Blaschak Coal Corp. in Mahanoy City, Schuylkill County, is one of seven companies in the region to receive a grant from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It received $25,000 of the $320,530 that Ben Franklin awarded.

A producer of anthracite coal, Blaschak plans to use the funds to conduct anthracite coal characterization and rare earth element technology transfer activities. REEs have a wide variety of applications in electronic, optical and magnetic devices. Currently, China produces nearly all REEs, but there is great demand for domestic suppliers.The company's university partner is Lehigh University's Energy Research Center, and its website is

www.blaschakcoal.com.