The Department of Chemical Engineering congratulates Prof. Tim Eisele on receiving funding through the U.S. Department of Energy’s FOA 3105: Critical Material Innovation, Efficiency, and Alternatives (Set 4) program. The award will support his project, “Biological Leaching Process for Producing High-Grade Manganese Dioxide from Low-Grade Sources.”
The project, led by researchers at Michigan Technological University, aims to demonstrate an innovative technology for extracting manganese from low-grade sources using naturally occurring microorganisms. The research focuses on scaling the process for real-world outdoor applications while minimizing environmental impact.
Manganese is a critical mineral used extensively in battery manufacturing and as an alloying element in nearly all steel production. Despite its importance, manganese has not been mined in the United States since the early 1970s, leaving U.S. industries fully dependent on imported sources.
Previous laboratory studies demonstrated that communities of metal-reducing microorganisms can selectively dissolve manganese from low-grade ores without requiring harsh chemicals or energy-intensive processing methods. This new project will expand on those findings by testing the process in conditions that more closely resemble future commercial operations.
The biological leaching approach offers a potentially more affordable and environmentally responsible alternative to traditional manganese extraction technologies. If successfully commercialized, the process could enable recovery of battery-grade manganese from smaller and lower-grade domestic deposits, helping strengthen U.S. critical mineral supply chains and support growing energy storage needs.
The project has received $700,000 in DOE funding.
Additional information about the DOE project selections is available through the U.S. Department of Energy announcement.
Congratulations to Tim on this outstanding achievement and continued impactful research.