Ramaco’s Wyoming Coal-to-Rare Earths Plan: Promising Innovation or Political Theater?

Highlights

• Ramaco Resources is developing a new coal mine in Wyoming.
• The coal mine is intended for extracting rare earth elements, not for burning coal.
• The project aims to produce critical minerals and rare earth elements domestically.
• The goal is to potentially reduce reliance on Chinese processing.
• Despite the potential promise, significant questions remain about:
  • Funding
  • Technology
  • Commercial viability of the coal-based rare earth extraction

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Ramaco Resources is betting big on Wyoming coal—not to burn it, but to mine rare earth elements (REEs) from it. Backed by a $6.1 million grant from the state of Wyoming, Ramaco plans to build a $533 million processing facility alongside its Brook Mine near Sheridan, the first new coal mine in the state in half a century.

According to reporting by the Institute for Energy Research (opens in a new tab), Ramaco claims that coal from the Brook Mine contains valuable REEs like neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium, along with critical minerals like gallium, scandium, and germanium. A Fluor Corporation (opens in a new tab) analysis projects 1,242 short tons of oxide output annually, with an estimated 1.7 million tons of total critical mineral oxides in the current 4,500-acre target zone.

This development is positioned as a complementary domestic supply to MP Materials’ Mountain Pass operation, which currently provides over half of its REE output to China for refining (this will stop permanently by next year). Ramaco aims to mine, refine, and sell to U.S. end users—including the federal government—with sample production expected within a year.

But major questions remain:

• Where’s the rest of the money? A $533 million project backed by just $6.1 million in public funds (and no secured federal dollars yet) raises doubts about execution.
• Where’s the refining tech? REE extraction from coal is still pre-commercial, and Ramaco has not detailed how it will separate and refine at scale.
• Is this political cover for coal? With the Trump administration reopening federal coal leasing and slashing royalty rates, critics may view the REE angle as a way to justify new coal projects under a “strategic mineral” banner.

Ramaco is a public company with metallurgical coal operations across Appalachia and growing ambitions in advanced materials. But transforming coal into a competitive REE source remains unproven at industrial scale.

Retail investor takeaway: This could be a breakout—or a boondoggle. Watch closely for tech validation, offtake agreements, and federal co-funding before buying the hype.  Rare Earth Exchanges will monitor carefully.