Scouring the Gulf Coast for Rare Earth Elements
December 17, 2025
The Bureau of Economic Geology is mapping coal and other resources in the Gulf Coast basin to help quantify the amount of rare earth resources that could be produced in the area. The effort is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, which is looking for domestic sources of critical minerals. In addition to being an energy source, coal also contains critical minerals.
The team found that there are 83 billion metric tons of coal in the upper 300 feet of the Gulf Coast basin. Rare earth element concentrations are similar to the average levels found in the Earth’s crust, with local hotspots up to 15 times higher. The rare earth elements can be extracted with environmentally benign weak acid because they are associated with organics in lignite coal. Their total value is $266 billion.
Researchers are also looking at red mud or bauxite residue at aluminum processing sites. At the Copano site near Corpus Christi they found rare earth elements valued at $3.4 billion. That value increases to $8.7 billion when scandium is included. The team is also exploring mineral sands that are a by-product of sand production that’s used in hydraulic fracturing.
Research by Research Professor Bridget Scanlon and Research Associate Professor Brent Elliot
Bureau of Economic Geology