This IRG pursues a fundamental understanding of structure-property relationships in high-temperature chalcogenide melts, which are promising as electrolytes for electrometallurgy and as growth fluxes for semiconductor synthesis. Success would electrify the production of critical metals including copper, iron, and neodymium, at rates two to three times higher than the industrial Hall-Héroult process for aluminum, from feedstocks that are otherwise not economically viable. The IRG also enables synthesis of chalcogenide perovskite semiconducting thin films under conditions compatible with thin-film solar cell manufacturing.