Maureen Feineman , associate research professor of geosciences at Penn State, will give a public talk, "A Critical Legacy: Rare Earth Elements in Waste Products from Historical Mining and Smelting in PA," at 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22, in 112 Walker Building on the University Park campus.
The free presentation, part of the EarthTalks series held by the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, also will be available via Zoom.
Feineman, a hard-rock petrologist and a high-temperature geochemist, will discuss geochemical survey results involving waste from the Pennsylvania mining industry - in particular iron slag and mine tailings, which are byproducts of smelting and milling, respectively. The survey found high concentrations of rare earth elements, or REEs, a group of key metals used in technology, energy and national security applications.
"Waste products from the mining industry in Pennsylvania in the late 18th through the early 20th centuries are still present throughout the state and provide a unique insight into our resources and historical practices," said Feineman. "While historic slag and tailings may not be enough to meet the country's REE needs, study of these materials provides insight into the efficiency of industrial separation processes and processes that concentrate REEs in nature. This information provides a starting point for considering ethical and efficient approaches for creating a more sustainable domestic critical mineral supply chain."
Feineman also is the electron probe microanalysis lab manager in Penn State's Materials Characterization Laboratory. For the past four years, she has led an NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), "Geosciences Program in Energy and Environmental Resource Sustainability (GeoPEERS)," that is designed to train the next-generation geoscience workforce for industry and academia.
Her talk is part of EarthTalks' fall 2025 series, "Critical Minerals - A National Economic and Security Imperative," which focuses on the need for a reliable supply chain of critical minerals and the ongoing research to provide them domestically. For more about the series, visit the EarthTalks website.
