Rare-earth elements are considered critical minerals by the U.S. government. They are used in a wide range of applications including cell phones, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents, TV screens, and green technologies for hybrid vehicles. Associate professor W. Crawford Elliott and his research team are collaborating with mining industry leaders to extract and study heavy rare-earth elements extracted from kaolin ore.
One of these partnerships has already resulted in research that found high-density minerals in Georgia kaolin mines are a potential source of these valuable elements. As part of an initial unfunded collaboration, Thiele Kaolin Co. provided Elliott and his team with the kaolin ore for analysis.
Working with Georgia State’s Office of Technology Licensing & Commercialization, the research generated an issued US patent to concentrate the rare earth elements from kaolin mine waste. As a result of the findings, several new companies have come onboard as partners. One of these new partners, a global company that specializes in the production and processing of industrial minerals, is supporting Anthony Boxleiter, a Ph.D. student in Elliott’s lab, as he learns more about the occurrences of the rare-earth elements in kaolin deposits.
Other collaborations are on the horizon with corporations that specialize in the extraction of rare earth elements from mines and mining wastes. Many are donating sample materials to Elliott’s team to study the occurrences of the rare-earth elements and their mineral hosts.
“Several companies and corporations want to be part of the continuing conversations following our discovery,” says Elliott. “They have readily donated samples for the next round of research, and we are studying how to concentrate these rare earth elements so they can be brought to market.”
