US Patent Issued on Nov. 25 for "Process and apparatus for recovering rare earth elements from coal refuse" (Pennsylvania Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 25 -- United States Patent no. 12,480,182, issued on Nov. 25.

"Process and apparatus for recovering rare earth elements from coal refuse" was invented by John W. Rich Jr. (Gilberton, Pa.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A process for concentrating and separating rare earth elements including lithium and titanium from coal refuse. Crushed refuse admixed with water is transferred to a first cyclone separator to divide the admixture into a refuse rich slurry stream and a carbonaceous rich slurry stream. The refuse rich slurry stream is dewatered through a vibrating screen and the water sent to a raw feed sump source. The carbonaceous rich slurry is directed to a second cyclon...