Here’s another that appeared in the Gillette (WY) News-Record last week.
“PRB coal has rare-earth potential”
Right now, only China has the technology to extract the minerals
By JONATHAN GALLARDO
News Record Writer
Rare-earth minerals are used in almost everything, from electric cars to military technology to wind turbines and coal-fired power plants. They’re also used in everyday items like smartphones, batteries and magnets.
“They’re literally everywhere,” said Davin Bagdonas, a research scientist for the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources.
For now, there are no rare-earth operations in the United States. China produces more than 90% of the world’s rare-earth minerals, Bagdonas said in a presentation to local officials Wednesday afternoon at Gillette College.
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But China recently raised tariffs on rare-earth exports to the United States to 25%, and “there’s the threat of it being completely cut off,” he said.
In light of that, the Department of Energy has devoted $89 million to diversify rare-earth extraction technology, Bagdonas said. The UW School of Energy Resources is applying for funding, and he said he’s optimistic it will receive money.
What does this have to do with Campbell County? Well, Bagdonas has been working with a number of coal operators in the Powder River Basin to get samples of coal from as many mine sites as possible. Based on his preliminary research, there is the potential to extract rare-earth minerals from PRB coal.
Even if it were to mine rare-earth minerals today, Bagdonas said, the United States doesn’t have the technology to extract the minerals from coal. This last step of the process would have to be done in China.
Researchers have been successful in extracting rare-earth minerals from coal, but “most of those did not have a permanent site for the scaling up of those technologies,” Bagdosan said.
It is very expensive to extract rare-earth minerals from coal, he said, which is why researchers are trying to find a way to do it more cost-effectively.
Campbell County Commissioner D.G. Reardon wondered what portion of an 80-foot coal seam would contain rare-earth minerals. Bagdonas said the top 2 to 3 feet and the bottom 2 to 3 feet have shown the most “enrichment” of rare-earth.
Assuming UW gets the federal funding, it’s still three or four years away before seeing any results. Bagdonas said if it works out, though, Wyoming could “better understand how traditional these mines could operate with split-stream mining. You’d maintain a fuel coal and you’d have this higher value, rare-earth-bearing coals.”
The Bear Lodge Project, a rare-earth minerals mine site in Upton, would be a potential site for that.
“That project has kind of stalled with economic problems and technology problems, but it’s an ideal situation,” he said.
Although he can’t tell the future, Bagdosan said he’s excited about the potential of the idea and that the Powder River Basin would be the best place to make it happen.
“It needs some seed funding, it needs some big steps,” he said. “But all the pieces are in play.”
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