REE Project Information - Historical Perspective

In 2009, interest in strategic materials intensified culminating in discussions regarding our Nation’s ability to secure reliable supplies of rare earth metals and other strategic materials.  Strategic materials were identified as critical for growing the U.S. green energy and electronics industry, as well as for specialty military applications.  In 2010, the DOE released the first Critical Materials Strategy and NETL initiated as small effort to explore the concept of extracting rare earth elements from coal and coal by-products.  Congress has since recognized the importance of this resource to the U.S. economic security and appropriated funding in FY2014 to identify the magnitude of the resource, develop capabilities to economically recover rare earth metals in an environmentally responsible manner, and provide an additional domestic, secure, and reliable resource for future advanced domestic industries.

In 2014, NETL further expanded its efforts to assess the potential resource base for REEs contained within coal resources and coal by-product waste streams from coal cleaning operations and power plants - post combustion fly ash and bottom ash.  Initial research identified potential ‘hot spots’ in select coal seams for REEs, and confirmed that the quantity of these elements varied depending on geology, location, and other factors that were not well understand at that time. Efforts to explore the available technology for extracting these vital elements were undertaken leading to the conclusion that additional research and technology development would be needed to convert this resource into a viable domestic commodity - and thus, the beginning of DOE-NETL’s Feasibility of Recovering Rare Earth Elements program^[1].

Performance of the assessment and analysis of the feasibility of economically recovering REEs from coal and coal by-products continued in 2015 ^[2]. In 2016-2018, Congress directed the DOE-NETL REE program to expand its external agency activities to develop and test commercially viable advanced separation technologies at proof-of-concept or pilot-scale that can be deployed near-term for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and minerals from U.S. coal and coal by-product sources having the highest potential for success ^[3-5]. 

Congressional Language
Feasibility of Recovering Rare Earth Elements (REEs)

FY14 to perform an assessment and analysis of the feasibility of economically recovering rare earth elements from coal and coal by-product streams, such as fly ash, coal refuse, and aqueous effluents

FY15 to continue activities to economically recover rare earth elements from coal and coal by-product streams, such as refuse, and aqueous effluents

FY16-FY17 to expand its external agency activities to develop and test commercially viable advanced separation technologies at proof-of-concept or pilot scale that can be deployed near term for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and minerals from U.S. coal and coal by-product source showing the highest potential for success

FY18 to continue its external agency activities to develop and test advanced separation technologies and accelerate the advancement of commercially viable technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and minerals from U.S. coal and coal by-product sources

1. United States Congress. Congressional Record. Explanatory Statement Submitted by Mr. Rogers of Kentucky, Chairman of The House Committee on Appropriations Regarding the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment on H.R. 3547, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014.
2. United States Congress. Congressional Record. Proceedings and Debates of the 113th Congress, Second Session, No. 151-Book II, 2014.
3. United States Congress. H.R. Report 114-91. Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill, 2016.
4. United States Congress. Public Law 115-31. H.R.244 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017.
5. United States Congress. Public Law 115-141. H.R.1625 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018.