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American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR) (OTCQX: ARRNF) announced Thursday that the Cowboy State mine at its Halleck Creek project in Wyoming has been approved for up to $7.1 million in state-backed non-dilutive funding through a grant.
The funding agreement was reached with support from the Wyoming Energy Authority (WEA) and the University of Wyoming Energy Resources Council (ERC) with the mission to support projects to advance the state’s energy economy.
American Rare Earths’ subsidiary, Wyoming Rare, holds the Halleck Creek project, which was named by Mining Intelligence last year as one of the world’s top 10 rare earth projects measured in total rare earth oxides (TREO). The unit recently rejected a $400 million SPAC takeover offer.
The Australian-headquartered company published in March the results of a scoping study for Halleck Creek, confirming its potential to become a world-class rare earth elements project.
Based on a mineral resource estimate updated in February, Halleck Creek holds 2.34 billion tonnes grading 3,196 parts per million (ppm) TREO, including neodymium and praseodymium oxides, for 7.48 million tonnes of contained TREO. This includes 1.42 billion tonnes in the measured and indicated category.
These figures represent a 128% increase over an estimate last year at a grade of 3,295 ppm TREO.
The funding will be used for further exploration drilling and bulk sampling on state mineral leases, baseline environmental studies for state permitting, a pilot processing plant, prefeasibility studies, and economic and community impact assessments, the company said.
“We are thrilled to receive this support from the state of Wyoming and the WEA, which not only represents technical validation of the project by industry experts at the ERC and WEA, but a shared commitment to permit and develop a commercial rare earth mine and processing facility in Wyoming,” American Rare Earths CEO Donald Swartz said in a news release.
“Wyoming is committed to lead the US energy industry and support like this is why the state has been so successful in attracting investment in exploration and mining across the resource sector,” Swartz said.
“Wyoming is investing in the future of the energy industry and exploring new opportunities,” WEA executive director Rob Creager added. “The American Rare Earths mine will give us greater insight into potentially one of the largest deposits of rare earth materials in the United States.”
American Rare Earths is also advancing the Beaver Creek project, also in Wyoming; the La Paz project in Arizona; and the Searchlight project in Nevada.
By market close Thursday, American Rare Earths’ shares were up over 10% on the OTX market, with a market capitalization of $88.2 million.
