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Summary of Mining and Environmental Summary of Mining and Environmental Planning Aspects of Production of Saleable Rare Earth Products from Coal and Coal Byproducts in the US Using Advanced Separation Technologies Presented by: 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting for Crosscutting, Marshall Miller & Associates, Inc. Rare Earth Elements, Gasification and Transformative Contract: DE-FE0029956 Power Generation PRODUCTION OF SALABLE RARE EARTH PRODUCTS DOE/NETL FROM COAL AND COAL BYPRODUCTS IN THE U.S. Pittsburgh, PA USING ADVANCED SEPARATION PROCESSES April 9 – 11, 2019 1 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA Scope of Work > Past research has shown that REE’s are present in coal and coal byproducts, particularly the non-carbon bearing portions of coal deposits which are not economical to sell as a coal product. These are commonly referred to as “partings” or “high ash” material. Such material is included in run-of-mine (ROM) coal and is removed in processing plants and discarded in refuse embankments or impoundments. > High-ash partings (and subsequently relatively high REE bearing material) is discarded in large volumes on a daily basis. Additionally, refuse impoundments contain significant volumes of material which contain REE’s. > This project aims to assess the feasibility of recovering REE’s from high ash, discarded material. 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA 2 Overview of Project Team Principal Investigator Marshall Miller & Associates, Inc Environmental/ Characterization Coal/Mineral Financial Permit / Equipment/ REE Sales / Resources & Analyses Engineering Laboratory Construction Refining Testing Producers University of University of Blue Line Virginia Tech MM&A Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky River Corporation Properties, LLC Virginia Tech Various Various Anchor House, Qualified Qualified Inc. Contractors Appraisers Blue Diamond Coal CO Blackhawk Mining LLC Virginia Tech Engineering & Cumberland Mine Marshall Miller & Construction Co Service Associates, Inc. 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA 3 Project Flow Chart Numbers Comport to the SOPO of DE-FE0029956 The Team Elected not to Move Forward to Phase 2 Enterprise Structure and Commercialization 2. Feedstock Sampling, Identification & Characterization Funding Campaign Pilot Plant Operations and 2.1 Laboratory Systems Validation Testing 6. Marketing/Product Sales Agreement 7. Environmental Review & 2.2 Sample Assessments Characterization 2.3. Resource 3. System Design Package 4. Technical & Economic Assessment Preparation Analysis 5. Permitting & Environmental Management 4 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA Fire Clay Coal Seam Preparation Plant Refuse – The Root Source of REE for this Project This Fire Clay seam “refuse” is now determined to be a viable feedstock for REE concentration purposes. The tests conducted on the thickener-underflow revealed limited potential for coal and REE recovery, the team focused on the coarse refuse process stream of the Blue Diamond (Leatherwood) preparation plant. Coal Seams Examined in the Course of this Project Coal Seam Refuse Source Sponsor/Contributor/Location Pocahontas No. 3 Coal Seam Arch Coal Inc, Beckley Coal Preparation Plant, Beckley, WV Blue Gem Coal Seam Alden Resources, FerroGlobe Preparation Plant, Whitley and Knox Counties, Eastern KY Jellico Coal Seam Alden Resources, FerroGlobe Preparation Plant, Whitley and Knox Counties, Eastern KY Coal-to-Oil Process Refuse Vitol Company, Arq Group, Eastern Kentucky Fire Clay Coal Seam Blue Diamond Mining, Inc., No. 76 Plant (Leatherwood) Eastern, KY 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA 5 Pennsylvania Rocks of Eastern Kentucky – Home of the Fire Clay Seam SOURCE OF THE VOLCANIC ASH DEPOSIT (FLINT CLAY) IN THE FIRE CLAY COAL OF THE APPALACHIAN BASIN DONALD R. CHESNUT Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky, U.S.A. 6 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA Fire Clay Coal Bed, Flint Clay and Volcanic Ash Deposition Flint clay is a claystone composed of microcrystalline to cryptocrystalline kaolinite or halloysite; it is smooth, hard, flint-like in appearance, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. A flint clay parting in the Fire Clay coal of the Breathitt Formation (Middle Pennsylvanian, Westphalian B) occurs throughout most of eastern Kentucky and in parts of Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Examination of Westphalian continental reconstructions, trade wind patterns, and a present-day, ash-fall distribution indicate that the location of the volcanic source for this flint clay was along a line from Kentucky to North Carolina (approximately due east). The intersection of this line with a palinspastically replaced, known Hercynian magmatic arc occurs in extreme eastern North Carolina. This is the approximate location of the volcanic source for the ash. Because of the extensive distribution of the parting, the Fire Clay coal bed is the only coal bed in eastern Kentucky that can be positively identified over a large area. Fig. 11. Probable original ash-fall distribution for the flintclay parting, based on wind patterns, the present position of a Carboniferous volcanic arc (after SINHA & ZIETZ, 1982). and a reconstructed position of this arc. The collision of the African continent (Gondwanan continent) with the North American continent (Laurussian continent) created the Alleghenian orogeny, which shoved the magmatic arc, the Inner SOURCE OF THE VOLCANIC ASH DEPOSIT (FLINT CLAY) IN THE FIRE CLAY COAL OF THE Piedmont, and the Blue Ridge deformed rocks inland by at least 120 km (COOK, 1983). APPALACHIAN BASINDONALD R. CHESNUT Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky, U.S.A. 7 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA Summary of Geochemical Processes The Fire Clay coal bed in the Central Appalachian basin region contains a laterally-persistent tonstein that is found in the coal throughout most of its areal extent. Tonstein is a hard, compact sedimentary rock that is composed mainly of kaolinite or, less commonly, other clay minerals such as montmorillonite and illite. The clays often are cemented by iron oxide minerals, carbonaceous matter, or chlorite. Tonsteins form from volcanic ash deposited in swamps. (Wikipedia) The tonstein contains an array of minerals, including sanidine, b-quartz, anatase and euhedral zircon, that constitutes strong evidence for a volcanic origin of the parting. The Fire Clay tonstein significantly influenced the geochemistry of the Fire Clay coal bed in eastern Kentucky. Lanthanide elements show a similar enrichment in the coal directly underlying the tonstein, ranging from 1965 to 4198 ppm ash basis. for Y +ΣREE compared to 511 to 565 ppm in the tonstein samples. We suggest that the mechanism for the enrichment of Y +ΣREE is leaching of volcanic ash by ground water, and the incorporation of those elements into monazite and Y-bearing Ca-phosphates (crandallite?). The trace element distribution of the Fire Clay coal bed suggests that the geochemical influence of the ash fall extended throughout the coal. Source: Lanthanide, yttrium, and zirconium anomalies in the Fire Clay coal bed, Eastern Kentucky, James C. Hower, Leslie F. Ruppert, Cortland F. Eble, International Journal of Coal Geology 39 1999. 141–153 8 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA Focus Has Shifted to REE Content in the Refuse Generated by Processing (“cleaning”) the Fire Clay Coal Bed Specific Total REE Total REE Particle Size Gravity Weight Ash (ppm, (ppm, Fraction Fraction (%) (%) ash basis) whole basis) 2.0 Float 19.51 51.16 724 371 Plus 2-in 2.0 Sink 37.28 89.63 389 349 2.0 Float 2.15 38.30 933 357 Minus 2-in 2.0 Sink 41.06 89.88 397 357 Total 100.00 81.12 439 357 Total rare earth element distribution as a function of particle size and specific gravity in the Fire Clay coarse refuse of the Leatherwood processing plant (No. 76 Plant). 45 40 Plus 1/2", 2.0 SG Float 35 Plus 1/2", 2.0 SG Sink 30 1/2" x 0, 2.0 SG Float 25 1/2" x 0, 2.0 SG Sink 20 15 Distribution (%) Distribution 10 5 0 Sc Y La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu Rare earth element distribution by particle size and specific gravity in the Fire Clay coarse refuse collected from the Leatherwood preparation plant. 9 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA Principal Fire Clay Coal and Fire Clay Refuse Resource Supplier Kentucky River Properties LLC 360 East Vine Street, Suite 310 Lexington, KY 40507-1522 Kentucky River Properties (KRP) Holdings in the Central Appalachian Coal Basin are located primarily in the southeastern Kentucky counties of Perry, Knott, Letcher, Leslie, Breathitt, Clay and Harlan Counties. KRP’s properties currently consist of more than 282,000 acres of mineral or fee properties, containing a resource base of nearly 500 million tons of potentially recoverable coal. KRP’s reserves can be mined by both the surface and underground mining methods. Typical coal seams in the basin include multiple seams of high quality Central App coal with average Btu content of 12,500. KRP leases out its mineral holdings to coal production companies on a royalty basis. Blackhawk Mining LLC is a key lessee of KRP’s Fire Clay Seam Deposits in Perry and Leslie Counties, Kentucky. The lands were formerly operated and permitted as Blue Diamond Mining Company. Blackhawk Mining, LLC 3228 Summit Square Place, Suite 180, Lexington, KY 40509 10 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA Fire Clay Coal Resource Area – Principal Facilities of Former Blue Diamond Mining Company (now Blackhawk) 11 2019 Annual Project Review Meeting - NETL/DOE April 9-11, 2019 - Pittsburgh, PA Preparation Plant Refuse Source, Materials Handling and Collection Dates Sample Sample Type of Quantity Total REE Identification Collection Sample (Lbs.) (Whole Mine 89 Number Date Sample) KYJRLW003 7/29/2016 Coarse Refuse 726+/- lbs.
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