Given the geographical imbalance distribution and supply shortage of rare earth elements (REEs) in renewable energy processes, magnets, many high-tech technologies, etc., researchers are increasingly seeking to recover REEs from unconventional sources such as coal and coal by-products. This article provides a brief overview of the REEs mode of occurrence and its association in coal. It also discusses existing and potential beneficiation strategies for enriching REEs from coal and coal discard. Furthermore, the hydrometallurgical leaching of REEs from coal and coal discard is reviewed and a summary of recent outcomes on REEs recovery from the coal source is presented. The review validated the technical feasibility of the physical beneficiation of REE minerals from coal without a significant particle size reduction to produce high-grade REE feedstocks for leaching. Although ultrafine milling results in higher REE recovery values, additional milling costs may affect the viability of the process. Overall, the study confirms the abundance of REEs in coal, identifies gaps in knowledge, and highlighs future research that must be addressed to advance REEs recovery from these sources.

鉴于可再生能源工艺、磁铁、许多高科技技术等中稀土元素（REEs）的地理分布不平衡和供应短缺，研究人员越来越多地寻求从煤炭和煤炭副产品等非常规来源中回收稀土元素。本文简要概述了煤中稀土元素的赋存方式及其关联。它还讨论了现有和潜在的从煤和煤废料中富集稀土元素的选矿策略。此外，还回顾了煤和煤废料中稀土元素的湿法冶金浸出，并总结了从煤源中回收稀土元素的最新成果。该审查验证了从煤中物理选矿 REE 矿物而不显着减小粒度以生产用于浸出的高品位 REE 原料的技术可行性。尽管超细研磨可提高 REE 回收率，但额外的研磨成本可能会影响工艺的可行性。总体而言，该研究证实了煤中 REE 的丰富性，确定了知识差距，并强调了必须解决的未来研究，以促进从这些来源中回收 REE。