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US coal ash highly rich in rare earths, scientists find
Mining ^ | May 30, 2016 | Cecilia Jamasmie

Posted on 05/31/2016 3:41:13 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

US scientists have found what it could be key for the future of the country’s ailing coal industry as they detected that ashes from local operations, particularly those around the Appalachian region, are very rich in rare earth elements.

Researchers from North Carolina-based Duke University analyzed coal ashes from coal-fired power plants throughout the US, including those in the largest coal-producing regions: the Appalachian Mountains; southern and western Illinois; and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana.

One of the team main conclusions was that coal waste generated by the Appalachian coal operations was the richest in rare earth elements, containing 591 milligrams of the coveted elements per kilogram of ashes.

"There are literally billions of dollars' worth of rare earth elements contained in our nation's coal ash," the researchers said in a statement.

"If a program were to move forward, they'd clearly want to pick the coal ash with the highest amount of extractable rare earth elements, and our work is the first comprehensive study to begin surveying the options," they noted.

Not only rare earths are crucial to the manufacture of high-tech devices, but also to military communication systems, which is partially why the US Department of Energy recently offered $20 million to companies to solve the economic puzzle.

Previous research has focused on methods that can make the extraction or rare earths from coal waste not only financially viable, but also environmentally friendly.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Science
KEYWORDS: 2016election; appalachians; ash; coal; coalash; dukeuniversity; election2016; electronics; energy; flyash; illinois; minerals; mining; montana; newyork; northcarolina; rareearth; rareearthmaterials; rareearthmetals; rareearthminerals; thorium; trump; waroncoal; wyoming
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1 posted on 05/31/2016 3:41:13 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Nothing particularly new here. I was doing trace element analysis of both unburned coal and fly ash back in the 1970s. Neutron activation analysis is particularly sensitive to many of the REEs in fly ash. The combustion process drives off the carbon (which is a problem for the environment, but that's a topic for another thread) and other volatiles, and leaves the heavier stuff. The problem, as always, is to pick the residue that has the highest concentrations of the good things, and see if the extraction process is economical.
2 posted on 05/31/2016 3:48:12 AM PDT by chimera
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Why does anybody Soros and others want to own the coal?


3 posted on 05/31/2016 3:48:30 AM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: chimera

What is and has been done with this ash waste?


4 posted on 05/31/2016 3:59:21 AM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again,")
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To: fella

It is usually used as a bonding agent in cement.


5 posted on 05/31/2016 4:04:48 AM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: chimera

We buy most rare earths from China. Do they give underpaid minions next to nothing to separate the rare earths from ash?


6 posted on 05/31/2016 4:14:42 AM PDT by Vaquero ( Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: fella
"What is and has been done with this ash waste?"

Duke Energy thought they had the answer...

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/duke-energy-fined-102-million-in-coal-ash-spill/

Just kidding. As someone that has wondered many a NC wood and waterway, that was a horrible situation.

7 posted on 05/31/2016 4:19:10 AM PDT by moovova
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Very interesting. It would be strategic to have domestic supply.


8 posted on 05/31/2016 4:21:38 AM PDT by OldNewYork (Operation Wetback II, now with computers)
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To: Vaquero

Not likely as heavy metals and rare earth’s are just too small, for the most part, to pick by hand.


9 posted on 05/31/2016 4:23:18 AM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: chimera

Too bad Hg is volatile.


10 posted on 05/31/2016 4:34:25 AM PDT by Paladin2 (Live Free or Die.)
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To: Jonty30

Most ash ends up in landfills. There’s not enough cement being made to absorb the volume of this stuff...


11 posted on 05/31/2016 4:40:36 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (Baseball players, gangsters and musicians are remembered. But journalists are forgotten.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I wonder what is the value of the column piles in the Anthracite Region? And the mine fires in Centralia?


12 posted on 05/31/2016 4:41:52 AM PDT by Rumplemeyer (The GOP should stand its ground - and fix Bayonets)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Many coal ashes also have high radioactive contents.


13 posted on 05/31/2016 4:47:46 AM PDT by monocle
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To: Vaquero

Clinton sealed off all of our best cleanest coal and the only other is in Indonesia and the CHINESE OWN IT!! PAYOFF to CHINA #102 by the Clintons!


14 posted on 05/31/2016 5:01:53 AM PDT by Ann Archy (ABORTION....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; chimera
INN: It's gotten more difficult for rare earth mining companies since Molycorp’s bankruptcy and the shutdown of Mountain Pass last year, with a number of companies refocusing on other metals or halting their projects. How can rare earth companies outside of China still succeed?

RC: At current prices even China's major producers are struggling to make a profit, or just break-even. That fact adds long-term support for higher prices than those of today - particularly as China's industry consolidation continues and illegal production is reduced. So that's good news for a rare earth exploration company that's currently 3 to 8 years from possibly starting up production.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, there are a number of new rare earth processing technologies being developed with potential to slash the capital and operating costs of emerging producers, enabling them to compete on cost and profit margin with China’s major producers, even at low price levels. These technologies are being developed by companies like Innovation Metals, Ucore Rare Metals (TSXV:UCU), Geomega Resources (TSXV:GMA), Texas Mineral Resources (OTCMKTS:TMRC), and Rare Earth Salts.

http://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/critical-metals-investing/rare-earth-investing/rare-earths-market-2016-ryan-castilloux/

15 posted on 05/31/2016 5:10:46 AM PDT by AdmSmith (GCTGATATGTCTATGATTACTCAT)
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To: Ann Archy

Paging James Riady....


16 posted on 05/31/2016 5:19:53 AM PDT by 03A3 (The reset is gonna be epic.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Rare earth minerals are always found with thorium (a radioactive substance) and that triggers all sorts of environmental protection regulations. The U.S. doesn’t suffer from lack of rare earths deposits (the west is full of mines shut down by onerous regulations). China has a virtual monopoly on rare earths production because they aren’t burdened by the rules. The last thing a coal-burning plant wants is to have to treat ash as a hazardous waste.


17 posted on 05/31/2016 5:22:51 AM PDT by Procyon (Decentralize, degovernmentalize, deregulate, demonopolize, decredentialize, disentitle.)
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To: Procyon

In my years’-long browsing on everything “Thorium” , I recall this talk re creating a national Thorium Bank to kickstart a domestic rare earths industry: http://www.the-weinberg-foundation.org/2012/12/14/why-the-world-needs-a-thorium-bank/


18 posted on 05/31/2016 5:29:17 AM PDT by Procyon (Decentralize, degovernmentalize, deregulate, demonopolize, decredentialize, disentitle.)
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To: fella
What is and has been done with this ash waste?

A friend works for the local utility. He travels 5 days a week carrying loads of fly ash from a closed small coal plant to another active plant. There are 100 loads a day of fly ash transported. He does 500 miles a day.

This project has been going on 3.5 years and has another 3.5 years left. The sad part is the plant had another 20-30 years of useful economic life left, but was closed because some non scientist judge deemed CO2, food for all plant life, a pollutant. It is sad because the idiots who prompted this foolish economic decision escape all the accountability for their decision. This plant already had millions of dollars of pollution controls and was burning coal relatively cleanly.

19 posted on 05/31/2016 6:12:49 AM PDT by The_Media_never_lie (Apparently, most people are fine with what Obama is doing, while he ignores our problems.)
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To: fella
For awhile back in the late 70s and early 80s there was a market for fly ash to be used in building materials (cinder blocks and the like). I think that was more of a cost avoidance measure than a revenue stream for coal plant operators. I don't know what is done now.
20 posted on 05/31/2016 6:44:19 AM PDT by chimera
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