Coal Waste as Raw Material for Production of Rare and Trace Elements

Huge masses of coal wastes create serious environmental problems in the Kemerovo region and require a comprehensive approach to the development of deposits. Coal must be considered as a complex raw material, which contains valuable rare and trace metals, the recovery of which creates products with high added value. Production of rare earth elements is limited, since it is associated with considerable complexity and costliness of existing extraction processes. Therefore, the development of new methods for the preparation of rare earth products based on the study of physical and chemical characteristics and laws of the processes occurring in the extraction and separation of rare earth elements is of great importance. This paper presents an overview of sources of rare earth elements, and the feasibility of the efficient extraction of rare earth elements from slag and fly ash of Kemerovo hydroelectric power plant by ion flotation is proved.