Analysis of the possibilities of rare earth elements obtaining from coal and fly ash

Rare earth elements commonly called REE (Rare Earth Elements) it is a group of 15 Lanthanides, from lanthanum to luten, and yttrium, and scandium which have similar chemical properties. Rare earth elements are the materials considered by the European Union as one of a list of 14 critical raw materials of strategic importance for the development of new highly advanced technology. World production of shaped REE is currently at the level of 139 thousand Mg, and the main producer is China, which supplies about 93% of the global demand for rare earth materials. Considering the situation on the world market of rare earth elements (REE) in recent years, many projects started to look for new sources of REE. This article discusses the importance of rare earths in the world economy. The main objective of this study was to determine the potential and forms of occurrence of rare earth elements in hard coals and waste from energy use of coal as an alternative source of acquisition. On the basis of literature overview and own research on selected samples of Polish hard coals and ash from power stations this work shows the content of rare earth elements in some coals and power plant fly ashes in Poland and around the world. The average content of coals £ REE in the world is 60 ppm while in researched Polish coals from the coal mine Jankowice £ REE is 77 ppm, for the other coals a lower content from 8 ppm to 40ppm was obtained. Moreover, the world's perspective resources of these elements, which may become valuable resource in the next few years, are presented.