US Department of Energy Announces Selection of Core Natural Resources' Innovations Group to Pursue Critical Mineral and Material Extraction from Coal

CANONSBURG, Pa., July 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CONSOL Innovations LLC, a subsidiary of Core Natural Resources (NYSE: CNR), has been selected for a multi-million-dollar grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation. This award, which is being made under DOE's funding opportunity titled "Mines & Metals Capacity Expansion – Piloting Byproduct Critical Minerals and Materials Recovery at Domestic Industrial Facilities," is contingent on the company's completion of the negotiation process with DOE, and the official amount of the grant award will be known at that time.

The company plans to use the funding, once awarded, to develop a pilot-scale facility for the extraction of rare earth elements and critical materials from coal waste tailings sourced from Core's Pennsylvania Mining Complex.

"We applaud the Trump Administration for its great leadership and support in seeking to unlock the full potential of America's coal resources, and we look forward to partnering with the Department of Energy as we take the next steps in exploring rare earth element and critical mineral extraction at our operations," said Jimmy Brock, Core's chairman and CEO. "We hope our efforts will show that coal continues to be a necessary material for our daily lives now and into the future."

"Our Innovations team is excited to take another important step toward understanding the opportunities for critical materials recovery from our mining byproducts, and we look forward to further increasing coal's value proposition through this project," said Dan Connell, President of Core's Innovations business unit.

This announcement from the DOE highlights Core's ability to continuously develop new and advanced ways of unlocking more of the coal value chain, while supporting key areas of national strategic importance. It follows an announcement from earlier this year, in which Northrop Grumman identified Core's Touchstone Advanced Composites group as a key tooling and components supplier for the company's YFQ-48A Talon Blue Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

For more information about CONSOL Innovations, please visit https://corenaturalresources.com/sustainability/consol-innovations/.

About Core's Innovations Group

Core's Innovations group continues to drive progress across its entire raft of next-generation coal applications and products. For instance, its aerospace business now includes 75,000 square feet of manufacturing space in West Virginia and Texas and has become a full-service provider of high-performance materials, tooling, parts, and assemblies to meet the growing needs of our nation's aerospace and defense sector. Its C-BATT joint venture has the potential to reduce America's heavy reliance on imported Chinese graphite, which is a key component in lithium-ion batteries. In addition, the Innovations team continues to explore the development potential of rare earth elements and critical minerals across Core Natural Resources' entire mining platform.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "plan," "hope," "will," "expect," "look forward" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical fact and reflect the company's current views about future events. No assurances can be given that the forward-looking statements contained in this communication will occur as projected, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and assumptions that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, uncertainties regarding the expected DOE grant, including the timing for completion of the negotiation process with DOE and risks that the grant amount may be lower than expected or that the grant may not be made at all; and uncertainties regarding the ability of the company to mine, upgrade, process, and extract rare earth elements and critical minerals from its existing mines, including uncertainties regarding the financial impacts of such activities. 

Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made. The company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof.

SOURCE Core Natural Resources