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U.S. Department of Energy
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Investigation of Rare Earth Element Extraction from North Dakota Coal-Related Feedstocks (Phase 2 Final Technical Report)

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1785352· OSTI ID:1785352
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [2]
  1. Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States); University of North Dakota
  2. Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States)
  3. Microbeam Technologies, Inc., Grand Forks, ND (United States)
  4. Barr Engineering Co., Bismarck, ND (United States)

There were four major goals of this project: i) identify promising lignite or lignite-related feedstocks with total rare earth element content above 300 parts per million (ppm), ii) evaluate at the lab and bench-scale the extractability of the REE from the material, iii) determine the processing required to generate REE concentrates in excess of 2 wt%, iv) evaluate the economic feasibility of the process and develop a pathway for commercialization. In the Phase 1 study, work was primarily focused upon resource evaluation and labscale extractability of the REE, with a preliminary techno-economic assessment (TEA) conducted, whereas in the Phase 2 work, the extraction process was conducted at the bench scale, a method for cost-effective generation of higher purity mixed REE concentrates (up to 65%) was developed, and a refined TEA on the bench-scale data for a 1,000 kg coal processing test was conducted.

Research Organization:
Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States); Microbeam Technologies, Inc., Grand Forks, ND (United States); Barr Engineering Co., Bismarck, ND (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
DOE Contract Number:
FE0027006
OSTI ID:
1785352
Report Number(s):
DUNS--10-228-0781-Rev.01
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English