From Black Gold to Green Energy: Mining Rare Earths Alongside Coal

New research documents elevated levels of these metals, needed for energy transition, above and below coal seams in Utah and Colorado.

Deposits of designated critical minerals needed to transition the world’s energy systems away from fossil fuels may, ironically enough, be co-located with coal deposits that have been mined to produce the fossil fuel most implicated in climate change.

Now, research led by the University of Utah has documented elevated concentrations of a key subset of critical minerals, known as rare earth elements, or REEs, in active mines rimming the Uinta coal belt of Colorado and Utah.