ReElement’s Tolling Play: Practical Innovation but Need Clarity

Highlights

• ReElement Technologies introduces a toll processing service to recover rare earth oxides from recycled permanent magnets.
• The company claims 99.5%+ purity for critical rare earth elements at $25-$35 per kilogram with over 90% recovery rates.
• The service represents a potential breakthrough in U.S. rare earth independence through urban mining and circular economy approaches.

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In a July 11 article by Proactive, (opens in a new tab) Emily Jarvie reports that ReElement Technologies, (opens in a new tab) a subsidiary of American Resources Corp. (NASDAQ: AREC), (opens in a new tab) has launched a toll processing service to recover and refine rare earth oxides (REOs) from recycled permanent magnets. According to the company, this process can yield 99.5%+ purity neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium—at a cost of $25–$35 per kilogram, with recovery rates over 90%.

This is an ambitious claim in a market where China still dominates rare earth recycling and solvent-based separation. But does it hold up?

Unfolding Situation

• Toll processing as a model is both smart and needed. With rising magnet waste from EVs, wind turbines, and e-waste, urban mining is a realistic entry point for U.S. rare earth independence.
• ReElement’s Purdue-derived purification platform has roots in pharma—suggesting valid technical innovation in low-footprint, modular separation, potentially cleaner than solvent-heavy Chinese methods.
• The material inputs (e.g., magnet swarf, EV rotors, HDDs) and target elements (Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb) align with what’s technically recoverable in recycled magnets.
• Their inclusion of critical elements like gallium, germanium, cobalt, and yttrium shows commercial relevance amid rising Western export controls.

What Requires Caution

• Cost claims ($25–$35/kg) appear aggressively low, especially given China’s current NdPr oxide prices (~$50–$60/kg). Without third-party validation, investors should view pricing as aspirational, not benchmark.
• 99.999% purity levels for non-REEs like gallium and germanium may be true on small batches, but scaling that purity reliably across varied feedstock types is a tall order.
• No current customers were named. The claim of “no other group in the U.S. matching our performance and price” lacks external confirmation.

Strategic Read

This announcement is credible in direction, if not yet in scale. ReElement is wisely exploiting the growing niche of U.S.-based rare earth magnet recycling. However, without full operational transparency, large offtake agreements, or clear demonstration at industrial throughput levels, retail investors should moderate their expectations.

That said, this could be a promising complement to mining, especially in a policy climate looking to incentivize circular economy models for critical minerals.