Texas Mineral produces rare earths from coal waste

A consortium led by US exploration firm Texas Mineral Resources has successfully produced high-purity rare earths from coal mining waste.

The project, which received a $1mn grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) in 2017 successfully produced rare earth elements purified to a 99pc level, including scandium, dysprosium, neodymium, cerium and lanthanum from coal mining waste from Pennsylvania. The materials were extracted using continuous ion exchange and chromatography. The other members of the consortium comprise US firms Inventure Renewables, K-Technologies and Penn State University.

The results of the first phase of the project were presented at the DOE's annual project review meeting in Pittsburgh on 9 April. The consortium has applied for a $20mn DOE grant to demonstrate the ability to scale up production with the creation of a pilot plant.

Texas Mineral Resources is also focused on the exploration and development of its Round Top heavy rare earth and industrial minerals project in Hudspeth County, Texas. It concluded a development and funding agreement for Round Top with US and Australian investment group USA Rare Earth in November last year.

Concerns within the US government about secure access to rare earths are enabling rare earth companies in the US to explore new ways of developing the domestic supply chain.