ABSTRACT
The development of an economically competitive supply of rare earth elements (REEs) is critical to maintain our nation’s economic growth and national security. Domestic coal has been recognized as a potential alternative source of REEs, with estimated REE reserves in the range of 50 million metric tons. These abundant reserves have spurred new and previously unrealized market opportunities for coal products. In this work, the enrichment of REEs from four different sections in the coal value chain was evaluated by a simple flotation process. Results showed that REE components could be effectively concentrated in the froth products, especially for coal feeds. Among them, coal (HF2) and coal refuse (HF3) had noteworthy high REE yields at 73% and 60%, respectively. We also verified that REEs were significantly associated with the inorganic phase in coal samples. More importantly, the flotation process was found favorable for heavy REEs over light REEs, even at a low mass fraction. Neutral or slightly acidic pH level is recommended for flotation operation for enriching REEs from coals. The study demonstrated promising potential to use the flotation method for an economical enrichment of REEs from coals.
