Ramaco Resources said its Board of Directors has approved the commencement of initial mine development in the fourth quarter at its Brook mine in Sheridan, Wyo. – the first new rare earth elements (REE) mine in the United States since 1952.
The operation will target mining unconventional REE deposits found in coal and adjacent clays and carbonaceous material. Ramaco said it anticipates spending around $2.5 million over two quarters for initial development for both rare earth and carbon ore/coal mining.
“As with all our development projects, we will take a thorough and disciplined approach to assessing the feasibility of the Brook mine. We are however, very encouraged by the Board’s decision to greenlight the initial mine development of the country’s first carbon ore and rare earth mine,” said Randall Atkins, chairman and CEO of Ramaco.
“Based on our recent findings, we are more optimistic today than in May when we first announced this unconventional rare earth deposit. We have now increased the exploration target by 50% relative to our initial findings, enlisted a group of world-class, third-party experts to assist in our overall evaluation and will soon actually start mining for rare earths. We will continue to pursue our measured approach, as we embark on this potentially transformational opportunity.”
The size of the miner’s REE Exploration Target has increased to 0.9 – 1.2 million tons of total rare earth oxides (REOs). The deposit is estimated to contain 28% of primary magnetic REOs (Neodymium, Praseodymium, Dysprosium and Terbium) as well as secondary magnetic REOs.
In addition to the Brook mine, Ramaco Resources has three active metallurgical coal mining complexes in Central Appalachia.
Source: Ramaco Resources