American Resources Corp (NASDAQ:AREC) and its affiliate ReElement Technologies on Wednesday signaled strong support for the newly announced Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, which aims to strengthen rare earth and critical mineral supply chains through collaboration among Australia, India, Japan, and the US.
The company said the initiative aligns closely with ReElement’s strategy of deploying its modular and scalable refining technology directly at the source of critical mineral production.
ReElement has already signed agreements with partners in Quad countries and other regions including Africa, South America, and Europe, the company said.
"Neither the US nor China holds a monopoly on rare earth ore bodies," said ReElement CEO Mark Jensen. "Localizing refining not only reduces cost and time to production, but also strengthens national and allied security by minimizing global bottlenecks."
ReElement, which produces ultra-high purity rare earth and critical minerals from both recycled materials and virgin ores, said its technology can recover a range of elements crucial to defense and energy applications, including samarium, neodymium, dysprosium, terbium, lithium, and cobalt.
In June, ReElement received a $150 million letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States to support cross-border commercial efforts. As part of the US Defense Industrial Base, the company said it is well-positioned to collaborate with both defense and industrial partners in allied countries.
ReElement emphasized that its refining platform requires minimal infrastructure, is environmentally low-impact, and can be deployed in under a year, offering an alternative to traditional solvent extraction processes.
The company said it is actively seeking new partnerships with governments and companies looking to strengthen supply chains for critical and defense minerals using its "Powered by ReElement" localized refining solution.
Shares of AREC were up around 9.2% by Thursday afternoon.