The global race for critical minerals is accelerating amid rising geopolitical tension between the US and China. At the heart of this contest is access to rare earth elements—essential to everything from electric vehicles and fighter jets to data centers and missile guidance systems.
In April 2025, Beijing imposed new export controls on seven rare earth elements and the magnets made from them, exposing deep vulnerabilities in the US supply chain. A temporary six-month export reprieve agreed to in Geneva has offered some relief, but analysts warn it's little more than a stress test of Washington’s long-term strategy—or lack thereof.
Despite years of warnings, the US still depends almost entirely on China, which controls more than 90% of the world’s refining capacity for rare earths. While the Biden and Trump administrations have tried to respond with executive orders, funding packages, and strategic partnerships, progress has been slow. Meanwhile, China continues to exert leverage by demanding invasive data from foreign companies as a condition of export approval, what critics call “competitive surveillance.”
In this high-stakes environment, American Resources Corp (NASDAQ:AREC) is emerging as a key domestic player. After years of building behind the scenes, CEO Mark Jensen says the company is ready to help reshape the US rare earths landscape, from driving innovation that unlocks efficiencies in mining and refining to the downstream manufacturing of the applications these critical minerals go into like magnets, semiconductors, batteries, and other advanced technologies.
“This is our coming out moment,” Jensen told Proactive.
Challenging China with a new model
While MP Materials (NYSE: MP) has captured headlines, recently surging after the Pentagon became its largest shareholder, American Resources is taking a different approach. Rather than building around a single mine like MP’s Mountain Pass, the company is assembling an entire ecosystem leveraged through its holding company it founded, ReElement Technologies, a leading US innovator in rare earth element (REE) and critical mineral refining.
“This is the unveiling of our strategy—the one we’ve been building over the last four years,” Jensen explained.
The company has engineered a model that allows it to operate efficiently, deploy quickly, and deliver ultra-pure critical minerals at or below Chinese cost without relying on China. American Resources controls more than 30,000 acres of rare-earth-rich land and operates a vertically integrated business spanning mining waste recovery, refining, inputs for manufacturing, and materials trading. Its refining arm, ReElement Technologies—19% owned by AREC—has already demonstrated the ability to produce 99.999% pure gallium, terbium and dysprosium some of the most challenging heavy rare earths to isolate. These materials are crucial for defense applications like lasers, drones, and electronic warfare systems.
Unlike conventional players that rely on solvent extraction (a chemical intense process that is expensive and environmentally hazardous), ReElement uses a proprietary chromatographic separation method. The modular system requires substantially less chemical and utilities and can be deployed almost anywhere, urban or remote.
The flexibility is a major advantage. The company is already working with partners in Australia, Japan, and India, and recently secured a $100 million commitment to build a refining facility in Africa. The US Export-Import Bank has also issued a $150 million letter of interest to support the company’s domestic expansion.
Owning the ecosystem
Through subsidiaries and equity positions, American Resources has built a network that secures supply and expands reach beyond ReElement. It owns 100% of Electrified Materials Corp, a processor of end-of-life material such as batteries and magnets, and minority stakes in American Infrastructure Holding Corp (9%), a consolidator and royalty streamer serving global steel and alloy production, and Royalty Management Holding Corp (8%), which is focused on structuring cash flows and royalties from high-value assets. These holdings position AREC not only as a producer of upstream raw materials but as a participant in downstream applications like magnet and battery production, which is key to both commercial and defense markets.
While public conversation often centers on neodymium and praseodymium, American Resources focuses on lesser-known but strategically vital materials, such as samarium, cobalt (used in defense magnets), germanium, dysprosium, gallium, terbium (for optics and lasers and high heat resistors), and antimony trisulfide (used in ammunition). The company is already collaborating to supply some of these materials to major US defense contractors.
Taking on China’s pricing power
Another cornerstone of American Resources’ strategy is challenging China’s control over rare earth pricing. Today, pricing is opaque, dominated by Chinese state subsidies and government-run benchmarks.
“Today, China sets pricing, and now the US government is beginning to as well. The industry does not,” Jensen said. “We are going to change that.”
To counter this, the company is developing a decentralized, AI-driven pricing platform to bring transparency and market efficiency. The platform would serve not just producers and buyers but also policymakers, creating a more resilient and responsive market.
In the coming months, American Resources plans to announce new partnerships and disclose key customers, expanding its commercial and defense footprint. With rare earths becoming a front line in global power dynamics, Jensen believes his company is well-positioned to lead.
“Our goal is simple: to make rare earths and critical minerals no longer rare and no longer critical—because we’ve built the innovation and infrastructure to supply them efficiently, sustainably, and at scale,” he said.
As the US races to secure its critical mineral future, American Resources may not be the loudest or best-known name in the space, but it could be the most agile and indispensable.