This study demonstrated using yttrium (Y) as an indicator to estimate the total rare earth element and Y contents (REY) in coal-associated samples and to facilitate selection of samples with high REY assays in a fast and inexpensive manner. More than 10 anthracite-associated samples were collected from each of three Pennsylvanian sites (sites B, J and C) based on Thorium gamma ray logging suggesting high REY content. Several samples from each site were analyzed by ICP-MS to determine the rare earth distribution patterns and to establish the site-specific linear equations of Y and REY. The Y contents of the remaining samples were measured by a portable X-ray fluorescence analyzer, and the REY values were estimated based on the site-specific linear equation developed earlier. R-squared values above 0.70 were obtained for all the estimation equations from all three sites on both a whole sample basis and an ash basis. Previously, ash content has been widely used as an indicator of high REY content. This may not be applicable for a specific site. Site B in this study is an example where ash contents could not be statistically correlated with REY, so using Y for estimation is more applicable. The demonstrated sample screening process is suitable for samples from sites that share more similar distribution patterns (either MREY or LREY or HREY) as well as for samples from sites that share multiple distribution patterns (LREY/MREY/HREY) depending on the desirable accuracy. The demonstrated process lowers the analytical cost from $70 to 80 dollars per sample to $10–15 per sample while significantly reducing the processing time and acid consumption for ICP digestion. This is particularly true when a relatively large sample size is involved, for example, 100 samples from one site analyzed by ICP-MS/OES.

这项研究证明了使用钇（Y）作为指标来估算与煤相关的样品中的总稀土元素和Y含量（REY），并以快速且廉价的方式促进了采用高REY分析的样品的选择。根据瑟银γ射线测井表明REY含量高，从宾夕法尼亚州的三个地点（地点B，J和C）分别收集了10多个无烟煤相关样品。ICP-MS分析了每个站点的几个样品，以确定稀土元素的分布模式，并建立了特定于站点的Y和REY线性方程。剩余样品的Y含量通过便携式X射线荧光分析仪测量，REY值是根据之前开发的特定位置线性方程估算的。R平方值大于0。在整个样本基础上和灰分基础上，从所有三个站点获得了所有估计方程式的70。以前，灰分已被广泛用作高REY含量的指标。这可能不适用于特定站点。本研究中的站点B是一个示例，其中灰分含量与REY不能在统计上相关，因此使用Y进行估算更为适用。所展示的样本筛选过程适用于来自具有更相似分布模式的站点（MREY或LREY或HREY）的样本，以及来自具有多个分布模式（LREY / MREY / HREY）的站点的样本（取决于所需的准确性）。演示的过程将分析成本从每个样品70美元到80美元降低到每个样品10-15美元，同时大大减少了ICP消化的处理时间和酸消耗。当涉及相对较大的样本量时，例如从ICP-MS / OES分析一个站点的100个样本时，尤其如此。