You just have to look at the coal ashes

Rare earths have been a very controversial issue in recent months, by the disputes of President Donald Trump with Greenland and Ukraine. This necessary element for Our daily electronic deviceseach time your reservations are more scarce and only is concentrated in few countries. However, new research has managed to find them with the naked eye: in the ashes.

The study. Scientists from the University of Texas They have found In industrial waste a rare earth source. The point is that researchers have found that coal ashes contain 8,400 million dollars in rare earths.

Any type of ash? The researchers have carried out detailed chemical analysis of the ashes, where the rare earth minerals have separated from the burned ashes to quantify them. The study, conducted in the United States, has concluded that the ashes of the Apalaches basin have a higher rare earth concentration (431 milligrams per kilogram), but only 30% is recoverable with current methods. This situation has occurred because many of the minerals are linked to other substances in the ashes, which hinders their separation. On the other hand, they have found that the ashes of the Powder river basin, although they have a lower concentration of rare earths (264 milligrams per kilogram), have a much greater extraction (70%), since the elements of rare earths are more scattered and are easier to separate from the ash.

The process. The investigation has concluded that during The burning of coal, minerals separate from their original ore, facilitating their extraction. In this burning process, it has already eliminated some of the impurities, reducing the need for additional refining steps, which in conventional mining are usually expensive and consume a lot of energy. This process is being used by companies such as Element USA, which They are developing methods To make this extraction profitable.

More careful. Scientists They have affirmed that this development is more efficient and less harmful to the environment compared to traditional mining. However, there are other methods that do not want to depend on traditions, such as a Spanish study. In it, CSIC researchers They have developed A recycling procedure of electronic devices to recover the rare earths they contain.

A global impact. Researchers have affirmed that there are still technical and economic challenges for a large -scale application. However, if this technology will improve the podium to China, who controls more than half of world production. However, the future is very uncertain to Trump’s policies with The tariff system and Your refusal to foster renewable energies.

Image | Pxhere

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