Microanalytical Approaches to Characterizing REE in Appalachian Basin Underclays

Yang, Jon; Montross, Scott; Britton, Jim; Stuckman, Mengling; Lopano, Christina; Verba, Circe

doi:10.3390/min10060546

Microanalytical Approaches to Characterizing REE in Appalachian Basin Underclays

Journal Article · Wed Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Minerals

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/min10060546· OSTI ID:1782459

Yang, Jon ^[1]; Montross, Scott ^[2]; Britton, Jim ^[3]; ^[4]; Lopano, Christina ^[5]; Verba, Circe ^[1]

National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States)
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States); Leidos Research Support Team, Albany, OR (United States)
West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Morgantown, WV (United States)
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Leidos Research Support Team, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

The search for a reliable U.S. domestic source of rare earth elements (REE) is necessary to support the demand of advanced energy applications (e.g., catalysts, electronics, magnets). Sedimentary deposits may be sources for selectively recovering REE and critical metals—specifically the interbedded seat rock, or underclay, that underlies or forms the floor of a coal seam. This material is often a major component of coal waste fines and refuse and thus readily available. This study examines several Appalachian Basin underclays associated with actively mined coal seams as potential feedstocks for the REE. Multimodal microanalytical electron microscopy (SEM, FIB-SEM, EMPA) synchrotron-based µXRF, and image processing techniques are coupled with detailed elemental and mineral data to classify the 2D and 3D petrophysical properties of the materials. The REE contents of Appalachian Basin underclays were measured from 235–399 ppm and predominantly observed as discrete REE-bearing minerals such as monazite and xenotime on the order of 10–100 µm in size. These REE-bearing minerals typically accounted for less than 1% of the scanned areas and volumes under SEM and FIB-SEM analysis, with the exception of regions enriched in crandallite. Synchrotron-based µXRF elemental maps further identified several REE deposition environments in different underclays, including micro-scale (10–100 µm) light REEs co-localizing with Ca and P, micro-scale heavy REEs with Fe, and large-scale light REEs (>200 µm) co-localizing with Sr, Ba, Ca and P.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)

OSTI ID:: 1782459

Journal Information:: Minerals, Journal Name: Minerals Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 10; ISSN 2075-163X

Publisher:: MDPICopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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