AREC News & Events

American Resources announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Electrified Materials, has procured its initial battery shredding line to expand its ability to process lithium-ion batteries and produce conditioned battery material feedstocks for advanced refining. The new battery shredding line complements EMCO's existing processing and conditioning capabilities for magnet materials, copper, aluminum and ferrous metals recovered from end-of-life products and manufacturing scrap. The addition of battery processing capacity advances EMCO's ability to provide safe disposition, shredding, pre-processing and conditioning services for end-of-life, off-warranty and off-spec lithium-ion batteries while supplying critical battery element feedstocks to ReElement Technologies Corporation for downstream separation, purification and refining. EMCO's initial battery processing focus will be on lithium iron phosphate battery chemistry, one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the lithium-ion battery market due to its attractive cost profile, safety characteristics, thermal stability, long cycle life and reduced reliance on nickel and cobalt. LFP batteries are increasingly used across electric vehicles, stationary energy storage systems, commercial fleet applications, industrial equipment and other high-volume electrification markets.

American Resources, through its affiliated minority holding in ReElement Technologies, announced another landmark technical achievement in the separation and purification of tungsten from mined material supplied by international mining partners. ReElement processed tungsten concentrate grading approximately 28% tungsten into purified material achieving 99.9% purity, establishing what is believed to be one of the only demonstrated domestic capability in the United States for commercially viable tungsten and demonstrating another important capability within its multi-mineral, multi-feedstock refining platform. The achievement represents a meaningful advancement toward establishing domestic and allied refining optionality for tungsten, one of the most strategically important materials used across the U.S. defense and commercial industrial base. "This is another defining moment for ReElement and for America's strategic material independence," said Mark Jensen, CEO and Chairman of ReElement Technologies. "Tungsten is essential to the defense industrial base, yet the U.S. remains heavily reliant on foreign-controlled supply chains for refined material. ReElement has now demonstrated that its platform can separate and purify tungsten from mined concentrate to 99.9%+ purity. While tungsten is not part of our initial Phase 1 Marion buildout, this achievement gives us a clear pathway to add tungsten refining capacity as customer demand, prepayments, and commercial commitments justify expansion."

Mark Jensen, Chief Executive Officer of American Resources, commented: "Over the past several years, we have fundamentally transformed American Resources - simplifying our structure, strengthening our balance sheet, and positioning the Company as a key conduit within the critical mineral supply chain. Today, we are no longer defined by legacy operations, but by our ability to source, aggregate, invest into and align critical mineral feedstocks with growing domestic and allied demand through our strategic affiliation with ReElement. With a strong balance sheet and a focused operating model, we are optimally positioned to scale alongside one of the most important supply chain shifts of our generation"