Research led by the University of Utah has documented elevated concentrations of rare earth elements, or REEs, in active mines rimming the Uinta coal belt of Colorado and Utah.
The work, published in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science, explains that these mines could see a secondary resource stream in the form of metals used in renewable energy and numerous other high-tech applications.
SIGN UP FOR THE BATTERY METALS DIGEST
“The model is if you’re already moving rock, could you move a little more rock for resources towards energy transition?,” study co-author Lauren Birgenheier said in a media statement. “In those areas, we’re finding that the rare earth elements are concentrated in fine-grain shale units, the muddy shales that are above and below the coal seams.”
This research was conducted in partnership with the Utah Geological Survey and Colorado Geological Survey as part of the Carbon Ore, Rare Earth and Critical Minerals project, or CORE-CM.
While these metals are crucial for US manufacturing, especially in high-end technologies, they are largely sourced from overseas.
“When we talk about them as ‘critical minerals,’ a lot of the criticality is related to the supply chain and the processing,” Michael Free, who also authored the paper, said.
“This project is designed around looking at some alternative unconventional domestic sources for these materials.”
Hard, abundant data
The association between coal and REE deposits has been well documented elsewhere, but little data had been previously gathered or analyzed in Utah and Colorado’s coal fields.
English