DOE backs critical mineral recovery tech. Metal Tech News - August 18, 2026 Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News | Last updated Aug 18, 2026 12:17pm Selects nine projects for $162M to accelerate technologies from lab to prototype and pilot to near-commercial scale. As part of its nearly $1 billion initiative to reestablish America's ability to produce minerals critical to energy, manufacturing, transportation, and defense, the U.S. Department of Energy has selected nine projects for $162 million in potential funding to advance technologies for recovering antimony, copper, rare earths, scandium, and other critical materials from existing industrial feedstocks and waste streams. Being advanced through DOE's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, the projects are aimed at bridging two notoriously difficult gaps along the technology commercialization pathway - moving four laboratory-level technologies to the prototype stage and five prototype technologies to pre-commercial demonstration. "Leveraging existing bench-scale and pilot-scale facilities is a vital opportunity to produce critical materials necessary for our energy, defense, and economic security," said Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson. The four companies selected to advance laboratory-level critical mineral recovery technologies to the prototype stage are: Anactisis Inc. - a Pittsburgh-based startup and Carnegie Mellon University spinoff developing a solvent-free separation technology that uses highly selective adsorbent materials to recover scandium, germanium, rare earth elements, and other critical materials from industrial byproducts and waste streams. Still Bright Inc. - a New Jersey-based clean-tech startup developing RACER, or Rapid and Complete Electrochemical Reduction, a process that uses vanadium-based chemistry to extract copper from sulfide ores and concentrates at ambient conditions. The company says the process can recover up to 99% of the copper without the high-temperature furnaces used in conventional smelting. Nusano Inc. - a Utah-based technology company applying advanced mass-separation processes developed alongside its radioisotope business to critical mineral refining. Nusano says its modular separation technology can eliminate several chemical-intensive steps in conventional mineral separation and be applied to high-purity recovery of antimony, gallium, germanium, rare earths, and other critical materials. SiTration Inc. - a Massachusetts-based MIT spinoff developing an electrified critical mineral recovery process built around silicon membranes. Its filtration and electro-extraction technologies are designed to selectively recover copper and other valuable metals from complex mining, refining, recycling, and industrial waste streams. The five critical minerals recovery technologies being elevated from prototype to pre-commercial demonstration are: Thompson Creek Metals Company USA - a subsidiary of Centerra Gold Inc. with existing molybdenum mining and processing infrastructure in Idaho and Pennsylvania. Its Langeloth Metallurgical Facility near Pittsburgh converts molybdenum concentrates into finished products and has the capability to recover valuable byproducts such as rhenium. The DOE selection is aimed at leveraging existing infrastructure to advance critical mineral recovery toward commercial scale. Felix Gold Alaska Treasure Creek Inc. - an Alaska-based subsidiary of Felix Gold Ltd. that is advancing an antimony supply chain anchored by high-grade stibnite mineralization at its Treasure Creek project near Fairbanks. Felix has begun stockpiling antimony-bearing material under a bulk-sampling permit while evaluating domestic processing pathways. The DOE-backed project would help advance antimony recovery and processing using existing resources and infrastructure. DISA Technologies Inc. - a Wyoming-based company developing High-Pressure Slurry Ablation, or HPSA, a patented mineral-liberation technology that uses high-velocity slurry collisions to separate target minerals from surrounding host material. Designed as a modular alternative to conventional grinding, HPSA is being developed for recovering minerals from both mined ores and legacy waste streams. Alcoa USA Corp. - a U.S. subsidiary of global aluminum producer Alcoa that is working to recover gallium and other critical minerals from bauxite residue, commonly known as red mud, generated during the alumina refining process. Turning this large-volume industrial byproduct into a source of critical minerals would add another product stream to existing domestic mineral-processing infrastructure while reducing material destined for long-term residue storage. Trigg Minerals, now American Tungsten & Antimony Ltd. - an Australia-based critical minerals company advancing antimony and tungsten projects and downstream processing in the U.S. The company is developing a domestic antimony smelting and refining strategy designed to convert U.S.-sourced feedstock into high-purity antimony products for defense, energy, and advanced manufacturing markets. The nine projects reflect an emerging strategy that looks beyond developing new mines to extracting more value from material already being mined, processed, stockpiled, or discarded. "We are taking something that was previously discarded and had to be managed, and turning it into a process where we can extract valuable resources," Robertson said. That includes mineral-bearing tailings, industrial byproducts, existing concentrates, alumina refinery residue, and other feedstocks that could provide new domestic supplies without waiting for an entirely new mine and processing complex to be developed. Whether advancing critical mineral recovery technologies from the lab to pilot-scale testing, or from pilot to near-commercial demonstration, DOE believes the nine selections can help de-risk technologies needed to turn these unconventional resources into economic domestic supplies. "By investing in these facilities, we can de-risk commercial-scale production technologies to grow new economic and manufacturing opportunities," the Assistant Energy Secretary added. Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News. With more than 18 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration, and technology metals. * Email: [email protected] * Phone: 907-726-1095 * https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-lasley-ab073b12/

DISA Uranium Corporation is being formed through a deal between IsoEnergy and DISA Technologies, valued at approximately $505 million. The new entity combines IsoEnergy's permitted Utah uranium mines with DISA's patented processing technology and a unique regulatory licence. IsoEnergy is contributing five Utah properties, including the Tony M, Daneros, and Rim mines. In exchange, it will receive around 33% ownership in DISA Uranium and become the largest shareholder. The company is also co-investing $33 million in a $105 million private placement. DISA Technologies brings its High-Pressure Slurry Ablation technology and the only US Nuclear Regulatory Commission licence authorising uranium recovery from legacy mine waste across multiple sites. The technology concentrates uranium before transport, reducing material volumes by 78% whilst achieving 88% uranium recovery. The private placement attracted investors including BHP Ventures, Tembo Capital, and Galvanize Climate Solutions. The transaction is expected to close in August 2026.

IsoEnergy Ltd. & DISA Technologies partner to form US$505 million DISA Uranium Corporation. August 7, 2026 Imogen Minall * IsoEnergy Ltd. has entered into a definitive agreement with DISA Technologies, Incorporated to establish DISA Uranium Corporation, a technology-enabled US uranium company. * IsoEnergy Ltd. will contribute its permitted, past-producing Utah conventional uranium portfolio, which contains an Indicated resource of 6.61 million pounds of uranium oxide as of September 9, 2022, in exchange for 1,677,350 common shares. * The transaction implies a pro forma fully diluted equity value of approximately US$505 million for DISA Uranium Corporation, supported by US$105 million in concurrent private placement commitments. * DISA Uranium Corporation will integrate proprietary High-Pressure Slurry Ablation (HPSA) technology, which concentrated Tony M Mine feedstock to 22.0% mass with an 88% uranium recovery during metallurgical testing. * The pro forma company operates under a unique US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Source Materials License that permits the recovery of uranium and vanadium from legacy mine waste across multiple sites. What has happened. Under the definitive agreement announced August 4, 2026, IsoEnergy Ltd. (TSX: ISO | NYSE American: ISOU) has partnered with DISA Technologies, Inc. to establish DISA Uranium Corporation, combining IsoEnergy Ltd.'s Utah conventional uranium portfolio with the proprietary mineral processing applications of DISA Technologies, Inc. to recover uranium from legacy waste and conventional ores. IsoEnergy Ltd. contributes its permitted, past-producing Utah mines, which hold a current National Instrument 43-101 mineral resource of 6.61 million pounds of uranium oxide in the Indicated category as of September 9, 2022, in exchange for 1,677,350 common shares of DISA Uranium Corporation. Strategic investors, including Tembo Capital, BHP Ventures, and Halliburton Labs, have committed US$105 million in concurrent private placement financing. This financing implies a pro forma fully diluted equity value of approximately US$505 million, leaving IsoEnergy Ltd. as the single largest shareholder with an approximate 33% equity stake. Closing of the transaction is targeted for mid-August 2026, subject to the spin-out of non-uranium assets into DISA Tech, Inc. and regulatory approvals. Chief Executive Officer of IsoEnergy Ltd., Philip Williams, explained the risk mitigation benefits of diversifying assets across multiple jurisdictions: "We had a game plan; we understood from the very beginning that single-asset, single-jurisdiction companies are far more risky, particularly in the uranium space, and you can be the greatest project in the world; it can be developed for all kinds of reasons. They can't foresee it, and so having a portfolio approach is the way to insulate yourself and insulate shareholders from being exposed to what could be a binary outcome." Proprietary HPSA processing technology & mine-site economics. The combined company will integrate the patented High-Pressure Slurry Ablation (HPSA) technology, which mechanically upgrades mineralised feedstock at the mine site. The HPSA process utilises high-velocity slurry streams to generate particle-on-particle collisions, causing uranium-bearing carnotite ore to fracture along natural grain boundaries and separate from harder quartz host minerals. This mechanical separation eliminates the need for chemical reagents or grinding media during the primary upgrading phase, thereby reducing the mass requiring downstream chemical leaching. Based on the 2026 Tony M HPSA Leach Study, metallurgical testing on Tony M Mine material demonstrated an 88% uranium recovery while concentrating the target mineral into 22% of the original feedstock mass. This mass reduction translates into a 78% decrease in the volume of material requiring road haulage, thereby lowering estimated feedstock transportation costs by over 70%. Furthermore, the study reports that post-HPSA leaching requires only 2 hours of contact time, compared with over 20 hours for conventional processing methods, thereby reducing processing bottleneck durations and lowering the unit operating cost per pound of recovered uranium. National remediation pipeline & regulatory licensing. DISA Uranium Corporation will operate a dedicated uranium remediation business to recover valuable minerals from legacy mine waste. The company operates under a unique US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Source Materials License, which authorises the recovery of uranium and vanadium from legacy waste across federal and tribal lands without initiating new mining operations. This commercial pipeline targets environmental liabilities across more than 15,000 abandoned mine waste sites and 4,200 defence-related uranium mines compiled in Environmental Protection Agency and US Geological Survey databases. Leadership, governance & risk management. Headquartered in Casper, Wyoming, and led by Chief Executive Officer Greyson Buckingham, the company will absorb IsoEnergy Ltd.'s Utah operations team to ensure technical and operational continuity. The 7-member Board of Directors of DISA Uranium Corporation will include IsoEnergy Ltd. Chairman Richard Patricio, IsoEnergy Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Philip Williams, and former US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield. Over time, the centralised resource base is targeted to support the development of a new conventional processing facility, representing the first conventional uranium mill constructed in the United States in over 4 decades. While the partnership offers significant operational advantages, several integration and development risks remain. These include the technical scale-up of modular HPSA units to full commercial capacity, regulatory execution across diverse state and tribal jurisdictions for the legacy waste remediation pipeline, and the coordination of conventional mine restarts with new processing infrastructure. Additionally, pro forma ownership dynamics may influence future capital allocation and funding requirements. What to watch next. Closing of the joint-venture transaction is targeted for mid-August 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals and the completion of the non-uranium spin-out. Following closure, the technical teams are targeting the delivery of an updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Tony M Mine by year-end two thousand twenty-six, which will integrate these high-pressure slurry ablation metallurgical efficiencies directly into the mine plan. Over the next twelve months, investors should monitor the deployment of the first pilot program at a United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed site and the commencement of Navajo Nation remediation site cleanup activities as primary indicators of commercial and operational progress. FAQs (AI-Generated). What assets is IsoEnergy Ltd. contributing to the newly formed DISA Uranium Corporation? + IsoEnergy Ltd. is contributing its permitted, past-producing conventional Utah uranium portfolio, which includes the Tony M Mine, Daneros Mine, Rim Mine, Sage Plain Project, and Flatiron Project. These conventional mines hold a National Instrument 43-101 Indicated mineral resource of 6.61 million pounds of uranium oxide as of September 9, 2022. What is the pro forma valuation of DISA Uranium Corporation, and what is IsoEnergy Ltd.'s ownership stake? + Backed by US$105 million in concurrent private placement commitments, DISA Uranium Corporation has an implied pro forma fully diluted equity value of approximately US$505 million. IsoEnergy Ltd. will hold an approximate 33% equity stake, making it the single largest shareholder of the pro forma entity. How does DISA's High-Pressure Slurry Ablation (HPSA) technology improve conventional mine-site economics at the Tony M Mine? + HPSA technology mechanically upgrades mineralised feedstock at the mine site, reducing the feedstock mass to approximately 22% of its original volume while recovering 88% of the uranium. This mass reduction decreases the volume of material requiring road haulage by 78%, lowers estimated feedstock transportation costs by over 70%, and reduces leaching contact time to 2 hours, compared with conventional durations exceeding 20 hours. What is the regulatory advantage of DISA Uranium Corporation's national remediation business? + The company operates under a unique US NRC Source Materials License. This license authorises the recovery of uranium and vanadium from legacy mine waste across federal and tribal lands without initiating new mining operations, targeting over 15,000 abandoned mine waste sites and 4,200 defence-related uranium mines. What are the primary operational catalysts targeted by DISA Uranium Corporation for the remainder of 2026? + Following the targeted closing of the transaction in mid-August 2026, technical teams are targeting completion of an updated PEA for the Tony M Mine by year-end 2026. The company is also targeting the deployment of its first pilot program at an NRC-licensed site and the start of cleanup activities at the Navajo Nation remediation site. Analyst's Notes. Institutional-grade mining analysis available for free. Access all of its "Analyst's Notes" series below. 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