American Rare Earth’s wholly-owned US subsidiary Western Rare Earths (WRE) is supplying feedstock to researchers seeking funding from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) new Rare Earth Elements (REE) bioengineering research program.
WRE is providing some of the very few REE mineral deposit feedstocks that qualify for use in the program.
It has provided REE (mineralised rocks or ore) to three research teams, including researchers from US national laboratories and elite American 'Research One' universities applying to the Environmental Microbes as a Bio-Engineering Resource (EMBER) program.
Valued potential feedstock provider
American Rare Earths’ managing director Keith Middleton said: “We are delighted by these potential opportunities cultivated by our US-based Leadership Team.
“Having the domestic team in place early in our journey enabled relationships with key US REE researchers in universities and the national labs to be developed.
“Timely engagement with US Government programs has put the company in the mix as a valued potential provider of REE feedstock to the emerging US REE domestic supply chain, which has become a critical objective of successive US administrations.
“We believe that the EMBER program’s focus on a strategy for REEs using domestic sources is an interesting indicator.
No competitor
“We are not aware of a competitor that is supplying multiple teams to this program.
“This provides us with a point of difference and we like our chances of potentially more than one team being awarded significant funding for their research using our mineralised ore.”
Two primary benefits
WRE is providing some in-kind donations of its staff’s services to the research teams.
In return for its participation and support of this program, WRE expects two primary benefits.
Initially, the research teams may be able to help WRE isolate the most effective and environmentally friendly extraction methods for its REE mineralised ore.
Secondly, WRE expects rights to use any new technology developed by the teams it supports, potentially saving the company money in the future by domestically processing, separating, and purifying rather than offshoring to China.
New REE supply chain
DARPA is encouraging US scientists to engineer a new REE supply chain by utilizing bioengineering or 'biomining' approaches through the EMBER program.
Biomining is more environmentally friendly than the toxic processing method synonymous with the Chinese REE industry. It will also facilitate domestic REE separation and purification, critical to lessening US vulnerability to and dependence on China.
The US has only one active REE mine, which is in Mountain Pass, California, and has operated intermittently since the 1960s but still depends on China for processing.
Given these domestic gaps, securing a US-based REE supply chain is a longstanding bipartisan priority.
This focus, coupled with multiple presidential executive orders, has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in funding support through the Department of Energy (DOE) and DOD.
Critical for renewable energy
WRE CEO Marty Weems said: “For more than a year, we have quietly cultivated supportive relationships with top researchers in the REE processing field.
“We are excited by the opportunity to contribute to securing US domestic supply chains of rare earths, and doing so in innovative, environmentally responsible and cost-effective ways,
“This program is perfectly congruent with our Environmental and Sustainability goals.
REEs are critical to the renewable energy, reduced carbon future and success in this program using our uniquely non-radioactive feedstocks could make the researcher’s jobs easier and eliminate the need to manage radioactive waste.”
EMBER program
EMBER has attracted dozens of world-class researchers working to revolutionize the 80-year-old industry.
WRE is providing some of the very few mineral deposit feedstocks that qualify for use in the program.
WRE feedstocks from Arizona and Wyoming are unique in that they are both non-radioactive and give access to almost all 17 metals in a single source.
Unlike most other REE mineral deposits, these feedstocks from WRE are not plagued with the radioactive element Thorium.