High Concentrations of Rare Earth Elements Found in American Coal Basins

[thackney]

High Concentrations of Rare Earth Elements Found in American Coal Basins
https://www.energy.gov/articles/high-concentrations-rare-earth-elements-found-american-coal-basins
NOVEMBER 29, 2017

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has found high rare earth element (REE) concentrations in coal samples taken from the Illinois, Northern Appalachian, Central Appalachian, Rocky Mountain Coal Basins, and the Pennsylvania Anthracite region. These highly concentrated samples are greater than 300 parts per million (ppm).

“Rare Earth Elements are vital to the development and manufacturing of high-tech devices such as computers, cell phones, and our national defense systems,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “The current difficulties and high expenses associated with REE extraction has left the U.S. dependent on foreign REE imports. Supporting innovative research and development to establish efficient, cost-effective REE extraction methods is critical to our country’s energy and national security.”

Concentrations of rare earths at 300 ppm are integral to the commercial viability of extracting REEs from coal and coal by-products, making NETL’s finding particularly significant in the effort to develop economical domestic supplies of these elements.

The discovery was made in partnership with West Virginia University (WVU), the University of Kentucky (UK), Tetra Tech, and the XLight Corporation. WVU explored acid mine drainage from bituminous coal mines in the Northern and Central Appalachian Coal Basins, while Tetra Tech looked at bituminous, subbituminous, and anthracite coal from the same basins. Meanwhile, UK analyzed western Kentucky bituminous coal in the Illinois Coal Basin, and XLight Corporation investigated coal-related materials in the Eastern Pennsylvania Anthracite Region.

These findings could encourage technology developers to recover REEs from these basins by helping them find high quality feedstocks—the raw materials needed for REE recovery processes. Higher REE concentrations in the feedstock will improve the prospect of producing higher-purity REE materials. A separate research initiative is focusing on DOE cost-shared research projects to design, develop, and test technology to actually recover REEs from coal-related materials in a variety of American coal basins....

[Doug Loss]

I don't see in the article (or the DOE report it refers to) any information about just where the REEs are found--in the coal itself or in other "coal-related materials."  If REEs can be extracted economically from the massive culm banks in northeastern PA that would be a wonderful boost to the economy of the area.

[Smokin Joe]

I don't see in the article (or the DOE report it refers to) any information about just where the REEs are found--in the coal itself or in other "coal-related materials."  If REEs can be extracted economically from the massive culm banks in northeastern PA that would be a wonderful boost to the economy of the area.

If the REEs are in the coal, they should be in the fly ash, too. Process that, and the REEs would be even more concentrated than they would be in the coal. Scrubber sludge might be full of them, too.

[thackney]

I don't see in the article (or the DOE report it refers to) any information about just where the REEs are found--in the coal itself or in other "coal-related materials."  If REEs can be extracted economically from the massive culm banks in northeastern PA that would be a wonderful boost to the economy of the area.

The 4th paragraph reads like it is both coal and coal related materials.  A couple groups looked specifically at coal while other looked elsewhere.

I wonder if it can be found and extracted economically from the fly and bottom ash.

[Smokin Joe]

The 4th paragraph reads like it is both coal and coal related materials.  A couple groups looked specifically at coal while other looked elsewhere.

I wonder if it can be found and extracted economically from the fly and bottom ash.

That's what I was thinking, too. It could be a strategically important byproduct.

[Free Vulcan]

That's what I was thinking, too. It could be a strategically important byproduct.

And there is a heck of a lot of it.

Curious, what do they do with it now? Bury it? Use it somewhere else? Stack it high?

[thackney]

And there is a heck of a lot of it.

Curious, what do they do with it now? Bury it? Use it somewhere else? Stack it high?

I know fly ash is sometimes mixed into cement to add volume.  I personally use bottom ash (clinkers) as driveway material, cheaper than gravel in many places.

[Smokin Joe]

And there is a heck of a lot of it.

Curious, what do they do with it now? Bury it? Use it somewhere else? Stack it high?

It is used in aggregate building materials and to mix with drill cuttings from invert mud to absorb the residual invert mud and to act as a stabilizing agent so the cuttings can be landfilled. There are likely other uses I am unaware of in addition to those. I doubt the extraction of the REEs would affect that usage much.

[Free Vulcan]

Just curious. Seems like there's alot of material that could be processed, meaning jobs.

[thackney]

Just curious. Seems like there's alot of material that could be processed, meaning jobs.

It is mostly all processed or involved in some type of use.  Otherwise the disposal cost becomes too large.  Even mixing fly ash into dirt to help stabilize berms and levees and added into gypsum for wallboard.

[Smokin Joe]

Just curious. Seems like there's alot of material that could be processed, meaning jobs.

Currently we import most of our REEs from China. Having a good, domestic source would be a boon, security wise. While a lot depends on what REEs are involved, electronics manufacture 9chips) depend on them. Considering weapons systems and communications use those electronics, being able to manufacture our own without having to import the materials would be good.

[thackney]

Currently we import most of our REEs from China. Having a good, domestic source would be a boon, security wise. While a lot depends on what REEs are involved, electronics manufacture 9chips) depend on them. Considering weapons systems and communications use those electronics, being able to manufacture our own without having to import the materials would be good.

Yes, about 2/3s of our REE are imported.  China is the majority of that as they produce more than 80% of the world's REEs.

https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/rare_earths/mcs-2017-raree.pdf

[Free Vulcan]

It is mostly all processed or involved in some type of use.  Otherwise the disposal cost becomes too large.  Even mixing fly ash into dirt to help stabilize berms and levees and added into gypsum for wallboard.

I recall articles, whether the concern was legit or just enviroloon hysteria I don't know, about how the metals in fly ash were a toxicity problem.

Seems like that could be taken away and leave a better quality fly ash for construction. Especially if we could restart the coal industry, we'd have a great feedstock for a new derivative industry that would greatly help our national security.

[thackney]

I recall articles, whether the concern was legit or just enviroloon hysteria I don't know, about how the metals in fly ash were a toxicity problem.

Seems like that could be taken away and leave a better quality fly ash for construction. Especially if we could restart the coal industry, we'd have a great feedstock for a new derivative industry that would greatly help our national security.

There were concerns, some of them legitimate, some not.  The catch is just like each coal field has a different chemical make-up, so do the ashes.  Not all being used before are used now.  However, the vast majority of the ash is put to a use besides straight disposal.

[Suppressed]

And there is a heck of a lot of it.

Curious, what do they do with it now? Bury it? Use it somewhere else? Stack it high?

It has been put into a wide variety of uses.  An engineer I worked with had a former job at coming up with ways they could incorporate ash in places so they could cut waste costs.

Now we're having a load of environmental problems because the metals like arsenic are concentrated in the ash, and they're now leaching out in a wide variety of places where we've put the stuff for what was thought to be "beneficial re-use". 

One dramatic problem with fly ash was the huge blowout in Tennessee a decade ago...at the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant.   More than a billion gallons of coal-ash slurry was released when a dike failed, flowing into tributaries of the Tenneseee River and destroying homes in a wave of grey sludge.  Here's a 25-foot-tall wall of ash a mile from the release:



After that billion-dollar fiasco, regulations have been written to better manage Coal Combustion Residuals, requiring better engineering and monitoring of coal-ash landfills.

[Suppressed]

I recall articles, whether the concern was legit or just enviroloon hysteria I don't know, about how the metals in fly ash were a toxicity problem.

Legit.

The metals are left behind when the organics burn away, and they can tend to be in a mobile state (no longer bound to the organics). 

Additionally, coal will often contain NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials) that can be concentrated in ash.  I don't see this as often as the metal problems, but there are cases where that's a legit concern.

[Suppressed]

There were concerns, some of them legitimate, some not.  The catch is just like each coal field has a different chemical make-up, so do the ashes.

 :thumbsup2:

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Pretty much all I know about "mineral" rights is that they are a lot stranger than I would have expected.  Do the owners of the coal rights necessarily also own the REEs?