08.16.17

Hoeven Announces $2.75 Million Research Award for UND to Test Rare Earth Element Recovery from Coal

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $2,750,000 to the University of North Dakota’s (UND) Institute for Energy Studies (IES). The funds will be used to advance IES’ research to recover rare earth elements (REE) from lignite coal and coal-related material, and to try and produce value-added products from the material.

“North Dakota is abundant in many natural resources, and we have been studying our state’s lignite coal reserves for rare earth elements,” Hoeven said. “The promise and the significance of UND's work to develop a recovery system is why this project was one of four in the nation to be selected today by the DOE for funding, which will enable the project to advance to the second phase of research for the recovery system.”

-###-