关键金属矿产资源对经济发展和国防安全至关重要，从其勘探和开采到分离、提纯和应用全过程，均受到国际社会高度关注，并进入大国间地缘政治较量的核心议题，成为大国地缘政治博弈的重要战场。煤系关键金属矿产是煤地质学、矿床学、冶金学和选矿学等相关领域的研究前沿和热点问题，中国和美国是煤系关键金属研究最重要的2支力量。总结了目前中美两国在煤系关键金属成矿理论、勘探、提取和分离等方向的研究现状，对比分析了彼此的优势和短板。近10 a来，美国在煤系关键金属矿床的发现和分离提取领域取得了长足进展，而中国在煤系关键金属成矿理论、评价指标和标准建立方面取得了重要进展；前者得益于美国能源部统一部署(明确研发时间节点和核心研发技术)与大量资金投入，后者得益于中国的复杂成煤地质条件，使煤系中关键金属矿床种类多、关键金属的组合形式及空间赋存形式多。地缘政治竞争加剧了对关键金属矿产资源控制权的争夺，因此，实事求是地正确认识中美两国煤系关键金属矿产资源状况、研发现状及各自的优势和短板，对进一步发挥我国优势的关键金属矿产资源在大国地缘政治博弈中的作用，应对我国紧缺关键金属矿产稳定供应的严峻挑战以及减少对外部供应链的依赖具有重要作用。

Critical metal resources are of paramount importance to economic development and national security. The entire process, i.e., from exploration, mining, separation, purification, to application of critical metals, has attracted significant global attention and has become a core issue in geopolitical competition among major powers around the world. Critical metals hosted in coal and coal-bearing sequences have emerged as a cutting-edge research topic in coal geology, mineralogy, metallurgy, and mineral processing. China and the United States are the two most influential members in this field. This paper firstly summarizes the current research status of both countries in the areas of mineralization theory, exploration, extraction, and separation of coal-based critical metals, and further analyzes their strengths and weaknesses. In the past decade, the United States has made a significant progress in the discovery and separation of critical metals in coal and coal-bearing sequences, due to the unified deployment and substantial funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. China, on the other hand, has made significant advancements in the establishment of mineralization theories, evaluation indices and standards of critical metals in coal, thanks to the complex coal-forming geological conditions that led to the coexistence of critical metals in the same basin, as well as diverse combinations and spatial occurrences of these metals. The intensely geopolitical competition has heightened the struggle for control over critical mineral resources. Therefore, a realistic and accurate understanding of the status of critical metals hosted in coal and coal-bearing sequences in China and the United States, as well as their research progress, strengths, and weaknesses, is crucial for further leveraging China's advantages in critical mineral resources in the context of great power geopolitical competition, addressing the severe challenge of ensuring a stable supply of China’s scarce critical metals, and reducing the dependence on external supply chains.