WASHINGTON, June 14, 2017 - The Department of Energy is investing $6.9 million in research involving the extraction of rare earth elements from coal. REEs are chemical elements found in the Earth’s crust that are essential components of technologies spanning a range of applications, including computer and communications systems, electronics, transportation, health care and national defense.

Three projects have already been selected to receive approximately $3 million for research aimed at producing salable REEs from domestic coal and coal by-products. An additional $3.95 million is available for projects in three new topic areas designed to speed up separation and extraction processes for the elements.

DOE notes that demand for REES has grown significantly in recent years, spurring interest in economically feasible methods for domestic REE recovery, including from domestic coal and coal by-products.

Here are descriptions of the new projects that will divide the $3 million in funding:

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  • High Yield, Economical, Large Scale Production of Marketable Rare Earth Element Products from Coal Mining Refuse — Equinox Chemicals LLC (Albany, Ga.) and project partners will conduct laboratory testing and prepare a technical design for a pilot plant to produce salable REEs. They will use byproducts from an existing eastern Kentucky coal preparation plant as their source of REEs. Their phase 1 design will consider recovery and sale of coal from these preparation plant byproducts as an additional source of revenue. Cost — DOE: $999,983
  • Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Coal Mining Waste Materials — Inventure Renewables (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) and project partners will use coal-related materials from an eastern Pennsylvania anthracite coal mine as their source of REEs. In phase 1, they will conduct laboratory testing and prepare their technical design for a pilot plant to produce salable REEs. Cost — DOE: $1,000,000
  • Production of Salable Rare Earth Elements from Domestic U.S. Coal and Coal Byproducts—Marshall Miller & Associates (Bluefield, Va.) and project partners will conduct laboratory testing and prepare their technical design for a pilot plant to produce salable REEs. They will use by-products from an existing West Virginia coal preparation (coal washing) plant as their raw material for extracting REEs. Their phase 1 design includes recovery and sale of dry, fine, high-quality coal from this raw material as an additional source of revenue. Cost — DOE: $1,000,000

The $3.95 million in announced funding will support up to eight projects in three topic areas. The projects will focus on improving the technical, environmental, and economic performance of existing processes that recover REEs from domestic coal and coal by-products. The topic areas are: advanced technology development for initial REE extraction; optimization of current state-of-the-art separation technologies for initial REE extraction; and technology advancements for high purity REE extractions.

DOE says the projects require a minimum 20 percent cost share from each recipient. More information about the funding opportunity can be found here. In addition, information on the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s rare earth elements research can be found on the NETL website. 

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