PENNSYLVANIA — CONSOL Innovations LLC, a subsidiary of Core Natural Resources, was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy on July 6, 2026, to pursue a grant. The grant would support the recovery of critical minerals and rare earth elements from coal waste located at its Pennsylvania Mining Complex.

The funding is slated to be awarded through the Department of Energy's Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation. The specific program is titled "Mines & Metals Capacity Expansion – Piloting Byproduct Critical Minerals and Materials Recovery at Domestic Industrial Facilities." The final award amount of the grant has not been disclosed by the company.

The funding remains contingent on successful negotiations for the grant. If finalized, the funding would support the development of a pilot-scale facility to extract rare earth elements and other critical materials from coal waste tailings at the company's Pennsylvania Mining Complex.

Core Natural Resources stated that the Department of Energy award is subject to negotiations and that there is no guarantee the grant will be finalized or awarded at the anticipated level. Jimmy Brock, Chairman and CEO of Core Natural Resources, said, "The company aims to demonstrate that coal resources can provide value beyond traditional fuel markets through the recovery of strategic minerals."

The company's innovation portfolio includes C-BATT, a joint venture focused on producing battery-grade graphite. Dan Connell, president of Core's Innovations business unit, said the project "represents another step in evaluating opportunities to extract critical materials from the company's mining byproducts."