149 Research to Accelerate Recovery of Critical Minerals from Primary and Secondary Resources (Posters)

Innovative technology is needed to mine critical minerals to meet unprecedented demand. This session invites to present research in characterization, extraction, separation, in-situ recovery, and related areas that accelerate the recovery of critical minerals from traditional, secondary and unconventional resources.

Monday, 20 October 2025
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, Hall 1

Domestic Potential for Lithium from Coal and Coal Byproducts

Paper number: 149-3
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

Due to the rapidly growing demand for lithium-ion batteries, and a lack of conventional lithium (Li) resources in the United States, the need to find new sources of domestic lithium is urgent. Coal and coal combustion byproducts, particularly fly ash, are emerging as promising unconventional resources due to their elevated Li concentrations along other critical metals (e.g., REEs). In recent years, the US produced ~75 million tons of fly ash, of which ~38% is buried in shallow pits making fly ash readily accessible to exploit for lithium. It is documented that Li remains in the solid, primarily glassy phase, upon combustion further concentrating Li in coal byproducts. We evaluated open-source geochemical datasets (USGS CoalQual and the EDX NETL REE and Coal databases), which contain coal chemistry data from 33 states, >100 coal basins, and >7000 coal samples. The range of Li concentrations in coal is <1 to 259 ppm, with an average of 17 ppm. Notable exceptions in coal Li enrichment include Massachusetts (8 to 259 ppm, average 79 ppm), Alabama (<1 to 246 ppm, average 29 ppm), Pennsylvania (<1 to 167 ppm, average of 25 ppm), and Indiana (<1 to 214 ppm, with an average of 15 ppm) , indicating these states have the highest domestic potential for lithium recovery from fly ash. The highest positive correlation between Li and other elemental concentrations across the dataset were La (R2 of .65), Al (R2 of .64), Ce (R2 of .64), Sc (R2 of .52), K (R2 of .32), and Mg (R2 of .27). The results suggest that Li and trace element concentrations in coals are likely related to the incorporated detrital clay fraction.  The Department of Energy reports an estimated >280,000 tons of Li (~144 ppm Li) within domestic fly ash reserves, constituting a large unconventional Li resource for the United States. Further work is needed to characterize fly ash volumes, Li concentrations, and Li leaching for commercial production. 

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-412798

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