Alta Resource Technologies Advances to Final Phase of DARPA’s EMBER Program

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Alta Resource Technologies announced its selection as a primary collaborator in Phase 3 of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s Environmental Microbes as a BioEngineering Resource (EMBER) program. Led by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the team was chosen to advance to the final phase of this multi-year effort to unlock new bioengineering solutions for national security applications.

Phase 3 funding will support Alta’s efforts to scale its rare earth separation platform from lab-scale to pilot-scale deployment. By leveraging cutting-edge biochemistry and protein design, the team aims to separate critical rare earth elements from a variety of domestic feedstocks with far greater selectivity and lower environmental impact than conventional chemical methods.

“Rare earth elements are essential to everything from consumer electronics and automobiles to advanced defense systems, yet today’s supply chains are deeply fragile,” said Nathan Ratledge, CEO of Alta Resource Technologies. “This next phase of work gives us the opportunity to demonstrate how engineered proteins can help the U.S. build a more secure, scalable, and sustainable supply of these critical materials—starting at pilot scale and growing from there.”

The EMBER program is part of DARPA’s broader effort to apply biology as a tool for solving urgent national security challenges. Phase 3 will support not only pilot-scale separation from multiple rare earth feedstocks, but also continued development of AI-enabled protein engineering.

Alta’s participation in the EMBER program builds on the team’s prior successes across Phases 1 and 2, and reflects the company’s growing role in reshaping how rare earths are sourced, refined, and reused.