EXCLUSIVE — The Department of Energy is offering a total of $16 million to advance critical mineral education across the country as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to expand the domestic industry and end China’s control of the supply chain.

The DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation on Monday launched the PROSPECT Planning Prize to support mining schools in developing a workforce required to produce, process, recover, and recycle critical minerals. Each program will receive up to $1 million.