Lafayette, Colorado-based Tusaar - which is developing an organic compound that can be used extract rare earth metals from waste streams - could receive up to $500,000 pending final approval. The Department of Energy announced the grant recipients last week.
The idea is to take geothermal brine - hot underground water brought to the surface to make electricity - and extract from it rare earth metals to create a second revenue stream for geothermal electricity plants that would help increase their economic viability.
Tusaar's project specifically will develop artificial brines in the company's lab that mimic the geothermal brines. The company's organic compound will then be tested to evaluate its ability to recover the rare earth metals from the brine.
Read More......
