Rock-Solid Resources
KATLIN SWISHER TRACY NOVAK
Rare Earth Elements
Offer
Economic Development Potential for
West Virginia
While most computers — and the technologies that use them — are comprised of aluminum and plastic , the key ingredients that make them work are rare earth elements , or REEs .
REEs are chemical elements with strong magnetic properties that make them essential for cell phones , smart watches , rechargeable batteries , medical equipment and many defense applications , but they are dispersed throughout the earth ’ s crust in such a way that economically attractive concentrations are rare .
Demand for REEs continues to grow , but mining and processing these elements is expensive and difficult . As a result , the U . S . currently imports 95 percent of its REEs from China at costs varying from $ 30 to thousands of dollars per kilogram . Meanwhile , the annual production of REEs from acid mine drainage in the Northern Appalachian Coal Basin alone is about 2,000-4,000 tons , while the accumulated amount stored in cells at mines is many times that .
As a result , West Virginia could become the country ’ s go-to resource for REEs without the expense or environmental cost of opening new mines .
To determine whether acid mine drainage can support an REE recovery industry , researchers from the West Virginia Water Research Institute ( WVWRI ) at West Virginia University ( WVU ) are studying the feasibility of extracting REEs from solid residues left over after treatment of acid mine drainage .
“ Acid mine drainage is produced in vast quantities in West Virginia and surrounding states ,” says Dr . Paul Ziemkiewicz , director of the WVWRI . “ While it seems commonplace , it ’ s a unique resource . There aren ’ t many places around the country where acid mine drainage contains highly enriched REE values .”
Through a $ 937,000 grant from the U . S . Department of Energy ’ s National Energy Technology Laboratory , WVWRI researchers are evaluating the REE reserves at 120 acid mine drainage treatment sites throughout West Virginia , Pennsylvania and Ohio while developing commercially viable refining methods . The best sample the team has identified so far is located near an abandoned surface mine in Upshur County . The DLM Coal Corporation bond-forfeiture site has sludge content containing
A sample of acid mine drainage sludge being tested as a potential source for rare earth elements . two kilograms of REEs per ton of solid residue . The REE value , not counting transportation and refining costs , is about $ 1.7 million .
“ If successful , the project will lead to new economic development opportunities for Appalachia ’ s coal towns ,” says Ziemkiewicz . “ While the coal market may fluctuate over time , acid mine drainage will be nearly constant . Long after mining is done , there will still be acid-generating coal mines and sources of REEs . Some of our richest deposits come from sites where mining ceased 30 years ago .”
Another benefit of extracting REEs from acid mine drainage is the incentivizing of acid mine drainage treatment . Active coal mines are required to treat acid mine drainage , resulting in the precipitation of acid mine drainage solids , which must be disposed . Normal acid mine drainage treatment concentrates REEs in the solid residues by a factor of about 1,500 times . The extraction of REEs has the potential to incentivize acid mine drainage treatment , particularly in abandoned mines built prior to the Clean Water Act or Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act .
“ Something like only half of the acid mine drainage that has ever flowed into our streams and rivers is now being treated ,” says Ziemkiewicz . “ No one is responsible for treating acid mine drainage from old , abandoned mines . They just keep pumping out acid water into streams , and there ’ s no incentive to do anything about them right now . With the REEs , there is an incentive to realize some revenue above and beyond the benefits of cleaning up a stream and seeing the trout return .”
This new industry could simultaneously improve the state ’ s environmental and economic outlook for decades to come .
“ We have the potential for a whole new industry that really can improve water treatment , people ’ s lives and jobs in coal towns where the mines may have shut down ,” Ziemkiewicz says . “ We may have a whole new revenue stream and economic development opportunities that just weren ’ t there before and wouldn ’ t be there if we didn ’ t have a research institution like WVU . We are creating economic opportunity where there wasn ’ t any before .” •
WWW . WVEXECUTIVE . COM SPRING 2017
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