Capito Announces $8 Million for First-of-Its-Kind Mining Facility at West Virginia University

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $8,000,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for West Virginia University (WVU). The funding, which is through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), will be used to develop a first-of-a-kind facility to extract and separate rare earth elements and critical minerals and materials from mining waste.

“I’m thrilled that the Department of Energy continues to recognize the value of the critical work WVU is doing in extracting rare earth elements and critical minerals from acid mine drainage,” Senator Capito said. “These elements are essential to modern advanced manufacturing, and this first-of-a-kind facility at WVU will play an important role in this process. I look forward to seeing this project advance with WVU at the helm.”

# # #