Reports and Resources

EMRTAI is focused on providing information that can be used by stakeholders to advance technological innovation and support decision-making, and by communities interested in contributing to the dialogue surrounding the potential recovery of critical minerals during mine site remediation.

Technology Assessments

Technology assessment reports are a main output of EMRTAI’s work.

These assessments will be guided by rigorous and transparent testing protocols to generate credible performance data.

Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs)

Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs) are developed to provide a consistent framework for conducting technology assessments within a general category of technologies. They are developed with guidance from Technical Panels to ensure that the data generated are aligned with user needs in decision-making.

  • Read the QAPP

  • Read the QAPP

Technology Assessment Testing Plans

Technology Assessment Testing Plans are based on QAPPs for the general technology category a particular technology falls under. Designed in collaboration with the technology developer/vendor, they contain the details of the testing plan for streamlined, consistent, and quality-controlled testing during an EMRTAI technology assessment.

Technology Assessment Reports

The EMRTAI Team works with each technology developer to create a Test/Quality Assurance Plan that is based on the framework of a general protocol.

Expected Spring 2026

Technology Performance Statements

Expected Spring 2026

EPA Reports Related to EMRTAI

  • A comprehensive overview of the literature review and technology screening conducted for critical mineral (CM) extraction from mine wastes and mining-influenced waters (MIW). The primary objectives were to identify and evaluate technologies that could potentially enhance the efficiency and sustainability of Superfund remedial and response actions by facilitating alternative and supplemental CM recovery. Read the full report.

    Bronstein, K., K. Whiting, C. Schroer, L. Mulrooney, A. Neisess, N. Norris, R. Olsen, N. Revetta, AND J. MCKERNAN. Critical Mineral Recovery from Mine Influenced Waters – Literature Review and Technology Evaluation. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-25/038, 2025.

  • This presentation highlights EPA’s activities associated with critical minerals recovery within the U.S. as part of legacy mine site remediation. View the full presentation.

  • This presentation highlights EPA research into critical minerals recovery from mining and mineral processing waste and the cooperative agreement that is the foundation for the Environmental Monitoring and Remediation Technology Assessment Initiative (EMRTAI). View the full presentation.

  • This presentation provides an overview of trends in critical minerals and contaminant metals at Superfund legacy mine and mineral processing sites as well as potential technologies for recovering critical minerals from MMP waste streams, including mining influenced water and solid mining waste. View the full presentation.

  • High-pressure slurry ablation (HPSA) technology uses a mechanical process to remove radionuclides and metals from uranium and other mining waste through concentration. It has been applied to concentrate uranium, rare earth elements, graphite, and phosphate. The technology liberates and separates mineralized deposits from host rock whereby repeated collisions of processed solids is used to selectively fracture or liberate certain minerals in the deposit while others remain intact. HPSA treatment achieves this liberation by processing solid feed material in slurry or suspension form and using high-pressure pumps to pump material through opposing nozzles contained in collision housing to create impinging high-pressure slurry jet streams. This report summarizes the results from a treatability study, including bench- and pilot- scale demonstrations, that evaluated uranium mine waste from three sites on the Navajo Nation. From these waste materials, HPSA achieved greater than 90% reduction in uranium and Ra-226 concentrations in the treated coarse fraction, with the smaller volume fine fraction containing the liberated radionuclides. The HPSA technology is particularly effective for coarse to fine grain sands encountered in waste rock from Navajo AUM sites where uranium minerals typically occur as surface coatings on the sand grains. Overall, the HPSA technology is particularly amenable for liberation of mineral coatings from the surface of sand grains and is less effective at liberation of minerals within the crystalline structure of sand grains. Read the full report.

Fact Sheets