Rare Earth Exchanges

Rare Element Resources Receives Final Approval Required to Commence Operations of Rare Earth Demonstration Plant in Wyoming

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Highlights

  • Rare Element Resources Ltd. receives final NRC approval to begin operations at its rare earth processing demonstration plant in Wyoming.
  • The demonstration plant aims to generate operational and economic data for future commercial-scale production of rare earth elements.
  • General Atomics, owned by the Blue family, is the majority shareholder of Rare Element Resources Ltd.

Publicly traded Rare Element Resources Ltd.,(the “Company” or “RER”) (OTCQB: REEMF (opens in a new tab)) reports it has received the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the “NRC”) operations approval under the previously issued license to commence.

This final approval, which was required for the commencement of operations at the Company’s rare earth processing and separation demonstration plant in Upton, Wyoming (the “Demonstration Plant”) follows the recently announced U.S. Department of Energy’s (the “DOE”) operations budget acceptance and issuance of its continuation notice approving operations.

Why is this a demonstration plant and not full production?

Because  the demonstration plant, which has been designed to advance the Company’s proprietary processing and separation technology, is expected to generate the operational and economic data necessary for the design of a commercial-scale plant.

What’s the status?

According to Jaye Pickarts (opens in a new tab), a long-time consultant to the Company who was appointed as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer in early October, “Following our previously announced DOE operations approval, we progressed the final pre-operational work at the plant, including preparing the sample feed material from our Bear Lodge project, and finalizing the plant’s equipment installation and interconnections, including final electrical, instrumentation and controls, and mechanical systems.

Currently, pre-startup testing of each of the plant’s processes as well as installation of our one-of-a-kind proprietary control system are progressing. The receipt of the NRC amendment now clears the way for the shakedown of equipment to commence, leading to the planned progression to full operations.”

Mr. Pickarts added, “Led by our experienced plant manager, our staffing contractor, Wood plc out of Sheridan, Wyoming, has mobilized workers who are undertaking training. With these key approval milestones behind us, we can begin to realize our goal of unlocking the key information for progressing a commercial-scale plant.”

The Company

Rare Element Resources Ltd. (opens in a new tab) is a publicly traded, strategic materials company focused on delivering rare earth products for technology, energy, and defense applications by advancing the Bear Lodge Rare Earth Project (opens in a new tab) in northeast Wyoming. Bear Lodge is a significant mineralized district containing many of the less common, more valuable, critical rare earths that are essential for high-strength permanent magnets, electronics, fiber optics, laser systems for medical technology and defense, as well as technologies like electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines.

Priced at 0.435 per share and a $224.5 million market capitalization, 70.83% of the outstanding shares are held by insiders.

According to available information, the majority shareholder of Rare Element Resources Ltd is General Atomics (opens in a new tab), an affiliate of Synchron, which holds significant ownership in the company and is also responsible for developing the proprietary technology used for rare earth element extraction and separation within the company.

The Blue family owns General Atomics, a privately held defense and high-tech company. The Blue family acquired the company in 1986 after it was founded in 1955 as a division of General Dynamics. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California. 

Linden Blue is a co-owner and vice-chairman of General Atomics. Neal Blue (opens in a new tab) is another member of the Blue family who has been involved with the company. 

General Atomics develops technology solutions for defense, energy, and transportation. The company is known for its Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles, which helped start the "drone" era.

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