An Investigation into Six Coal Fly Ashes from the United Kingdom and Poland to Evaluate Rare Earth Element Content - 2014

Coal and Related Carbon Resources / Exploration, Production, Coal Ash, & Rare Earths

Blissett, and 2 co-authors reported in 2014 that rare earth elements have been identified by the European Commission as a critical raw material. Six European coal fly ashes have been investigated for their rare earth element content. A coal fly ash from the UK has levels of rare earth element that are approaching that which might be commercially viable to exploit. After classification there was found to be a slight enrichment in the smaller non-magnetic inorganic content of the coal fly ash.

The authors concluded that the current study has highlighted the potential for CFA stockpiles to contain significant REY reserves. It confirms the finding of Hower et al., that REY content in size classified CFA increases as the particle size of the sieved fraction decreases. For the first time, CFA products at various points in a pilot scale processing
plant have been analysed for REY content. The results suggest that both fine and coarse IFA can be considered potential REY reserves of UK-1 ash. Extraction of the REY should now be studied to examine the technical feasibility of such a process.