| Title | Geologic Provenance of Rare Earth Elements in the United States, and Their Potential Collocation with Geothermal Resources |
|---|---|
| Authors | Brittany SEGNERI, Timothy REINHARDT, Jodi DEPRIZIO |
| Year | 2014 |
| Conference | Stanford Geothermal Workshop |
| Keywords | mineral extraction, added revenue, rare earth elements, geothermal fluids |
| Abstract | The addition of complementary value streams offers the potential to make geothermal energy development increasingly economic. Examples of such activity include hybrid development with solar PV or CSP, co-production concurrent with oil and gas activity, and additive value from associated mineral production. Coupling mineral extraction methods with geothermal power production offers potential benefits via added revenue and increased operational efficiencies. The geothermal industry continues to face high capital costs compared to other renewable resources. While research and development in advanced tools and techniques seeks more cost effective means to geothermal development, added revenue streams through strategic mineral extraction can also contribute to more economically competitive projects. Moreover, geothermal fluid can contain minerals that are a major source of corrosion and scaling; extraction of these minerals could curb these operational costs. Common minerals entrained in geothermal fluids include silica, lithium, manganese, zinc and sulfur. Additional rare earth (REE) and near rare earth elements may also be relatively prevalent in the brines, or may be associated with the geothermal system host rock as either primary or alteration mineralogy. Besides their significant market value, these chemical elements have strategic importance in that they are critical for domestic industries that produce everything from mobile phones and laptops to green technologies and national defense systems. At present there is limited REE production in the United States. The first step in efficiently exploiting these resources is to thoroughly examine geologic provenances and geographic distribution associated with rare earth and near rare earth elements. Uniquely, this paper will use GIS mapping technology to present graphic analysis of areas with commercial concentrations of REEs in combination with overlays of potential geothermal resource areas. |