48 JULY 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Advancements in Critical Minerals and Materials Adapted from Information by U.S. Department of Energy The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced over $17 million for three projects to supply the design and construction of facilities producing rare earth elements (REE), along with other critical minerals and materials from coal-based resources. To help meet the growing demands for critical minerals and materials and reduce reliance on unreliable foreign sources, the projects may strengthen domestic supply chains. The United States currently imports more than 80% of REE, but REE naturally occurs all around us, including in our domestic coal and coal wastes. Other critical minerals and materials along with REE are key to manufacturing clean energy technologies here in America, such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cells. Three projects were selected to support the development of FEED (Front-End Engineering and Design) studies for potential future intermediate and/or demonstration scale facilities for the extraction, separation, and production of REE along with other critical minerals and materials from unconventional resources. The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will perform a FEED study needed to establish a fully integrated, vertical supply chain located entirely within Illinois for the production of select critical minerals and materials from coal-based sources. The project envisions three key facilities to produce lithium, scandium, neodymium, praseodymium, high-purity dysprosium, and other rare earth oxides. There will be an extraction facility in Marissa, Illinois, at the Prairie State Energy Campus (a combination coal mine and coal-fired power plant complex); a concentration and production plant to be located nearby to produce mixed rare earth oxides, scandium, and other critical minerals, and in Urbana, Illinois, a purification and refining facility to refine individual rare earth oxides and metals (via electrowinning and metallothermic reduction) from the mixed rare earth oxides. Tetra Tech, Inc. (Houston, Texas) will be built on prior technology development to complete a FEED study located in Pennsylvania on recovering rare earths and potentially other critical minerals from coal by-products (underclay) while processing the clays to a commerical grade. The study will confirm quality and quantity of five years of feedstock reserves; complete lab scale production of samples of proposed products and wastes from feedstock sources; complete preliminary engineering design of the facility for the selected site; identify and engage key project stakeholders; update the project business plan; understand the environmental impact of the project, develop any required mitigations; and implement a community benefits plan. This project will process claystone exposed during surface mining of metallurgical coal for steel production, along with modular rare earth metal, alumina, and lithium carbonate. Winter Water Services, Inc. (Sharon, Pennsylvania) will build on prior technology development to complete a FEED study located in Georgia on recovering rare earths from coal ash while preparing the coal ash for the concrete market. This plant was refined to produce concentrated heavy rare earth, combined samarium, europium, gadolinium oxides, lanthanum oxide, neodymium/praseodymium metal, and cerium carbonate. The targeted scale critical minerals plant anticipates employing more than 450 full-time employees, creating good-paying jobs and economic opportunities in disadvantaged communities. The FEED studies will establish and define technical requirements focused on project scope, schedule, costs, and reduce risk during the construction and operation of future REE, critical minerals, and materials production. The three selected project teams were required to submit a community benefits plan to demonstrate meaningful engagement with and tangible benefits with the communities. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, under purview of DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, will manage the selected projects. MIN 2024 Booth 502
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