American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) announced that its majority-owned ReElement Technologies division has successfully produced greater than 99.5% pure isolated dysprosium, neodymium and praseodymium/neodymium rare earth elements (REEs) from its first commercial-scale rare earth and battery element isolation and purification facility in Indiana.
Achieving ultra-high purity levels of these REEs comes from the facility’s first commercial run through its ligand-assisted displacement (LAD) chromatography production train, the company said.
“We have stated from day one that not only would we be first in the US to commercially produce separated and ultra-high purity rare earth elements, but we would also do so in an economically viable process utilizing unprecedented environmentally-safe methods,” American Resources CEO Mark Jensen said in a statement. “Our initial production we believe showcases that chromatography, in the isolation and purification of rare earth and critical elements, when used at commercial scale actually produces better results than when in the lab.”
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He added: “Today we can say we have significantly exceeded our initial anticipated results in producing isolated and greater than 99.5% pure rare earth elements. Furthermore, by using end-of-life magnets as our initial feedstock to recycle for their constituent elements, we are also addressing our sustainability needs and bringing the circular economy for these elements online. Today we are focused on optimizing and planning for our aggressive expansion of battery and magnet elements for the domestic market over the next twelve months.”
American Resources believes that its chromatographic separation and purification will replace the existing environmentally and socially toxic alternatives used around the globe for rare earth and critical element isolation and purification, therefore significantly reducing the US’ dependency on foreign countries for the supply of critical raw materials.
The ReElement division is also working with customer third-party labs to provide such analysis as part of its sales process with domestic and international customers, the company said.
Looking ahead, the chromatography technology can be operated in a continuous process in multiple facilities to maximize throughput and maintain a low-cost structure while minimizing logistics and carbon footprint.
American Resources’ battery material production train is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of this year. It will use a slightly modified and patented multi-mode chromatography process to recycle the constituent battery elements back to battery-grade purity on an isolated basis.
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