Ramaco Resources, Inc. said it is working with several groups to advance the development of a deposit containing rare earth elements and critical minerals at its Brook mine, located near Sheridan, Wyo.
“We are excited to have assembled a world-class team of experienced parties in the rare earth and critical mineral fields. Working with our internal critical minerals group, they will help guide and execute on Ramaco’s plans to develop what we feel will be one of our nation’s largest and soon first new rare earth project of its type in the United States,” said Randall Atkins, chairman and CEO, Ramaco Resources.
The company has hired Fluor Corp. to conduct a comprehensive techno-economic assessment of rare earth mining operations. Based on this validation and economic assessment, Fluor will also be designing the rare earth and critical mineral refining and processing demonstration plant. Ramaco said it is planning to start construction on this new facility in mid-2025.
Ramaco has also hired SGS and Hazen Research to assist with the project. SGS will provide mineralogical and elemental analysis. Additionally, their expertise in hydrometallurgy will support various aspects of Ramaco’s flow sheet design. Hazen Research is contributing its mineralogical and elemental analysis capabilities, as well as physical beneficiation testing. Their work will enhance Ramaco’s understanding of the ore characteristics and improve beneficiation processes, critical for optimizing resource recovery.
The National Energy Technology Laboratory is assisting in the continuing assessment and interpretation of the Brook deposit. They are also collaborating with Ramaco on novel AI-assisted, high-grade mapping that will help identify and target the highest concentrated areas, thereby improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Ramaco’s mining efforts.
“We are now moving with dispatch to complete chemical, mineralogical and metallurgical testing of the deposit while simultaneously doing further exploration,” Atkins said. “This will inform our overall techno-economic analysis, which we expect to complete with Fluor later this year. We anticipate also releasing additional testing results on our exploration and chemical analysis from Weir International later this Fall.”
