​ElementUS Minerals, which extracts strategic minerals from bauxite residue waste, has been invited to submit a Part II application for a loan guarantee under the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program. This step marks progress in the company’s efforts to provide a sustainable source of critical materials needed for the green transition.

The Part I application, which sought $400 million in funding, detailed ElementUS Minerals' processing technology, business plan, and commitment to maintaining a low carbon footprint. The DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) invited the company to proceed, suggesting the project meets the technical eligibility requirements outlined in the solicitation.

If ElementUS Minerals successfully completes the Part II process, it could secure DOE-backed financing for a commercial-scale mineral processing facility in Louisiana. This facility aims to extract iron, alumina, and rare earth elements from bauxite residue without traditional mining, potentially reducing environmental impacts.

The DOE Title 17 program requires further due diligence and term sheet negotiations. The invitation to submit a Part II application does not guarantee funding, as the DOE’s final decision will depend on the outcomes of its full evaluation and review process.

ElementUS Minerals, a subsidiary of Fort Lauderdale-based DADA Holdings, seeks to address growing national security concerns by offering a domestic supply of critical minerals. By extracting these resources from industrial waste, the company aims to reduce dependence on traditional mining and mitigate its environmental footprint.

​DADA Holdings, LLC (DADA) has announced that its affiliate, Niche European Holdings, LLC, has acquired a controlling interest in Niche Fusina Rolled Products S.r.l., an aluminum rolling mill located near Venice, Italy. The Italian government agency Invitalia remains the mill's other shareholder. DADA initially acquired a minority stake in Niche Fusina in March 2022 following court approval during an insolvency proceeding in the Court of Venice.

This acquisition marks DADA’s second venture in aluminum rolling. Its first was with Wise Metals Group, a US-based company it transformed into the world’s third-largest producer of aluminum can sheets before selling it to Constellium NV in 2015 for $1.4 billion. Niche Fusina operates as a vertically integrated facility with a cast house, rolling mills, and finishing lines. The plant employs about 300 workers, producing 95,000 tons of slabs annually and rolling approximately 75,000 tons.

The facility has adopted several sustainability practices, including extensive use of recycled aluminum, achieving low-carbon certification, and implementing a closed-loop system that recirculates and cleans process water to reduce consumption and pollution. Niche Fusina manufactures medium and tough aluminum alloys with gauges ranging from 2 mm to 110 mm and widths up to 2,500 mm. Its products serve customers across industries, including marine, automotive, commercial transportation, electronics, and construction, with markets spanning Europe, North America, the Middle East, and the Pacific Basin.

DADA Holdings is an investment and management company involved in both active and passive investments across multiple industries. Its portfolio includes Niche European Holdings, which owns specialty minerals businesses like Niche Fused Alumina in France, Niche Fused Magnesia in England, and Renew Recycling, a metals processing and recycling business operating in the southeastern US. Another portfolio company, ElementUS Minerals, is developing a US-based facility to extract rare earth and other critical minerals from residual bauxite.

​In 2023, ElementUS Minerals submitted the Part II DOE (Department of Energy) Clean Energy Financing Program Application. ElementUS is a US-based firm specializing in the extraction and refining of strategic minerals such alumina, iron, and other rare earth metals from bauxite waste. The firm received an invitation to submit the Part II loan application after the successful submission of Part I. The $400 million loan application under the DOE Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program was a follow-up of the Part I application, where ElementUS submitted its processes, a detailed business plan, and anticipated carbon footprint. ElementUS passed the technical eligibility requirements stage as per DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) guidelines, which paved way for the invitation to submit the Part II application.

According to ElementUS CEO, Joe Carrabba, submission of the Part II application was a great milestone in the firm’s objective to secure funding to facilitate the establishment of a commercial-scale mineral processing plant in Louisiana. Mr. Carrabba said the firm’s success was attributed to exceptional team dedication and in-depth data analysis. He expressed confidence in the firm’s progress and looked forward to moving forward with the financing process. The LPO review process consists of multiple verification steps before funding approval is granted for a loan issued by the US Department of the Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank, supported by a DOE guarantee. If approved, the loan is meant to help ElementUS achieve its goal of setting up a US-based high-efficiency and sustainable mineral processing plant.

​Aluminum is the second most utilized metal in the world, thanks to its numerous applications. As climate change continues to cause adverse effects, industries and countries are attempting to find new and innovative ways to decarbonize in order to reduce energy costs, meet emissions targets, and avoid carbon border tariffs. The decarbonization of the aluminum industry would have a direct impact on lowering global greenhouse gas.

Some of the innovations aimed at creating sustainable aluminum production include advanced recycling technologies. Recycling innovations such as advanced sorting and separation technologies allow for improved recycling processes that recover a larger percentage of aluminum from scrap materials. Recycling aluminum requires less energy and lowers greenhouse gas emissions than producing new aluminum from raw materials. These technologies have lowered energy consumption and waste, which reduces the environmental footprint associated with aluminum production.

Additionally, gas smelting techniques such as inert anode technology and the use of alternative fuels have been designed to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Inert anode technology is an alternative to traditional carbon anodes that utilizes materials that don’t release carbon dioxide during the smelting process, which significantly lowers the industry’s carbon footprint.

​Firefly Aerospace has made remarkable achievements in the space industry by overcoming numerous challenges and demonstrating resilience. Based in Cedar Park, Texas, Firefly develops launch and in-space vehicles and services, such as the Alpha rocket, focusing on convenience, reliability, and affordability.

In May 2021, the firm obtained a $75 million Series A funding round led by DADA Holdings, which boosted its valuation beyond $1 billion. On August 18, 2021, at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Firefly successfully conducted a 15-second static first-stage fire test of the Alpha rocket, paving the way for the maiden launch.

On September 3, 2021, Firefly’s first Alpha launch attempt experienced technical challenges which forced the activation of the flight termination system. Despite the setback, the mission offered critical data that enabled Firefly to refine its technology. In October 2022, Alpha’s second mission deployment of seven satellites was successful. Even though it happened at a lower altitude than expected, it was a key milestone in Firefly’s Alpha rocket launch progress. After fine-tuning Alpha’s capabilities, Firefly, on July 4, 2024, successfully embarked on its fifth mission, “Noise of Summer.”

The rocket carried eight cube seats into orbit after overcoming minor launch delays caused by ground support equipment issues. With support from investors like DADA Holdings, Firefly Aerospace has strongly positioned itself as a major contender in the commercial space launch sector.

​Passive investing seeks to maximize returns by minimizing the expenses and costs associated with buying and selling assets and securities. Passive investors track a specific index, commodity, or asset and target more specific countries, sectors, industries, or sub-industries.

In many cases, passive funds provide a convenient and affordable way of accessing cumbersome and expensive assets such as gold. They can also prove reliable when investing in a competitive industry such as technology, whose environment is constantly changing. For instance, cybersecurity rapidly evolves to create new technologies to combat emerging security threats effectively.

Moreover, passive investors pursue long-term investments and seek to limit transactions within their portfolios. This strategy requires a buy-and-hold mentality, where investors choose assets and securities and resist the urge to react to or anticipate the market’s next move. As a result, the buy-and-hold strategy associated with passive investing has tax-efficient benefits, as it lowers massive capital gains tax for a year.

​In January 2025, the Cedar Park City Council in the Austin, Texas, suburbs approved $300,000 in incentives for ElementUSA to operate a 30,000-square-foot R&D facility. The company is developing proprietary processes for extracting critical minerals from aluminum refinery waste tailings.

Alumina, iron, and rare earth elements REE extracted from residual bauxite (or “red mud”) have vital commercial applications. Defense and advanced technology industries spanning aerospace, steelmaking, wind turbines, and electric vehicles require them. At present, a majority of rare earth elements come from foreign countries. ElementUSA researchers will sample and test diverse metallic tailings and mineral waste products from mining processes at the new facility.

The lease should start by the end of 2025. The corporate move should create 28 high-paying jobs by the end of 2026 and generate $4.22 million in local revenue. Cedar Park is providing incentives, including $10,000 for each home one of ElementUSA’s employees purchases in the area.

​A rare earth element (REE), scandium is soft, silvery-white, tarnishes in the air, reacts with water, and burns easily. Lightweight, its density resembles aluminum but has a far higher melting point. Widely distributed, over 800 mineral species contain minute traces. Its name stems from Scandinavia and remains the primary component of the mineral thortveitite, found in that region of northern Europe. First produced in 1937 through a molten scandium chloride electrolysis process, scandium does not occur naturally as a metal. 

Scandium’s light, strong character makes it ideal for high strength-to-weight ratio applications. Since it melts at 2806 degrees Fahrenheit, it suits high-temperature applications. Professionals have combined scandium with aluminum in alloys to produce performance bicycle frames and baseball bats. The most noteworthy use of scandium-aluminum alloys is in aircraft engines and structural parts, where fuel efficiency and strength are major considerations. It enhances material durability and resistance to stress, corrosion, cracking, and fatigue.

Extracting scandium is a high priority, and ElementUSA is pursuing an ambitious industrial waste recycling program that takes refinery waste, known as bauxite residue, and extracts iron, alumina, and REE, such as scandium, neodymium, and praseodymium.

​Aluminum extraction involves separating this metallic element from its ores so that it can be used in commercial applications. Due to its reactive nature, aluminum does not occur naturally in its pure form - it is primarily found in bauxite, a mineral rich in aluminum compounds.

The extraction process consists of several steps. The Bayer process converts bauxite into aluminum oxide, or alumina. The alumina is then subjected to the Hall-Heroult process, where it undergoes electrolysis in a molten cryolite solution to produce aluminum.

During the Bayer process, bauxite is crushed, washed, and dried before mixing with sodium hydroxide under high pressure and at high temperature. This mixture forms a solution, allowing alumina to precipitate out. The alumina is then dissolved in molten cryolite and subjected to high electrical currents in the Hall-Heroult process. This step reduces alumina to pure aluminum metal at the cathode, while oxygen forms at the anode.

This process enables large-scale aluminum production, relying on electricity to break down chemically stable compounds. In this case, electrolysis transforms alumina into aluminum metal and oxygen gas.

​Rare earth elements (REEs) help power modern technology and advance innovation across various industries. Industries increasingly depend on REEs to produce high-tech products such as electric vehicles, military equipment, smartphones, and wind turbines. They also said manufacturing batteries, catalysts, displays, and magnets.

The demand for rare earth elements continues to grow, driven by the expansion of renewable energy technologies and the increasing popularity of electric vehicles. However, the demand has economic implications, prompting companies like ElementUSA to invest in mining, processing, and manufacturing operations.

Moreover, the global supply of REEs remains concentrated in a few countries, with China dominating production. The reliance raises concerns about supply chain disruptions and national security, encouraging efforts to diversify production and build more sustainable supply chains.

Ongoing research and development focus on REE-based technologies, which help innovation in artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing.

Lastly, the importance of rare earth elements extends beyond technology. Ensuring a reliable and sustainable supply of these materials is crucial for economic growth, technological progress, and national security.