American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) has lauded the US Inflation Reduction Act's (IRA) support for a more resilient, domestic supply chain for critical minerals and highlighted how the bill is aligned with its industry-leading accomplishments.
American Resources is a next-generation and socially responsible supplier of rare earth and critical elements, carbon and advanced carbon materials to the new infrastructure and electrification marketplace.
American Resources CEO Mark Jensen said he believes it’s very important for the United States to develop a resilient and sustainable supply chain of critical and rare earth elements to significantly reduce the dependency on foreign nations.
READ: American Resources Corporation increases specialty carbon order book at record prices
“Our monumental milestone of producing the ultra-high pure and separated rare earth magnet elements neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium on a commercial scale using our next-generation chromatographic separation process technology is a massive leap forward for both our company and our nation,” Jensen said in a statement.
This environmentally safe, low cost and flexible technology will redefine how critical raw materials are located and processed, according to Jensen.
“Additionally, we applaud the federal government for the provisions within the Inflation Reduction Act that aim to support the transition towards a broader electrified economy, and at the same time supports US manufacturing,” he said.
“While the critical mineral requirements within the bill credits are aggressive and stringent, we are confident our ReElement Technologies division is in a leading position to simultaneously help recipients achieve certain standards and support the build-out of our own critical and rare earth mineral processing facilities."
The Inflation Reduction Act will extend a now uncapped US$7,500 per new clean vehicle tax credit for vehicles that meet strict critical mineral and battery source requirements.
It requires at least 40% of the value of critical minerals contained in the clean vehicle's battery to be processed in the United States, a country where the US has an established free trade agreement, or recycled in North America by 2024.
It also requires that the minimum critical mineral source requirements for clean vehicle batteries increase 10% each year until 80% meet the same requirement by 2028.
The IRA establishes an advanced manufacturing tax credit that amounts to 10% of the costs incurred to produce applicable critical minerals including both battery and magnet minerals.
It also extends the Advanced Energy Project Credit to include projects that re-equip, expand, or establishes an industrial facility for the processing, refining, or recycling of critical materials.
The company's subsidiary, ReElement Technologies, previously announced the commencement of its Noblesville, Indiana rare earth and battery mineral processing facility whereby achieving groundbreaking success in producing greater than 99.5% pure isolated dysprosium, neodymium and praseodymium/neodymium rare earth elements from end-of-life rare earth permanent magnets.
These end-of-life magnets are considered super-grade or highly concentrated feed stocks of the rare earth elements essential in high-efficiency motors in electric vehicles as well as defense and technology applications.
American Resources is on track to have its second production train commercially operating in the 4Q of 2022, which will recover and re-purify active cathode material from lithium-based batteries. ReElement Technologies, through its patented process and technology, recovers and re-purifies all of the high value components of lithium-based batteries for resale including the lithium, cobalt , nickel, manganese, graphite and carbon black.
American Resources continues to focus on running efficient streamlined operations in being a new-age supplier of raw materials to the infrastructure and electrification marketplace in the most sustainable of ways, while also helping the world achieve its goals of carbon neutrality.
By operating with low or no legacy costs and having one of the largest and most innovative growth pipelines in the industry, American Resources works to maximize value for its investors by positioning its large asset base to best fit a new age economy, while being able to scale its operations to meet the growth of the markets it serves.
American Resources has a growing portfolio of operations located in the Central Appalachian basin of eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia where premium quality metallurgical carbon and rare earth mineral deposits are concentrated.
Contact the author at susie@proactiveinvestors.com