ADVANCING RARE EARTH ELEMENT RECOVERY FROM COAL REFUSE STREAMS: AN IONIC LIQUID-ASSISTED PROCESS COUPLED WITH MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATION-SUPPORTED MACHINE LEARNING FOR NOVEL IONIC LIQUID DEVELOPMENT. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT ARE: 1) IMPROVE THE LEACHABILITY OF REES THROUGH IL-ASSISTED MECHANOCHEMICAL ACTIVATION (MCA), 2) ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR THE CALCINATION (ROASTING) PROCESS BY ENHANCING THE REACTIVITY OF REE-BEARING PHASES THROUGH IL-ASSISTED MECHANOCHEMICAL ACTIVATION, AND 3) DEVELOP FUNCTIONAL ILS FOR SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF REES USING AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION COUPLED WITH MACHINE LEARNING (ML) MODELS SUPPORTED BY MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATION (MDS).