Program Portfolio

Feasibility of Recovering Rare Earth Elements – Critical Minerals and Materials Program

This portfolio houses domestic REE and CM field prospecting information related to:

  1. NETL’s initial field analyses conducted between 2014 and 2015
  2. NETL’s Research and Innovation Center’s REE Field Work Proposal (RIC FWP) where efforts were conducted in 2015-2016 in conjunction with the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) focusing on REE deposits in Appalachia
  3. Rare Earth Element Identification and Characterization of Coal and Coal By-Products Containing High Rare Earth Element Concentrations – RFP 9067
  4. Sampling, Characterization and Round Robin Analyses of Domestic U.S. Coal Base Resources Containing High Rare Earth Element (REE) Concentrations – RFP 10982

Information related to RD&D efforts that were conducted between 2016 and 2020 that focused on conventional and transformational extraction, separation and recovery of REE and CM from coal-based resources can be found under FOA 1202, FOA 1627 and FOA 1718. Under FOA 2003, process optimization and efficiency improvements were explored starting in 2019, and the potential to develop 1-3 tonnes mixed rare earth oxides (MREO)/day in engineering-scale prototype facilities was addressed in 2020 under RFP 89243320RFE000032 Concept Papers, and in 2021 under Feasibility (pre-FEED) projects.

In 2020, FOA 2364 CORE-CM was released, and in 2021, FOA 2404 was released. EDX templates for REE and CM analytical characterization data that will be generated during conduct of these projects are provided.

Program Fact Sheet

Click on the links below to learn about these initiatives and view associated analytical characterization data and technical reports:

Title

Announcement Number
NETL Field Analysis – Data and Reports: 2011-2016 N/A
NETL Research and Innovation Center Rare Earth Elements from Coal and Coal By‐Products Field Work Proposal N/A
Opportunities to Develop High Performance, Economically Viable, and Environmentally Benign Technologies to Recover Rare Earth Elements (REEs) from Domestic Coal and Coal Byproducts FOA 1202
Production of Salable Rare Earth Elements from Domestic U.S. Coal and Coal By-Products FOA 1627
Development of Separation and Extraction Processes for Production of Rare Earth Elements (REE) Materials from Domestic U.S. Coal and Coal By-Products FOA 1718
Process Scale-Up and Optimization/Efficiency Improvements for Rare Earth Elements (REE) and Critical Materials (CM) Recovery from Coal-Based Resources FOA 2003
CORE-CM Resource Assessment FOA 2364
Advanced Processing of Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals for Industrial and Manufacturing Applications FOA 2404
University Coalition for Fossil Energy Research (UCFER): Domestic Use of Rare Earth Elements and Critical Materials Topic V RFP 2019-05
Rare Earth Element Identification and Characterization of Coal and Coal By-Products Containing High Rare Earth Element Concentrations RFP 9067
Sampling, Characterization and Round Robin Analyses of Domestic U.S. Coal Based Resources Containing High Rare Earth Element (REE) Concentrations RFP 10982
Production of Mixed Rare Earth Oxides (REOs) from Coal-Based Resources RFP 89243320RFE000032

Please use our contact form or email NETLREE-CMGroup@netl.doe.gov with any questions or comments you have about this initiative and associated data.