-lead-acid batteries. In doing so, the CM2AE Tech Hub seeks to meet the demand of U.S. advanced energy manufacturers and reduce dependence on foreign critical minerals while creating thousands of good-paying jobs.
The CM2AE Tech Hub seeks to strengthen production of critical minerals for downstream U.S. advanced energy manufacturing and enhance national security by reducing the risk, cost, and time required to develop commercially viable hydrometallurgical processing and manufacturing operations.
In January 2025, EDA announced that it selected this Tech Hub to receive grant funding of approximately $29 million to implement two projects, including:
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building and outfitting a first-of-its-kind, world-class critical minerals processing test bed that will develop and evaluate novel, multi-critical materials recovery systems from primary and secondary sources including mines, slag heaps, and black mass from battery recycling; and
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establishing a convening authority to provide governance over the test bed as this Hub addresses the national security imperative to capture market share of critical minerals and materials for advanced energy manufacturing.
Designee Narrative (PDF) (submitted by the designee in its Phase 2 application package)