Nasdaq-listed Ramaco Resource has secured a $6.1-million matching grant from the Wyoming Energy Authority. The funding, authorised by Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, will support the development of a rare earth and critical minerals pilot processing facility, set to be constructed north of Sheridan near the company's Brook mine.

The grant will match Ramaco’s planned investment in the facility, which will be dedicated to processing rare-earth elements and other critical minerals from coal and carbonaceous ore deposits at the Brook mine. According to the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, the Brook mine is one of the largest unconventional deposits of these elements in the world.

Ramaco chairperson and CEO Randall Atkins said the discovery that the state's rich coal resources also contained rare earths and critical minerals placed Wyoming at the centre of delivering the nation's energy and national security requirements. 

“For over 15 years, Ramaco has proudly called Sheridan home and invested in the people and economy of Wyoming," he said. "Ramaco is proud to have the support of Governor Gordon and to invest alongside the Wyoming Energy Authority's matching grant in the Wyoming CORE Brook mine project in Sheridan. The Wyoming legislature had the foresight to fund this programme. Now Governor Gordon, and the authority are putting it to good use by creating new jobs and economic development for the people of Wyoming. After many years of investment, we are now moving this project of national importance forward and we are committed to making our community and Wyoming proud.”

The $6.1-million in funding will be used to design, construct, and equip the facility, which will employ innovative technologies to produce concentrated mixed rare earth oxides (MREO) and other critical minerals. The facility will be built on Ramaco-owned property, which is zoned industrial, with initial construction set to begin in the fall of 2025. Once operational, it will be the first facility in the nation to use advanced, energy-efficient methods to convert carbon ores into MREO and separated oxides through beneficiation and hydrometallurgy.

Besides its coal, rare earths and critical minerals assets in Wyoming, Ramaco is also known for its metallurgical coal production in southern West Virginia and south-western Virginia.