Research

Research Projects

• Study of Rare Earth Elements from Colombian Coals for High-Tech Industries and Clean Energy Technologies, funded by WVU's Energy Institute, Office of Global Affairs and Research Office, 2017-2018.
• Pilot-Scale Testing of An Integrated Circuit for the Extraction of Rare Earth Minerals and Elements from Coal and Coal byproducts Using Advanced Separation Technologies, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2017-2020.
• Recovery of Rare Earth Elements (REEs) from Coal Mine Drainage, Phase 2, funded by the US Department of Energy's Morgantown Energy Technology Center, 2018-2019.
• Development and Testing of an Integrated AMD Treatment and Rare Earth /Critical Mineral Plant, funded by the US Department of Energy, 2020-2022.
• Characterization of Critical Mineral Occurrences in AMD and its Byproducts, funded by Shonk Investments LLC., 2020-2021

• Selective Recovery of Critical Minerals from Acid Mine Drainage and Its Byproducts, funded by the US Department of the Interior, 2020-2023.

• Comprehensive Study of the Potential of Extracting and Processing Critical Minerals from Coal-Based Resources-Phase 1, funded by the US DOE SBIR, 2021-2022.

• Evolve Central Appalachia (Evolve CAPP), funded by the US DOE-Virginia Tech, 2021-2024.

• Freeport-McMoRan Academic Career Development Grant, funded by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME), 2019-2024.

• Development of a Carbon-Negative Process for Comminution Energy Reduction and Energy-Relevant Mineral Extraction through Carbon Mineralization and Biological Carbon Fixation, funded by the US DOE ARPA-E-University of Kentucky, 2023-2026.
  

• Development of A Low-Cost Adsorption Technique for Multiple Critical Mineral Recovery from Acid Mine Drainage, funded by the US Department of the Interior, 2023-2025.
  

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Facility and Equipment