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The Debate for the Most Critical Rare Earths Project in the World Begins

American Rare Earths CEO thinks Halleck Creek “will be one of the most important rare earths projects in the United States, or even the world”

American Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARR | OTCQB: ARRNF) (“ARR”) is a leading developer of rare earth elements with a strong focus on developing sustainable and cost-effective extraction and processing methods. ARR’s 100% owned three rare earths projects are all located in the USA. ARR has recently decided to re-domicile to the USA in line with their projects’ location.

Their two key projects are Halleck Creek in Wyoming, and La Paz in Arizona. Both have the potential to be among North America’s largest rare earth deposits.

Halleck Creek Rare Earths Project’s latest developments

In March 2023, ARR announced a JORC Resource at Halleck Creek of 1.43 billion tonnes with an average TREO grade of 3,309 ppm, and an average NdPr grade of 734 ppm. That’s a huge resource and there is even more potential to grow it further. ARR states that “currently less than 25% of the Halleck Creek District has been drilled and the deposit remains open”.

As announced on June 28, 2023, ARR plans to drill a further ~2,400 meters at the Halleck Creek Project. The purpose of the drill program is to both upgrade the Resource and potentially grow it further. The upgrading goal is to “define a significant volume of measured and indicated resources“. Drilling is expected to commence later in Q3, 2023 subject to receiving permits.

ARR CEO and Managing Director, Chris Gibbs, commented:

The outstanding results we achieved with the JORC Resource of 1.43 billion tonnes at Halleck Creek provides the foundation to build what we think will be one of the most important rare earths projects in the United States, or even the world. The 1.05 million tonnes of NdPr at Halleck Creek can unlock current boundaries of the electrification of the US economy.

An overview of ARR’s 100% owned Halleck Creek Rare Earths Project in Wyoming, USA

Source: American Rare Earths company presentation

In other news, on July 6, 2023, ARR announced that they are advancing new and potentially better processing methods for their Halleck Creek Rare Earths Project. This is a key development as processing rare earths is a complex and expensive process, mostly done in China. ARR state:

…..the company is actively engaged in US Government-funded research aimed at developing cleaner and cheaper processing methods for rare earths, utilizing biological techniques. In collaboration with renowned institutions and laboratories, American Rare Earths is making significant strides towards this goal….the development of a new method that employs a protein isolated from bacteria to extract and separate rare earth elements in a more environmentally friendly manner. With the potential for scalability, this breakthrough could be instrumental in the development of a domestic supply of rare earth metals, reducing the ecological impact associated with traditional extraction methods.

Note: Bold emphasis by the author.

A reduced ecological impact would also be potentially beneficial when it comes to project permitting.

ARR is collaborating with partners to develop new biological methods to extract and separate rare earth elements

Source: American Rare Earths company presentation

Also announced on June 2, 2023, Halleck Creek ore achieved very positive initial metallurgical test results using Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separation (WHIMS) which yielded “72% recovery and rejected 77% of feed mass, an upgrade ratio of 3.1”. This was using a simple process flow sheet to produce a rare earth concentrate and maximize the recovery of magnet metals neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr).

ARR is studying using annualized ore processing of 10, 15 and 20 million tonnes per annum feed rate to the concentrator which would equate to a modeled production of 3,800 tonnes, 5,700 tonnes and 7,600 tonnes, respectively of the highly valuable NdPr oxides contained in mixed rare earth carbonate. At the upper end of these projections that would put ARR in the league of western market leaders such as Lynas Rare Earths Limited (ASX: LYC) and MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP), in terms of NdPr production volumes.

Near-term catalysts for the Company at Halleck Creek will be results of the detailed metallurgical testing, any results from baseline environmental test work, further drilling results and a possible resource upgrade, and any further news regarding their co-development work to produce new biological methods to extract rare earths. Beyond that the next large step is a Preliminary Economic Assessment, perhaps in H1, 2024.

Closing remarks

ARR continues to do the hard work to build a strong future for the Company. To date, results at Halleck Creek have been very encouraging. A huge resource, good recovery rates, and potential to one day achieve very significant volumes of NdPr. Any success with biological rare earths processing would be a nice bonus.

American Rare Earths trades on a market cap of A$74 million.




Melissa Sanderson of American Rare Earths Provides an Update on its Projects in Arizona and Wyoming

In this InvestorIntel interview, Jack Lifton talks to American Rare Earths Limited’s (ASX: ARR | OTCQB: ARRNF) President North America Melissa ‘Mel’ Sanderson about it portfolio of rare earths assets in the United States, including Arizona, Nevada, and Wyoming, and the fact that it is well funded with $15 million in the bank. Providing an update on their scandium-rich La Paz rare earths deposit in Arizona, Mel also discusses American Rare Earths’ recent high-grade assay results from the Halleck Creek Rare Earths project in Wyoming.

Speaking about the exceptionally low uranium and thorium content at both of their projects, Mel goes on to discuss American Rare Earths’ US Government funded R&D partnerships including with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Ames National Laboratory, Arizona State, and Penn State University. As the only rare earths junior explorer focused on biomining, Mel explains how American Rare Earths is helping in developing “cleaner, greener processing and separation technologies for rare Earths.”

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About American Rare Earths Limited

One of the only ASX-listed companies with exposure to the rapidly expanding US market, American Rare Earths is developing its 100% owned magnet metals projects, La Paz in Arizona, and Halleck Creek in Wyoming. Both have the potential to be among the largest, rare earths deposits in North America. The company is concurrently evaluating other exploration opportunities while collaborating with US Government supported R&D to develop a sustainable domestic supply chain for the renewable future.

To know more about American Rare Earths Limited, click here

Disclaimer: American Rare Earths Limited is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

This interview, which was produced by InvestorIntel Corp., (IIC), does not contain, nor does it purport to contain, a summary of all the material information concerning the “Company” being interviewed. IIC offers no representations or warranties that any of the information contained in this interview is accurate or complete.

This presentation may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and assumptions of the management of the Company as of the date made. They are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those that the Company does not know about now or that it currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Company’s business or any investment therein.

Any projections given are principally intended for use as objectives and are not intended, and should not be taken, as assurances that the projected results will be obtained by the Company. The assumptions used may not prove to be accurate and a potential decline in the Company’s financial condition or results of operations may negatively impact the value of its securities. Prospective investors are urged to review the Company’s profile on Sedar.com and to carry out independent investigations in order to determine their interest in investing in the Company.

If you have any questions surrounding the content of this interview, please contact us at +1 416 792 8228 and/or email us direct at [email protected].




It appears American Rare Earths has the right stuff

Last week I wrote an article about a rare earths explorer that had just announced a new President, was awaiting results from a drilling program and was anticipating a resource estimate by the end of Q1. To quote the Bard of Baseball, Yogi Berra, “It’s like Déjà vu all over again”. It is seemingly an unlikely circumstance that two rare earth exploration companies would have this same trio of circumstances at virtually the same time, but that’s what makes life so interesting. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Today we look at Australian based American Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARR | OTCQB: ARRNF) who also happens to have a lot going on at the moment. American Rare Earths is emerging as an alternative international supply chain to China’s market dominance of a global rare earth market. The Company’s mission is to supply Critical Materials for Renewable Energy, Green Tech, Electric Vehicles, National Security, and a Carbon-Reduced Future. American Rare Earths is one of the few listed companies with exposure to the rapidly expanding US market, developing its 100% owned magnet metals projects, Halleck Creek in Wyoming, and La Paz in Arizona. Both have potential to be among the largest rare earths deposits in North America.

The first comparable was when the Company announced last week it had appointed Melissa (Mel) Sanderson as the new President of North America. Followers of the InvestorIntel website may be thinking that name seems familiar, and you’d be correct. Another hat worn by Mel is as a Director for the Critical Minerals Institute, she is often asked to offer her expertise on InvestorIntel.com as one of the foremost ESG & Critical Minerals experts in the sector. But more importantly, Ms. Sanderson is an accomplished leader in mining and diplomacy, with a global career that has spanned 30-plus years. Mel brings to the role a wealth of industry expertise based on her time at global mining leader Freeport-McMoRan, in a corporate ESG role and as Vice President for Africa. The Company will additionally benefit from the fact that Mel is a Wyoming native, where its Halleck Creek Rare Earth Project is located in Platte and Albany Counties in southeast ranch country.

That is a great segue to the next similarity where American Rare Earths is awaiting the results of its recent 38 hole drilling program at Halleck Creek, with further details to be released in the coming weeks. Preliminary drill results indicate consistent rare earth mineralisation from surface to a depth of at least 150 m, a 50% increase on previous expectations and demonstrating rare earth mineralisation beyond the Company’s original expectations. Field rare earth observation samples from a handheld X-Ray Fluorescent (XRF) analyser show exceptional values for Rare Earth Oxides (REO) from surface to depth from the first 25 RC holes drilled.

Naturally, this leads to the final comparable, whereby American Rare Earths is working towards a maiden resource estimate at Halleck Creek by the end of the first quarter. The Company is now finalising the results from the drilling campaign and awaiting results from ALS laboratories. The Company remains on track to announce a significant maiden JORC (Australian equivalent of NI 43-101) resource in the first quarter of the 2023 calendar year. Although this could only be the start, as the deposit remains open laterally and at depth, suggesting the expansion potential of this project is immense.

That’s where the similarities end, for now, but there is one additional piece of information that was disclosed on Monday by American Rare Earths in their December 2022 Quarterly Activities Report, that I believe is quite important. That’s the mineralogy test results for Halleck Creek. The results could be a game changer for the Company as testing indicates the rare earth elements host material can be recovered using simple separation technology due to the ease of initial ore recovery. This suggests considerable reductions in operating and capital costs for production facilities could be achieved. As well, what also makes Halleck Creek unique is the extremely low thorium and uranium penalty elements so often associated with rare earth projects. This means less harmful chemicals during processing and not having to dispose of radioactive waste.

As a greater environmental focus gets put on the domestic mining of critical materials, it could be quite advantageous to be the one doing it in a greener and more environmentally friendly manner than your peers. I’m sure American Rare Earths is hoping their resource estimate provides the momentum to keep the Halleck Creek project moving towards production in the years to come. They appear to have the right quality, now they just need the quantity.




American Rare Earths is part of the global race to develop critical minerals in NA

The rare earths sector has had plenty of good news in 2022 including the recently announced proposal by the European Commission (“EC”) for a European Raw Materials Act. A very telling comment in the announcement gives a big clue as to which critical materials hold the greatest concern. The EC stated: “Lithium and rare earths will soon be more important than oil and gas……Our demand for rare earths alone will increase fivefold by 2030.” The supply risk for key rare earths is a problem for all western countries. China dominates the rare earths supply chain (58% of mines, 85% of processing) and the production of powerful rare earth magnets used in EVs, wind turbines, and most military hardware that employ powerful magnets. The U.S has already started various initiatives to support the rare earths supply chain, including some funding from the Infrastructure Act. Last month the Biden administration announced $2.8 billion of grants for various critical materials and battery supply chain related projects in the USA.

So clearly the funds are now flowing and the race is on to develop both an EU and a U.S critical materials and battery supply chain. Given the rising global geopolitical tensions Europe and USA will now need to support the critical materials sector like never before – both funding and permitting.

Source: American Rare Earths company presentation

Today’s company is working as fast as they can to help create a U.S source of critical rare earths from their three USA rare earths projects.

American Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARR | OTCQB: ARRNF) is focused on developing their 100% owned La Paz Scandium and Rare Earths Project in Arizona, USA. The Company’s other two projects are the Halleck Creek Project in Wyoming and the Searchlight Rare Earths Project in Nevada, USA.

American Rare Earths’ 3 USA rare earths projects currently being explored and developed

Source: American Rare Earths company presentation

La Paz Project update

The La Paz Project has high-value magnet rare earths (NdPr) as well as scandium with a 2021 JORC Resource of 170.6 million tonnes at an average grade of 469ppm Total Rare Earth Oxide (“TREO”) (contained ~80 million kgs TREO, plus 4.4 million kgs of Scandium Oxide (Sc2O3)). American Rare Earths Limited has recently completed the metallurgical test work at La Paz. The results were successful using the Watts & Fisher’s proprietary technology for the extraction of rare earth metals. According to the Company: “The technology shows good promise with further development, moving into piloting down the track. Rapid dissolution of rare earth values within 2 to 3 minutes at leaching temperatures above 225°C.” Next steps at La Paz include South-West Area resource expansion and then a PEA.

The Halleck Creek Project update

At the Halleck Creek Project, the Company continues their drilling campaign to define a significant JORC Resource. The Company stated recently: “The drilling commenced early October and is progressing well. It is anticipated the campaign, analysis and subsequent announcements relating to a maiden JORC resource will be completed in the first quarter of calendar year 2023.” In good news for shareholders, the Halleck Creek exploration target has been increased by 328%, boosted by the newly staked claim area Bluegrass which indicates consistent rare earth mineralisation. Beyond that, the next steps include metallurgy testing.

American Rare Earths has also recently stated they are evaluating even more potential rare earth opportunities in North America. Finally, in more good news the Company’s wholly-owned US subsidiary, Western Rare Earths (WRE), and a consortium of companies (Phinix, LLC and Virginia) were awarded US$500,000 in R&D funding. The consortium will use the funding to develop extraction and separation focused processing technology studies on rare earths ore. The project goal is to produce light, medium, and heavy rare earth oxide products of greater than 95% purity.

American Rare Earths Limited trades on a market cap of A$91 million. Exciting times ahead for this fast-moving company — they are a member of the Critical Minerals Institute.




Chris Gibbs and Marty Weems of American Rare Earths talk about tripling its Halleck Creek Target

In this InvestorIntel interview, host Tracy Weslosky is joined by American Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARR | OTCQB: ARRNF) CEO & Managing Director Chris Gibbs, and President – North America Marty Weems, to talk about the company recent announcement that it has more tripled its JORC-compliant rare earths Exploration Target at its Halleck Creek project in Wyoming.

In the interview, which can also be viewed in full on the InvestorIntel YouTube channel (click here to access InvestorChannel.com), Chris tells Tracy that “in completing the maiden drill campaign we came out with a significant upgrade to the Exploration Target. It’s 328 percent more than the previous Exploration Target and it’s a whopping around 1.1 billion tons of mineralized rock at this actual deposit.”

Marty Weems also talks about American Rare Earths’ close relationship with innovation hubs at the US Department of Energy and the EERE. “The research community has a real keen interest in our feed stock because of the low thorium content,” he tells Tracy. “There’s hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars being poured into changing the technology of this supply chain and making it greener, cleaner, and more sustainable. That funding is coming from DOE as well as the Department of Defense programs like the DARPA EMBER [Environmental Microbes as a BioEngineering Resource] program which we’re also part of.”

Chris Gibbs also tells Tracy that its Halleck Creek project is still open at depth and open laterally. “We’re super excited with this project and look we can’t wait to get drills on the ground.”

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About American Rare Earths Limited

American Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARR, OTCQB: ARRNF, FSE: 1BHA) is an Australian company listed on the ASX with assets in the growing rare earth metals sector of the United States of America, emerging as an alternative international supply chain to China’s market dominance of a global rare earth market expected to expand to US$20 billion by the mid-2020s. The Company’s mission is to supply Critical Materials for Renewable Energy, Green Tech, Electric Vehicles, National Security, and a Carbon-Reduced Future.

Western Rare Earths (WRE) is the wholly owned US subsidiary of the Company. ARR owns 100% of the world-class La Paz Rare Earth Project, located 170km northwest of Phoenix, Arizona. As a large tonnage, bulk deposit, La Paz is potentially the largest, rare-earth deposit in the USA and benefits from containing exceptionally low penalty elements such as radioactive thorium and uranium.

In the first half of 2021, ARR acquired the USA REE asset, the Halleck Creek Project in Wyoming. Since acquiring the asset, the company has increased the land holding to over 6,000+ acres. Approximately 1,015 to 1,268 million tonnes of rare earths mineralised rocks were identified as an exploration target for the Halleck Creek project area with an average Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) grade of 2,245 – 2,807 ppm.

La Paz and Halleck Creek’s mineral profiles are incorporated into emerging US advanced rare earth processing technologies in collaboration with US national laboratories, major universities and the US DOE innovation hub, the Critical Materials Institute.

To know more about American Rare Earths Limited, click here

Disclaimer: American Rare Earths Limited is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

This interview, which was produced by InvestorIntel Corp., (IIC), does not contain, nor does it purport to contain, a summary of all the material information concerning the “Company” being interviewed. IIC offers no representations or warranties that any of the information contained in this interview is accurate or complete.

This presentation may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and assumptions of the management of the Company as of the date made. They are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those that the Company does not know about now or that it currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Company’s business or any investment therein.

Any projections given are principally intended for use as objectives and are not intended, and should not be taken, as assurances that the projected results will be obtained by the Company. The assumptions used may not prove to be accurate and a potential decline in the Company’s financial condition or results of operations may negatively impact the value of its securities. Prospective investors are urged to review the Company’s profile on Sedar.com and to carry out independent investigations in order to determine their interest in investing in the Company.

If you have any questions surrounding the content of this interview, please contact us at +1 416 792 8228 and/or email us direct at [email protected].




Marty Weems of American Rare Earths talks about successful drilling results at Halleck Creek

In this InvestorIntel interview with host Tracy Weslosky, American Rare Earths Limited’s (ASX: ARR | OTCQB: ARRNF) President – North America, Marty Weems talks about continuing positive news coming out of its Halleck Creek rare earths project, and how the company plans an updated JORC-compliant exploration target “to give the market an idea of what we mean when we say this project has the potential to be the largest rare earth JORC resource and development in the USA.”

In the interview, which can also be viewed in full on the InvestorIntel YouTube channel (click here to access InvestorChannel.com), Marty tells Tracy that with recent drill results “the grades appear very consistent to depths of exceeding 100 meters, so we’re not talking about a few little high-grade veins of rare earths. We’re talking exceptional thickness,” he says. He goes on to say that “it’s exposed at surface and really consistent to depths exceeding 100 meters, so the majority of the drill holes average over 4,100 parts per million total rare earth content – rare earth oxides – over more than 90 meters of mineralized thickness in average across those holes, so the project remains open at depth and laterally and that’s especially exciting considering we now have over 24 square kilometers of claim control at Halleck Creek.”

Marty tells Tracy that in addition to last week’s reported assay results, American Rare Earths was named the sole industry member of a consortium led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that has been awarded up to $13 million in research funding to develop scalable, bio-based separation and purification of rare earths elements.

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About American Rare Earths Limited

American Rare Earths Limited is an Australian company listed on the ASX with assets in the growing rare earth metals sector of the United States of America, emerging as an alternative international supply chain to China’s market dominance of a global rare earth market expected to expand to US$20 billion by the mid-2020s. The Company’s mission is to supply Critical Materials for Renewable Energy, Green Tech, Electric Vehicles, National Security, and a Carbon-Reduced Future.

Western Rare Earths (WRE) is the wholly-owned US subsidiary of the Company. ARR owns 100% of the world-class La Paz Rare Earth Project, located 170km northwest of Phoenix, Arizona. As a large tonnage, bulk deposit, La Paz is potentially the largest, rare-earth deposit in the USA and benefits from containing exceptionally low penalty elements such as radioactive thorium and uranium. Approximately 742 – 928 million tonnes of Rare Earths mineralized rocks are identified as an exploration target in the La Paz Rare Earths project’s Southwest area with an average TREO Grade of 350 – 400ppm and Scandium Oxide grade of 20-24.5ppm. The new exploration Target is additive to the La Paz Rare Earth project recently upgraded 170MT Resource. (ASX Announcement, 29 September 2021). During the period from February to April 2022 the Company drilled nine holes for 821 metres and collected 677 samples in the La Paz southwest area. The assay results from the first 332 samples demonstrate rock type associated with higher rare earth grades. The enhanced grades and thickness of the mineralized zone have accelerated exploration planning. The Company is working on establishing a JORC resource for the southwest area (ASX Announcement, 14 June 2022). Preliminary metallurgical test work demonstrates that La Paz ore can be effectively concentrated using conventional magnetic separation, selective grinding and direct flotation. Under the guidance of Wood Australia, advanced metallurgy and mineral processing test work is near completion with Nagrom Laboratories in Perth Western Australia (ASX Announcement, 7 April 2022).

In the first half of 2021, ARR acquired the USA REE asset, the Halleck Creek Project in Wyoming. Since acquiring the asset the company has increased the land holding to over 6,000+ acres. Approximately 308 to 385 million tonnes of rare earths mineralized rocks were identified as an exploration target for the Halleck Creek project area with an average Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) grade of 2,330 – 2,912 ppm. Initial surface sampling of the Overton Mountain area conducted in 2018 revealed average TREO values of 3,297 ppm, average Heavy Rare Earth Oxide (HREO) values of 244 ppm, and average Magnetic Rare Earth Oxide (MREO) values of 816 ppm. (ASX Announcement,26 April 2022). The maiden exploration drilling program was completed in April 2022. The Company is updating the existing exploration target and developing a more comprehensive drilling program with the objective of defining a high tonnage maiden JORC resource.

La Paz and Halleck Creek’s mineral profiles are incorporated into emerging US advanced rare earth processing technologies in collaboration with US national laboratories, major universities and the US DOE innovation hub, the Critical Materials Institute.

To know more about American Rare Earths Limited, click here

Disclaimer: American Rare Earths Limited is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

This interview, which was produced by InvestorIntel Corp., (IIC), does not contain, nor does it purport to contain, a summary of all the material information concerning the “Company” being interviewed. IIC offers no representations or warranties that any of the information contained in this interview is accurate or complete.

This presentation may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and assumptions of the management of the Company as of the date made. They are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those that the Company does not know about now or that it currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Company’s business or any investment therein.

Any projections given are principally intended for use as objectives and are not intended, and should not be taken, as assurances that the projected results will be obtained by the Company. The assumptions used may not prove to be accurate and a potential decline in the Company’s financial condition or results of operations may negatively impact the value of its securities. Prospective investors are urged to review the Company’s profile on Sedar.com and to carry out independent investigations in order to determine their interest in investing in the Company.

If you have any questions surrounding the content of this interview, please contact us at +1 416 792 8228 and/or email us direct at [email protected].




Is American Rare Earths sitting on the largest rare earth deposit in the USA?

Commodities these days can be a bit of a fickle investment. They are definitely in demand for numerous reasons, including the world’s move towards a lower carbon future. Putin’s attack of Ukraine has placed further emphasis on security of supply, overall supply chains and the politics of commodities. However, we can’t seem to align all the interested parties into coming up with a cohesive game plan to maximize the production of critical commodities, while optimizing their environmental and social impact.

What do I mean by this? In late February the White House ordered action across the US Federal Government to secure reliable and sustainable supplies of critical minerals and materials just before the first anniversary of Executive Order (EO) 14017, America’s Supply Chains. However, a year after detailed reports of vulnerabilities in the critical mineral and material supply chains were produced by US federal agencies, detailing the over-reliance of the U.S. on foreign sources and adversarial nations for critical minerals and materials, posing national and economic security threats, the U.S. government isn’t exactly walking the walk. In the last year, we’ve seen Rio Tinto’s (NYSE: RIO) Resolution copper project in Arizona and Antofagasta’s (LSE: ANTO) Twin Metals project (copper/nickel) in Minnesota both get the red light from the Biden Administration. It has also taken steps to slow down development of a lithium mine in Nevada from ioneer Ltd. (ASX: INR) to help preserve a rare flower. You could also include Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.’s (TSX: NDM | NYSE American: NAK) Pebble mine in Alaska in this list because there is a lot of copper as part of the resource, but to me, it’s more of a gold mine so not necessarily critical.

I’m not saying that these actions to delay or cancel projects aren’t justified for environmental and social reasons. I’m simply pointing out that it’s easier said than done. Investors can’t simply pick all the companies pursuing critical minerals in the U.S. and think it’s going to be a slam dunk. Certainly, there is a renewed focus on addressing the critical minerals and materials supply chain, but it likely won’t come at the expense of the neighbors of these projects. That’s why one has to look a little deeper at any potential investments to ensure the project has a chance to see the light of day. You can’t just have a viable, economic resource, you need to tick a lot more boxes.

That’s my long-winded intro to an Australian listed company with assets in the growing rare earths sector of the United States, looking to help the U.S. diversify away from China’s market dominance of the global rare earth market. American Rare Earths Limited’s (ASX: ARR | OTCQB: ARRNF) mission is to supply critical materials for renewable energy, green tech, EVs, National Security, and a Carbon-Reduced Future. The Company owns 100% of the world-class La Paz Rare-Earth Project, located 200 km northwest of Phoenix, Arizona and the Halleck Creek rare earth project in Wyoming, USA. La Paz is a large tonnage, bulk deposit, that is potentially the largest rare earth deposit in the USA and benefits from containing exceptionally low penalty elements such as radioactive thorium and uranium. The Company is currently drilling in the new Southwest Zone of the project where an exploration target of approximately 742 – 928 million tonnes could be added to the 170.6 million tonne JORC compliant (Australian equivalent of NI 43-101) resource.

The size and the grades at La Paz are impressive, as well as close to surface, but remember it’s not just about an economic resource. The reason I think American Rare Earths should be on an investor’s watchlist, if you have any interest in the rare earths space, is their attention to politics. On March 4th the Company announced it had welcomed a delegation of elected officials from all levels of government to its flagship La Paz project. Key members of the group of 25 federal, state and county officials and staff delivered enthusiastic and encouraging speeches about American Rare Earths and its work underway to help secure the United States’ domestic critical minerals supply chain. Additionally, Company executive Marty Weems will speak to several dozen State Legislators about La Paz at an event held in collaboration with the Arizona Mining Association. That’s the type of proactive effort required to get your project to the finish line in the world of today.

From a macro perspective, there are significant tailwinds for domestic rare earths production from both a market pull and a government push. Additionally, there are several near-term catalysts for American Rare Earths with an on-going drill program at both properties and applications have been filed for 36 additional drill sites at La Paz. The Company is well funded, finishing 2021 with over A$8 million plus having raised another A$1.4 million in the first two months of 2022. With a market cap of roughly A$161 million (US$ 117 million) it’s not your typical junior mining stock, but then again, your typical junior mining stock isn’t sitting on potentially the largest rare earth deposit in the USA.