New Partnership Invests $150 Million For Rare Earth Mineral Development In W.Va.

Coal tailings and slurry – a mix of coal dust, fine particles and water – have been left behind when coal is mined in this country. The materials contain rare earth minerals used in modern technology to produce everything from cellphones to computers. Without a cost-effective way to access the minerals, the United States has been forced to rely primarily on China and other countries.  

Until now.  

A new business venture announced Wednesday joins three companies – Greenbrier  Smokeless Coal Company of Rupert, West Virginia; Flash Metals USA, Inc. of Houston, Texas; and AmForge Corporation of Washington, D.C. – in a $150 million partnership through the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office. 

Together they plan to use a patented process to extract rare earth minerals from millions of tons of coal tailings and slurry at coal mine disposal sites, initially in Greenbrier County and eventually throughout West Virginia and neighboring states. 

“They heat the material up to a high temperature, and then cool it back down quickly before they lose the rare earth minerals,” Secretary of State Kris Warner said.  

The minerals weren’t left behind because there wasn’t value, but because extracting the valuable materials was too cost prohibitive in this country, Warner said.  

“There’s a real effort to bring that back home and reshore that to the United States, and I’m really proud of the fact that they’re going to be able to set up this first facility in Greenburgh County,” Warner said. “Several of our mines are operating on a on a very thin margin, and this will be another source of revenue for our coal operators and coal mines in West Virginia 

Once the processing facility is fully operational, it’s expected to employ 250 people.