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WVU Opens Facility To Extract Rare Earth Elements
By: Associated Press
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia University has marked the start of a new phase of research aimed at recovering rare earth elements from coal and its byproducts.
A ceremony was held Wednesday at the National Research Center for Coal and Energy on WVU’s Evansdale campus in Morgantown for the Rare Earth Extraction Facility.
WVU says the goal of the project is to bolster valuable rare earth elements from coal waste and acid mine drainage, which is the most abundant pollutant in West Virginia waters.
Rare earth elements have numerous applications and are used in devices such as cell phones, medical equipment and defense applications.