Can Giant Rare Earth Prospect in Wyoming Disrupt Chinese Power in the Future?

Highlights

• American Rare Earths and Ramaco Resources have discovered a significant rare earth element deposit near Sheridan, Wyoming.
• The deposit contains 2 billion tons of rare earth elements, preliminarily valued at $37 billion.
• This discovery could challenge China’s current market dominance in rare earth elements.
• The deposits contain valuable elements such as:
  • Neodymium
  • Praseodymium
  • Samarium
  • Dysprosium
  • Terbium
• These elements are essential for industries such as:
  • Smartphones
  • Hybrid cars
  • Aerospace
  • Lighting

Can the prospect of a 2 billion ton rare earth element (REE) payload in Wyoming material disrupt the current powers-that-be in the rare earth supply chain worldwide.  Specifically, could such an announced discovery by American Rare Earths (opens in a new tab) help disrupt China’s dominance over the global REE supply chain?  American Rare Earths and Ramaco Resources have finds in this region of the U.S, near Sheridan.  The REE deposits were discovered and are preliminarily valued at approximately $37 billion.

According to Randall Atkins, CEO of Ramaco Resources, the current drilling has reached depths of only 328-656 feet, while the seams could extend as deep as 984 feet. According to American Rare Earths their piece of this giant mining prospect is far bigger than Ramaco Resources (opens in a new tab). Reported today in MSN (opens in a new tab) reports that Don Schwartz with American Rare Earths claims “Our resources are on an order of magnitude larger than the Ramaco Resources number.”

The discovered deposits contain a range of valuable elements, including neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, dysprosium, and terbium. These minerals are crucial for the production of modern technologies, being used in smartphones, hybrid cars, the aerospace industry, and lighting production reports the mainstream media.

Back in February of this year Yahoo Finance 2 on how the REE finds in Wyoming could potentially disrupt Chinese supply chain power.

Ramaco,LLC a subsidiary of Ramaco Resources, was created in 2011 as a coal reserve, acquisition, and development company to acquire cost and geologically advantaged reserves. The venture’s advantaged geology was to provide one of the lowest cost of production in the US, with the average projected per ton cost in the $50s for over a decade.

Priced at 0.017 American Rare Earths trades as of this writing at 0.1760 with a market capitalization of $88.42m.

The parent  American Rare Earths (opens in a new tab) (ASX: ARR | ADRs – OTCQX: AMRRY | Common Shares – OTCQB: ARRNF | FSE:1BHA) announced its new US headquarters at 1658 Cole Blvd, Suite G30, Lakewood, CO, 80401 in September 2023.

This location was selected to give the company proximity to its flagship operation in Halleck Creek, Wyoming. The new US executive management team including Donald S. Swartz II, CEO, Jose Rico,CFO, and Dwight Kinnes, CTO announced last year were to belocated in Colorado.

Swartz brought 20 years of leadership experience in the domestic and international resource sector and is purported to be a highly skilled mining executive.  Before joining American Rare Earths, he was with Vista Energy Holdings, which developed two mining projects, both now fully operational in Alberta and Nova Scotia, Canada.