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Location
Lexington, Kentucky
Start Date
6-5-2026 8:00 AM
End Date
6-5-2026 8:30 AM
Description
Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) has a patented high temperature electric arc furnace (EAF) technology that reaches 4000-degree centigrade temperature(s). Such high temperatures are sufficient to extract each of the seventeen rare earth elements (REEs) from coal fly ash to ultimately manufacture diverse magnets. Neodymium iron boron magnets (NdFeB) are the strongest magnets produced, heretofore almost exclusively by the Chinese. For national security reasons, CTC has become part of the domestic supply chain, as an alternate to China. Scaling is the next hurdle, since our demonstration unit is operational. Nationwide, coal is decreasingly used as a fuel for generating electricity. However, there is one coal burning utility company that will probably never close because it combusts refuse/reject pile coal. Such gob pile coal, if left on the landscape, is a source/cause of acid mine drainage (AMD) for the downstream creeks and streams, when it rains or snows. AMD waters kill fish and other biota in waterways. The State recognizes the benefits of removing these coals from the landscape and welcomes the utility’s continued operation. CTC and the utility company intend to co-venture on REE development. Selling slag, a byproduct of this process, for producing concrete will make the co-venture profitable.
Document Type
Presentation
Archival?
Archival
Included in
Energy Systems Commons, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Environmental Monitoring Commons, Mining Engineering Commons, Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons, Structural Materials Commons, Sustainability Commons
Extracting REEs from Refuse Pile Coal
Lexington, Kentucky
Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) has a patented high temperature electric arc furnace (EAF) technology that reaches 4000-degree centigrade temperature(s). Such high temperatures are sufficient to extract each of the seventeen rare earth elements (REEs) from coal fly ash to ultimately manufacture diverse magnets. Neodymium iron boron magnets (NdFeB) are the strongest magnets produced, heretofore almost exclusively by the Chinese. For national security reasons, CTC has become part of the domestic supply chain, as an alternate to China. Scaling is the next hurdle, since our demonstration unit is operational. Nationwide, coal is decreasingly used as a fuel for generating electricity. However, there is one coal burning utility company that will probably never close because it combusts refuse/reject pile coal. Such gob pile coal, if left on the landscape, is a source/cause of acid mine drainage (AMD) for the downstream creeks and streams, when it rains or snows. AMD waters kill fish and other biota in waterways. The State recognizes the benefits of removing these coals from the landscape and welcomes the utility’s continued operation. CTC and the utility company intend to co-venture on REE development. Selling slag, a byproduct of this process, for producing concrete will make the co-venture profitable.
