Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Central Appalachian Coal Seam Underclays

Montross, Scott N.; Yang, Jonathan; Britton, James; McKoy, Mark; Verba, Circe

doi:10.3390/min10060577

Leaching of Rare Earth Elements from Central Appalachian Coal Seam Underclays

Journal Article · Fri Jun 26 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Minerals

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/min10060577· OSTI ID:1783470

Montross, Scott N. ^[1]; Yang, Jonathan ^[2]; Britton, James ^[3]; McKoy, Mark ^[4]; Verba, Circe ^[5]

National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States); Leidos Research Support Team, Albany, OR (United States)
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States); Oak Ridge Inst. for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Morgantown, WV (United States)
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Morgantown, WV (United States)
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States)

Rare earth elements (REE) are necessary for advanced technological and energy applications. To support the emerging need, it is necessary to identify new domestic sources of REE and technologies to separate and recover saleable REE product in a safe and economical manner. Underclay rock associated with Central Appalachian coal seams and prevalent in coal utilization waste products is an alternative source of REE to hard rock ores that are mainly composed of highly refractory REE-bearing minerals. This study utilizes a suite of analytical techniques and benchtop leaching tests to characterize the properties and leachability of the coal seam underclays sampled. Laboratory bench-top and flow-through reactor leaching experiments were conducted on underclay rock powders to produce a pregnant leach solution (PLS) that has relatively low concentrations of gangue elements Al, Si, Fe, and Th and is amenable to further processing steps to recover and produce purified REE product. The leaching method described here uses a chelating agent, the citrate anion, to solubilize elements that are adsorbed, or weakly bonded to the surface of clay minerals or other mineral solid phases in the rock. The citrate PLS produced from leaching specific underclay powders contains relatively higher concentrations of REE and lower concentrations of gangue elements compared to PLS produced from sequential digestion using ammonium sulfate and mineral acids. Citrate solution leaching of underclay produces a PLS with lower concentrations of gangue elements and higher concentrations of REE than achieved with hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid. The results provide a preliminary assessment of the types of REE-bearing minerals and potential leachability of coal seam underclays from the Central Appalachian basin.

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)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89243318CFE000003

OSTI ID:: 1783470

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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