U.S. efforts to diversify its supply of rare-earth elements (REEs) have led to an unlikely source: coal. A program begun in 2014 aims to wean the U.S. from its dependence on China for these 17 difficult-to-extract minerals, essential to many high-tech applications including weaponry. "Our current projections are that if high REE extraction efficiencies are achieved, there are sufficient domestic coal-based resources available to supply the U.S. demand," says Mary Anne Alvin, REE technology manager at the Department of Energy. Managers say the program's 22 projects piggyback on existing coal mining and consumption and don't cause additional environmental harm. The major challenge is to develop separation and concentration technologies that can be scaled up to viable commercial operations. Efficiently recovering scandium, a particularly expensive REE, would help achieve that goal.
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机译：美国努力使稀土元素（REES）的供应多样化，导致了不太可能的来源：煤炭。 2014年开始的一项计划旨在让美国的依赖于这17个难以提取的矿物，这对于许多高科技应用包括武器。 “我们目前的预测是，如果实现高雷雷提取效率，有足够的国内煤炭资源可以提供美国需求，”能源部的REE技术经理Mary Anne Alvin说。管理人员表示，该计划的22个项目背驮式现有煤炭开采和消费，并不会造成额外的环境损害。主要挑战是开发可以扩大到可行的商业业务的分离和集中技术。有效地恢复钪，一个特别昂贵的REE，有助于实现这一目标。
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