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Ramaco Resources in northeast Wyoming plans to update its rare earths deposit find Wednesday, pushing the estimate on tonnage underground to over 1.5 million tons, and the value to more than $37 billion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ramaco's coal mine in northern Wyoming is revealing potential to be a huge rare earths deposit. The company has assets all over the country, like this mine in the Eastern U.S. (Courtesy Ramaco) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ramaco Resources Inc. in northeast Wyoming plans to update its rare earths deposit find in the Cowboy State on Wednesday, pushing the estimate on tonnage underground to more than 1.5 million tons,...

The CK Gold Project is on a fast track to complete state permitting and start mining land near Curt Gowdy State Park for what it believes is 1 million ounces of Wyoming gold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Technicians with Buckley Powder Co., a Cheyenne-based explosives service company that blasts rock in quarries, helped perform seismic tests on land near Curt Gowdy State Park that U.S. Gold Corp. wants to mine for gold and copper. The technicians just loaded a 50-foot hole with explosives and are preparing for a test they performed in 2022. (Courtesy U.S. Gold Corp.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mining expert George Bee was...

There is excellent news for the American industry, economy, and international trade sectors. The discovery of colossal rare earth deposits in Wyoming could essentially restructure the global supply chain of these crucial elements in the near future. A discovery of 2.34 billion metric tons of rare earth elements (REEs) in a mine outside of Sheridan, Wyoming, has generated great excitement across industries stateside. For one, the reserves are estimated to be bigger than China’s current reserves, implying that this single find could end America’s reliance on Chinese exports if exploited judiciously.

There’s a modern-day gold rush happening in the attempt to dig green-energy rare earth minerals out of the ground. Some believe Wyoming could be America’s answer to China’s lock on the market. And one of a handful of Wyoming companies in the rush may have hit the mother lode. American Rare Earths Inc. has its sights on thousands of acres of land near Wheatland, Wyoming. The company disclosed in a technical report on Wednesday that it found 64% more rare earth minerals than it had originally envisioned in a March 2023 assessment of the land. The newly disclosed figure of...

A 71-year-old investor who bought an old Wyoming coal mine sight-unseen for $2million has learned that it may contain $37 billion worth of 'rare earth' minerals. Randall Atkins, the CEO of Ramaco Rescources, bought the Brook Mine in Sheridan 12 years ago - but it wasn't until years later that researchers checked if the ground contained elements that are used for semiconductors, missiles and solar cells. He was shocked to find out that his mine may contain the largest rare-earth deposit in the United States - and the materials may be worth 18,500 times what he paid for the land....

Grab your popcorn, because there’s a full-speed, head-on collision between the left’s competing interests coming, and it’s fixing to be gory. From an item that appeared in The Wall Street Journal at the end of September:Located underneath a distant, swampy expanse of spruce forests and meandering rivers in Northern Ontario that is cut off from major roads, the Ring of Fire is seen by industry and government officials as one of the world’s most important untapped sources of nickel, copper and cobalt—metals essential for making the batteries that power electric vehicles.But the precious commodities are buried under a vast ecosystem...

China’s exports of two rare minerals essential for manufacturing semiconductors fell to zero in August, a month after Beijing imposed curbs on sales overseas, citing national security. China produces about 80% of the world’s gallium and about 60% of germanium, according to the Critical Raw Materials Alliance, but it didn’t sell any of the elements on international markets last month, Chinese customs data released on Wednesday showed. In July, the country exported 5.15 metric tons of forged gallium products and 8.1 metric tons of forged germanium products. When asked about the lack of exports last month, He Yadong, a spokesperson...

Gallium and germanium are silvery-white metals that can be found in a wide variety of electronics, such as semiconductors, smartphones, pressure sensors, transistors and fibre optics, as well as solar panels, camera lenses and space systems. Invoking "national security interests," the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Monday that companies that intend to sell products containing the two targeted materials would need to first obtain an export licence. In practice, this means that if the central government refuses to issue the licence, the company will be outright banned from exporting. The government will treat the merchandise as a "dual-use" item,...

Unfortunately, this is not an April Fools’ joke. The U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) announced on April 1 that Chinese-owned firms make 80% of U.S. ports’ cargo cranes. The CCP also controls about 90% of the world’s rare earth processing — and rare earths are essential to all the electronic devices and chips upon which we depend. That’s a lot of control the CCP has over the American economy as it becomes ever more hostile to America. Chinese-owned firms make 80% of cargo cranes at American ports. On Friday, Chairman @RepGallagher and @RepCarlos explored this...

News AnalysisAt its 2023 Investor Day presentation in Texas, Tesla revealed its plans to produce its next generation EV motor without any rare earth minerals. As a global leader in the electric vehicle market, Tesla’s plan for zero rare earth permanent magnet motors, if successful, could have a significant impact on the rare earth market—particularly China’s rare earth monopoly.“As the world transitions to clean energy, the demand for rare earths is really increasing dramatically, and not only will it be a little harder to meet that demand, but mining rare earths has environmental and health risks,” said Colin Campbell, VP...

The beginning of the end of Europe’s dependency on China for precious rare earth materials may lie buried deep under the rugged reaches of northern Sweden, well above the Arctic Circle. Sweden’s iron-ore miner LKAB said Thursday it has identified "significant deposits" in Lapland of rare earth elements that are essential for the manufacture of smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines. The government-owned company that mines iron ore at Kiruna, almost 1,000 kilometers north of Stockholm, said there are more than 1 million tons of rare earth oxides....

Scientists from the University of Cambridge and their Austrian colleagues have discovered a novel method of making magnets without the use of rare earth metals, an innovation that could offer a possibility for Western countries to veer away from overly depending on China for the tech-critical materials. Researchers found a way to produce tetrataenite, an alloy of iron and nickel, which can replace magnets made from rare earths. Tetrataenite usually forms naturally in meteorites. When meteorites cool down, the nickel and iron atoms order themselves in a specific structure, eventually ending up as a material that has properties almost similar...

The people in this northern Myanmar forest have lost a way of life that goes back generations. But if they complain, they, too, face the threat of death. This forest is the source of several key metallic elements known as rare earths, often called the vitamins of the modern world. Rare earths now reach into the lives of almost everyone on the planet, turning up in everything from hard drives and cellphones to elevators and trains. They are especially vital to the fast-growing field of green energy, feeding wind turbines and electric car engines. And they end up in the...

Five Out of Five Researchers Agree: Earth's Solar System Special By Sara Goudarzi Special to SPACE.com posted: 31 March 2005 NEW YORK -- Though researchers find more and more distant planets revolving around alien suns, the discoveries highlight that Earth and its solar system may be an exceptionally rare place indeed. That was the consensus here Wednesday evening among five planetary science experts who spoke at the 5th annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Panel Debate held at the American Museum of Natural History. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, moderated the informal discussion. At issue...

TOKYO -- Honda Motor and three Japanese rivals plan to discontinue about 20 motorcycle models by the end of this year, Nikkei has learned, in response to tougher emissions standards to be implemented in Japan in the fall. The retired motorbikes represent 10% of the roughly 190 models available from Honda, Yamaha Motor, Suzuki Motor and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Going forward, the companies will shift to electrics. Honda will electrify its entire lineup of vehicles by the 2040s. Yamaha will make 90% of new vehicles plug-ins by 2050. Honda, the world's largest motorcycle company, will retire approximately 10 out of...

Intelligent Life Really Can’t Exist Anywhere Else Hell, our own evolution on Earth was pure luck. In research published in 2020 from Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute, scientists study the likelihood of key times for evolution of life on Earth and conclude that it would be virtually impossible for that life to evolve the same way somewhere else. Life has come a very long way in a very short time on Earth, relatively speaking—and scientists say that represents even more improbable luck for intelligent life that is rare to begin with. For decades, scientists and even philosophers have chased...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with his Chinese counterpart, Defense Minister Wei Fenghe face to face for the first time in a tour of Asia next week. The Chinese government formally reached out to the Pentagon Friday to set up the meeting. The focus of it will be on "managing competition," according to a US official familiar with planning. One aspect competition is heating up between China and the US is the race for rare earth minerals. These 17 metallic minerals make up almost everything electronic, including the US military’s most important weapons like F-35 fighter jets, M1Abrams tanks,...

Iluka Resources on Monday committed to building Australia's first rare earths refinery after lining up A$1 billion ($749 million) in cheap debt from the government, which wants to diversify critical minerals supply away from China. The mineral sands producer's Eneabba refinery in Western Australia is expected to cost between A$1 billion and A$1.2 billion, with production of light and heavy rare earths crucial for a range of tech applications - from electric vehicles to missiles - due to begin in 2025. The new plant is key to a push by the United States and allies, including Australia and Japan, to...

Just over one month ago, we posited that China’s virtual monopoly on mining rare earth metals would soon come to an end as competitors ramped up production. Well, just a few weeks later, Australia is taking steps to do exactly that. To wit, Aussie PM Scott Morrison announced Wednesday that he would introduce new funding for the refining of rare earths refining on Wednesday. The move makes sense. Australia has large deposits of rare earth metals, coming in right behind Russia and India. Now, it will invest in projects to not just mine but also refine the metals – something...

New method can pull rare earth elements from electronic waste and coal ash.. When a pulse of current goes through a tube containing coal ash, a flash of light indicates rapid heating. Rare earth elements then become much easier to extract.. As chemists scramble to find ways to reclaim valuable metals from industrial waste and discarded electronics, one team has found a solution that sounds a little like magic: Zap the trash with flashes of electric heat. Rare earth elements (REEs) present an environmental paradox. On one hand, these dozen or so metals, such as yttrium and neodymium, are vital...