Rare earths mining and processing company Pensana has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nasdaq-listed American Resources Corporation and US critical mineral refiner ReElement Technologies.

Under the terms of the MoU, the companies have agreed to a shared commitment to develop a sustainable, independent rare earth supply chain to meet rising demand from US and allied defence and commercial industries.

The MoU also proposes an offtake of up to 20 000 t/y of ultra-clean mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) from Pensana’s Longonjo mine, in Angola, over a five-year period, with pricing to be agreed.

The MoU also includes the integration of ReElement’s advanced refining platform, which offers a high-throughput, low-waste and cost-effective process to produce ultra-pure separated rare earth oxides.

Further, it calls for strategic cooperation between the parties to strengthen and secure the global rare earth value chain and explore additional joint opportunities.

The MoU also paves the way for the companies to collectively leverage the Lobito Corridor in Angola for low-cost, efficient access to global export markets.

ReElement has been refining rare earth materials for customer validation and for commercial sale at its Noblesville, Indiana, facility since 2023. The company continues to expand capacity, including major development at its large-scale Marion, Indiana, supersite, to meet growing demand from US and allied defence and commercial industries.

“Our partnership and MoU with Pensana represent a major advancement toward building a true mine-to-magnet global rare earth supply chain. Securing mineral independence requires innovation, not imitation, and legacy solvent-based refining methods simply won’t be competitive or scalable in the modern market.”

“We had the opportunity to welcome the Pensana team to our facilities recently where we discussed production schedules, quality of product, and long-term vision. We [welcome] the opportunity for our partnership together to completely disrupt the global supply chain for rare earth oxides.”

Partnering with Pensana allows us to secure a reliable source of high-quality MREC and [helps us build] a domestic rare earth supply chain that meets the growing needs of US industry,” ReElement CEO and chairperson Mark Jensen said.

“Both teams share a clear vision for establishing an efficient, scalable and resilient supply chain for magnet-metal rare earths, [which are] critical to the US and allied defence and commercial industries.”

“This collaboration with ReElement builds on our recently announced offtake agreement for a similar tonnage of MREC with Toyota Tsusho and our plans for downstream magnet metal production in the UK and Asia.”

“The signing of this MoU marks another important milestone in Pensana’s journey to build a globally diversified and resilient magnet metal rare earth supply chain,” Pensana CEO Tim George added.