Using naturally occurring and engineered proteins and bacteria, the University of Kentucky in a team with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and other academic and industrial partners will separate and purify rare-earth elements so they can be used in the defense sector. Rick Honaker--Mining Engineering professor and SMaRC Center director--will integrate the technology into one of the nation's few rare-earth producing demonstration plants owned and operated by the University of Kentucky.

Under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Environmental Microbes as a BioEngineering Resource (EMBER) program, the team was awarded an initial $4 million in funding R&D in Phase 1 with an option for up to an additional $9 million based on program performance in follow-on phases. The team will leverage advances in microbial and biomolecular engineering to develop a scalable bio-based separation and purification strategy for rare-earth elements (REEs) using under-developed domestic sources.

In addition to exploiting previously identified microbes and proteins that have been tested and used to purify and separate REEs, the team will conduct a bioprospecting campaign to identify new REE-associated microorganisms that exhibit REE-utilization capacity. Results will expand the repertoire of REE-biomining hosts and REE-binding biomolecules.

Other team members include Penn State, Columbia University, Tufts University, Purdue University, and industry partner Western Rare Earths.