Twelve years ago, Randall Atkinson bought a coal mine in WY for $2 Million. Several years later, government researchers asked if they could test to see if the ground contained rare-earth elements. Recent results indicate the mine contains what might be the largest unconventional rare-earth deposit in the U.S. At current prices, it could be worth $37 Billion.
Atkins’ company, Ramaco Resources (RR), recently started extracting larger samples for more analysis. If the project proceeds, it would be the first new rare-earth mine in the U.S. since 1952.
The U.S. is racing to catch China and other countries on rare-earth supplies. China recently limited exports of two minerals, gallium and germanium (G&G), used in semiconductors, missile systems and solar cells. Though not rare earths, G&G were found in samples at the RR mine.
The U.S. consumed about 8,300 metric tons of rare-earth oxides annually in recent years. The RR site may contain as much as 1.1 million metric tons of rare-earth oxides in just one quarter of the land at the mine site.
The deposit was found in conjunction with researchers at DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory. They developed a model to predict deposits of rare earths/critical minerals, and it forecast large deposits in the Powder River Basin (PRB) in WY which includes the RR site. Other companies could use the model to see if they have rare earth elements in their coal, or could adjust the model to check for lithium.
The RR site includes heavy and light rare earths. Some are in the coal, while most are found in the clays and carbon-rich materials at the tops/bottoms of the coal seams. Coal beds are considered an unconventional source for rare earths versus conventional hard rock deposits.
RR hopes to mine and process rare-earth elements, also manufacture items needed for the green energy transition. These include magnets for motors in electric vehicles and offshore wind turbines, also military applications such as missile defense. However, the company must prove it can do these things effectively/economically. China controls most rare-earth refining, but RR hopes to build a processing plant on its property to refine the rare earths. The company hopes to disclose project economics in the next several months.
Transforming RR or other PRB sites into world class rare-earth mining/processing/production operations will be a daunting task. MOSIMTEC can help. We specialize in deploying digital twin technology for mining companies and have done dozens of mining projects, including all aspects of the value chain (mining, processing, supply chain and more) across many mine types, geographies and minerals/products over 15 years. Our industrial engineers and data scientists specialize in advanced simulation, digital twin simulation and analytics tools to help mining companies improve performance. We can help you future-proof your mining operation.
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