SCCL plant contains high grade coal which has REE like Neodymium, Praseodymium, Gadolinium and Yttrium

In a major leap in extraction of Critical Minerals from coal waste, the Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research, Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC), Nagpur signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), Hyderabad for undertaking collaborative work in extraction of Rare Earth Elements (REE) from coal based fly ash and bottom ash.

 

The signing took place recently in presence of Dr Anupam Agnihotri, Director, JNARDDC and N Balram, Chairman and Managing Director, SCCL in Hyderabad. Fly ash, which is a waste comes from thermal power plant, contains REEs like Neodymium (Nd), Praseodymium (Pr), Gadolinium (Gd) and Yttrium and it can be extracted to utilise them in various industries.

 

“The coal comes from SCCL plant is a high grade coal and its fly ash contains REE. Keeping the demand of India’s critical mineral in mind, this agreement is a major step by both organisations to extract important elements from waste,” said Dr Anupam Agnihotri to The Hitavada. SCCL is a Government run coal mining organisation jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and the Government of India.

 

The collaboration reflects a forward-looking national commitment towards strengthening India’s scientific ecosystem in the domain of mineral resource value addition, said Dr Agnihotri. “Some laboratories are doing research on it at small level but collaboration will help to extract REE from fly ash and to establish a plant for extraction also,” said Dr Upendra Singh, HoD (Analytical), JNARDDC. “

 

Critical minerals like Nd and Pr are needed in magnets. Fly ash from SCCL contains such minerals and it can be extracted as well,” said Dr Singh. JNARDDC will also do Chemical Mapping and Characterisation of REE which will be extracted from fly ash under this project. Under the MoU, SCCL will be able to utilise JNARDDC’s state-of-the-art R&D laboratories, advanced instrumentation and mineral characterisation facilities for advanced mineralogical and chemical evaluation. K Venkateswarlu, Director (Planning and Projects), SCCL; B Srinivas, GM (Exploration) and V Ramadasu, GM (Business Development and Strategic Planning) were also present during the event.