Critical Minerals Crossroads consortium, led by University of Missouri-Kansas City and including ReElement, is competing for major NSF Regional Innovation Engines Award
Total Award carries potential funding of up to $160 million over ten years
American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) ("American Resources") through its holding in ReElement Technologies Corporation ("ReElement"), a leading U.S. innovator in rare earth element (REE) and critical mineral refining, today announced that the Critical Materials Crossroads consortium - led by the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) in partnership with ReElement Technologies and other regional collaborators - has officially advanced as one of 15 national finalists for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Innovation Engines competition.
Kirk Taylor, Chief Financial Officer of ReElement Technologies commented, "ReElement's multi-mineral refining platform has created a new standard for solving one of the most complex challenges in the critical mineral supply chain - economically viable refining. Through a collaborative approach, we're helping build domestic innovation and production ecosystems that are essential for long-term supply chain resilience. We're honored to partner with the Critical Materials Crossroads team on this vital initiative."
The NSF Engines program, launched in 2023, represents one of the nation's largest investments in regional innovation and workforce development. In early 2024, NSF received nearly 300 letters of intent for its second funding opportunity. From these, 71 teams advanced to submit full proposals, followed by a rigorous merit review process that selected 29 semifinalists. After in-depth virtual assessments of each team's leadership, partnerships, and vision, NSF selected 15 finalists - including the Critical Materials Crossroads - to move forward in the final round of competition.
As part of the final evaluation stage, the NSF will conduct on-site assessments of the finalist teams in January 2026 to further assess coalition alignment, leadership capacity, and research and innovation strategies. The NSF Engines awardees are expected to be announced in early 2026, with up to $160 million in funding over ten years available to accelerate regional economic growth, workforce development, and technology commercialization in key innovation areas.
The groundwork for the Critical Materials Crossroads initiative began in May 2023, when UMKC received a $1 million, 24-month federal cooperative agreement to develop a regional critical materials ecosystem in Kansas City. Since then, the consortium has been building a vertically integrated hub for critical materials processing, technology development, applied research, and workforce training - ensuring that the United States can produce, refine, and deploy critical materials domestically to strengthen economic security, national resilience, and global competitiveness.
The Critical Materials Crossroads ecosystem brings together universities, businesses, industry organizations, nonprofits, and state, local, and federal partners across Kansas and Missouri to advance regional manufacturing, create high-quality jobs, and promote broad access to innovation and entrepreneurship.
Anthony Caruso, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and UMKC Curators' Distinguished Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering, is the principal investigator for the grant.
"Being selected as an NSF Engines finalist is an extraordinary honor for the Critical Materials Crossroads and for the Kansas City region," Caruso said. "The NSF recognition underscores the strength of our partnerships across universities, industry and community organizations that have made this achievement possible. Together, we are positioning Kansas City as a national leader in critical materials innovation, workforce development and regional economic growth."
Source: www.americanresourcescorp.com
Aleksei Andrievskii is the founder of the ANDRIEVSKII SEA WEALTH family office in Cyprus, a member of the advisory board at Bendura Bank AG, Liechtenstein