US scientists figure cost-effective way to extract rare earths from coal
Mining.comreports that REEs can be extracted from two coal by-products through an ion-exchange process.A group of researchers from Penn State, led by the US Department of Energy (DOE)developed thenew mineral processing > technique, which has the potential to challenge the current Chinese dominance on global rare earth production, as it makes the extraction not only cost-effective, but also environmentally friendly.