The Pennsylvania State University conducted a study to evaluate the potential to concentrate rare earth elements (REEs) that exist in coal and coal byproducts. Samples were collected from surface mines in Pennsylvania as well as from various coal preparation plants and coal-burning power plants. The samples were selected out of collected materials that included overburden material (roof rock), pit cleanings from a coal surface mine, and two refuse materials from coal preparation plant refuse streams. The collected samples were prepared using standard mineral processing procedures and subjected to various separations procedures and characterization analyses including, gravity separation (float-sink/washability tests), magnetic separation methods, electrostatic separation methods and ion exchange-based leaching methods. The collected samples and their derivatives from various separation/enrichment methods were analyzed for REE concentrations by multiple analytical techniques. The samples were also subject to proximate analysis.