The U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, has selected four projects to move on to a second phase of research in their efforts to advance recovery of rare earth elements (REE) from coal and coal byproducts.

Lindberg MPH, Riverside, Mich., has shipped an electrically heated rod over-bend atmosphere box furnace capable of providing six different atmospheres, to a company in the steel and mining industry.

United States Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, announces that it has finalized an agreement with Bedrock Industries Group LLC, New York, for the sale and transition of ownership of U.S. Steel Canada Inc. to Bedrock.

SSAB, Stockholm, announces that the 2017 winner of the Swedish Steel Prize is Kiruna Wagon of Sweden for its Helix Dumper, a highly durable and far more efficient ore-unloading wagon than other ore wagons on the market.

Alcoa Corp., Pittsburgh, announces that Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals has secured its first major third-party contract to supply approximately 400,000 bone dry metric tons (bdmt) of bauxite from its Huntly mine in Western Australia, furthering Alcoa’s strategy to grow its third-party bauxite business.

Air Liquide, Paris, announces that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has cleared the acquisition of Airgas, Radnor, Pa., by Air Liquide, satisfying the final regulatory condition to the closing of the pending acquisition.

Pennsylvania State University, State College, reports that its researchers have teamed with U.S. DOE scientists to develop a cost-effective ion-exchange process to extract rare earth elements from coal byproducts.