Middle Kittanning Coal Waste and Underclay as an Alternative Rare Earth Elements Feedstock

Technical Report · Wed Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1836281· OSTI ID:1836281

Bauer, Sophia ^[1]; Yang, Jonathan M. ^[1]; Verba, Circe ^[1]

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1. National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Albany, OR (United States)

In order to secure domestic sources of rare earth elements (REE) from coal related materials, there must be validation of representative feedstocks. Actively producing coal mines that target the Middle Kittanning coal seam in the Appalachian Basin were compiled. These mines were cross-referenced with publicly available geochemical data such as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Mapping Resources Initiative geochemical data along with samples evaluated and characterized by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). This work evaluated the extent of elevated Middle Kittanning underclay concentrations of REE in comparison to other underclay formations. Therefore, further up-scaling of research associated with the separation and extraction of REE and other critical minerals can be beneficial to utilizing domestic REE supplies for various technology sectors, to include energy, biomedical, and defense. Numerous current active mines targeting the Middle Kittanning coal seam represent a geographically significant opportunity for shared feedstocks and collaborations to further understand the role of Middle Kittanning underclay as a critical mineral feedstock.

• Research Organization: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
• DOE Contract Number: 89243318CFE000003
• OSTI ID: 1836281
• Report Number(s): DOE/NETL-2021/2661
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
58 GEOSCIENCES