Roanoke ,virgina Stewartsville,clay ,speciation and the characterizing .
Employ established sequential leaching methods to speciate REEs present within U.S.
Determine the experimental conditions (pH, temperature, sample pre-treatment) that provide the most efficient extraction of REEs from U.S. Appalachian Basin clay.
Investigate the benefit of common chelating agents to increase the extraction efficiency of REEs from U.S. Appalachian Basin clay. Possible chelating agents are Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and ethylenediamine succinic acid (EDDS).
Study the inhibition of REE leaching by ever-present phosphate (PO43-) ions in samples of environmental importance.