Coal as a Promising Source of Critical Elements: Progress and Future Prospects - 2018

Coal and Related Carbon Resources / Lignite, Graphite, Graphene, & Carbon Uses

Dai and Finkelman reported in 2018 that coal is a resource primarily used for electric power generation, and currently supplies 41% of global electricity needs. Coal can also be considered as an economic source of strategically important elements, such as Ge, Ga, U, V, Se, rare earth elements, Y, Sc, Nb, Au, Ag, and Re, as well as base metals Al and Mg. The extraction and utilization of these critical elements from coal could result in a number of benefits, which will make this source an economically and environmentally attractive option especially for China, the U.S., Russia, India, and other countries that will remain major coal users for the foreseeable future.

The authors concluded that because of the increasing scarcity, high prices, exhausted resources in conventional ores, and demand of critical metals, prospecting coal-hosted ore deposits (or metalliferous coals) for critical elements is essential for economic growth and security of national defense. Coal-hosted ore deposits are a highly promising source of the critical elements. Uranium had been extracted from coal for nuclear industry in the 1950s; germanium, Se, and V are being currently mined and industrially extracted from coal (stone coal) ash. Pilot plants have been successfully developed for Ga and Al, as well as Si and Mg. A number of laboratory-scale technologies have been devised to extract REY as well as Nb, Zr, and Ti from coal ash and from tuffs and will shift towards industrial recovery in the foreseeable future.

Coal ash may also be a promising source of elements including PGEs, Au, Ag, Li, Cr, Mo, W, and Re, and has such promising for utilization. The industrial recoveries of critical elements from coal ash could result in many benefits both economically and environmentally. Although there are some challenges for coal-hosted ore deposit utilization of critical elements, including economic extraction technologies and environmental issues during industrial recovery, the industrial utilization of coal-hosted ore deposits are highly promising.

[Also see: Campbell, et al., (2014) 'Coal, but Not for Burning'  http://www.i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/CampbellJustNotforBurning-July19-2014ColZ.pdf ]