American Rare Earths has announced that up to $7.1 million in non-dilutive funding has been approved for its Cowboy State mine at the Halleck Creek project in Wyoming. This is a major financial boost for the company. With the support of the University of Wyoming Energy Resources Council (ERC) and the Wyoming Energy Authority (WEA), this grant intends to develop critical projects that will boost Wyoming’s energy economy.
Recently, American Rare Earths—which does business through its subsidiary Wyoming Rare—came to light when it turned down a large $400 million SPAC buyout bid. This move demonstrates the company’s faith in the Halleck Creek project, which Mining Intelligence lists as one of the top 10 rare earth projects in the world. The importance of the initiative is demonstrated by its vast reserves, estimated at 2.34 billion tonnes with a notable concentration of 3,196 parts per million of total rare earth oxides (TREO), including critical elements like neodymium and praseodymium oxides.
The funding will primarily support a variety of developmental activities at the site, including further exploration drilling, bulk sampling on state mineral leases, and comprehensive baseline environmental studies essential for state permitting. Additionally, the grant will aid the construction of a pilot processing plant focusing on ore preconcentration, along with conducting prefeasibility studies and assessments of economic and community impacts.
Donald Swartz, CEO of American Rare Earths, expressed enthusiasm about the state’s endorsement, viewing it as both a technical validation of the project by industry experts and a testament to a shared commitment to establishing a commercial rare earth mine and processing facility in Wyoming. “We are thrilled to receive this support from the State of Wyoming and the WEA, which not only represents technical validation of the project by industry experts at the ERC and WEA but a shared commitment to permit and develop a commercial rare earth mine and processing facility in Wyoming,” Swartz said in a news release.
Rob Creager, WEA’s executive director, also commented on the strategic importance of this investment, noting that it positions Wyoming as a leader in the U.S. energy sector while exploring new opportunities. “Wyoming is investing in the future of the energy industry and exploring new opportunities,” he stated. “The American Rare Earths mine will give us greater insight into potentially one of the largest deposits of rare earth materials in the United States.”
American Rare Earths’ stock rose more than 10% by Thursday’s market closing, indicating that the news had a favorable effect on the company’s perception in the marketplace. The market’s excitement about the future possibilities of the projects under the company’s umbrella, which also include the Searchlight project in Nevada, the La Paz project in Arizona, and the Beaver Creek project in Wyoming, is evident from this increase.
American Rare Earths is establishing itself as a major participant in the US rare earths market, which is essential for several high-tech industries, such as electronics, clean energy, and the defense sector. The company now has a market value of $88.2 million. Wyoming’s calculated investment in this project improves the state’s economic climate in addition to securing a domestic supply of these crucial materials, potentially reducing the U.S.’s reliance on foreign rare earth sources.
