Rare Earths Americas CEO Don Swartz Details Potential New U.S. Rare Earth District in REEx Podcast on YouTube

Highlights

• Rare Earths Americas is developing Shiloh/Liberty Peak in western Georgia, described as the first novel U.S. rare-earth discovery in roughly 40 years.
• The company has approximately $80 million in cash post-IPO and is running eight drill rigs across Georgia and Brazil simultaneously, targeting over 20,000 meters of drilling.
• CEO Don Swartz highlights the stark divergence between Chinese and ex-China heavy rare earth pricing, warning the West needs many more HREE projects.
• The conversation flags a critical but overlooked bottleneck: a shortage of mining engineers, geologists, and metallurgists needed to rebuild Western rare earth supply chains.

Rare Earth Exchanges (REEx) sits down with Don Swartz, President and CEO of Rare Earths Americas (NYSE American: REA), for a wide-ranging discussion about what Swartz describes (opens in a new tab) as the first “novel” U.S. rare-earth discovery in roughly 40 years—and the race to turn geology into strategic supply.

At the center is Shiloh/Liberty Peak in western Georgia, an emerging monazite-bearing system that Swartz says has expanded into a potential district-scale opportunity. Rare Earths Americas expects to drill more than 20,000 meters there as it works toward defining a resource. The conversation also travels to Brazil, where the company's Alpha ionic-clay project is moving toward an initial economic assessment. With approximately $80 million in cash following its 2026 IPO, Rare Earths Americas is running eight drill rigs across Georgia and Brazil simultaneously.

Swartz and REEx also explore one of the industry's biggest strategic questions: heavy rare earths. Swartz discusses the striking divergence between Chinese and ex-China pricing and why the West may ultimately require numerous additional HREE projects.

The discussion closes with another chokepoint rarely captured in commodity forecasts: people. Mining engineers, geologists, and metallurgists may prove as important as ore bodies in rebuilding Western supply chains.

Watch the full Rare Earth Exchanges interview with Don Swartz: Rare Earths Americas CEO Don Swartz — Full REEx Podcast (opens in a new tab)