American Rare Earths Ltd has added to its executive team with the appointment of Brian Arkell as a US-based non-executive director and Megan McPherson as chief financial officer, effective May 5.
Progressing Halleck Creek
The new appointees are on board at a time when the company is putting its energies into the development of its flagship Halleck Creek Rare Earths Project in Wyoming.
Arkell brings over three decades of international experience in mineral exploration, development and operations.
His career spans senior technical and executive roles across major mining projects in North and South America and Southeast Asia, including the development of tier-one gold and copper-gold assets such as Yanacocha (Peru), Batu Hijau (Indonesia), Merian (Suriname) and Magino (Canada).
Most recently, he served as vice president of Exploration and Mine Technical Services at Argonaut Gold, where he oversaw five producing mines and several development-stage projects.
McPherson joins the executive team with more than 23 years of financial and governance experience in the resources sector.
Her recent roles include CFO and company secretary at Group 6 Metals Limited.
In her new role, McPherson will be responsible for capital management, treasury operations, investor relations, financial compliance and risk oversight.
Critical juncture for minerals
These leadership additions come at a key juncture as American Rare Earths positions itself as a future supplier of critical minerals to the United States.
Its Halleck Creek Project, hosting a JORC-compliant resource of 2.63 billion tonnes, is regarded as one of the largest rare earth deposits in the country.
The project, in Wyoming, is designed to support US critical minerals independence through a vertically integrated mine-to-market supply chain model.
The company continues to move forward with plans for onsite mineral processing and separation facilities, with a focus on reducing reliance on Chinese imports.