American Resources Corp (AREC)

[RandyKCMO]

Zonks…. More News…. American Resources Corporation to Build 200,000 Square Foot Combined Commercial Scale Lithium Ion Battery and Rare Earth Magnets Recycling Facility

New Facility Will Expand To Process 90,000 Tons of Critical Battery Materials (Black Mass) and 5,000 Tons of Rare Earth Magnets Annually by 2025

Site Selection Has Been Narrowed to Controlled Property in Either Indiana or West Virginia With Design and Engineer Already Commenced

FISHERS, IN / ACCESSWIRE / September 16, 2022 / American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) ("American Resources" or the "Company"), a next generation and socially responsible supplier of rare earth and critical elements, carbon and advanced carbon materials to the new infrastructure and electrification marketplace, today announced that its majority owned subsidiary, ReElement Technologies LLC, has commenced engineering, planning and development for its second lithium-ion battery and rare earth magnet recycling and metal recovery facility utilizing its patented chromatography technology to produce 99.9%+ pure critical battery material and 99.5%+ rare earth elements.

Mark Jensen, Chief Executive Officer of American Resources Corporation commented, "The opportunity to continue the growth of our ReElement division is real and present given the demand for domestically produced battery and magnet grade materials. With the recent passing of the Inflation Reduction Act and the rapid adoption of electric vehicles the demand for such products is seeing rapid grow, and the versatility of our technology enables us to move quickly and cost effectively to provide a real solution. Beyond this facility, we are in numerous discussions on potential joint venture opportunities for customized, co-located facilities in both the United States and Europe. Given the minimal environmental and land footprint required of our process, we can efficiently expand our operations as the supply of end-of-life materials expands versus overbuilding and running inefficiently in the early years, but also expand rapidly in the out years as the market and feedstocks expand. Additionally, given our corporate structure, we have the ability to finance this project through non-dilutive sources at the ReElement level."

The Company has narrowed the site selection for this 200,000 square foot facility to one of two controlled properties. The first being Noblesville, Indiana which is approximately 40 acres of industrial-zoned land located less than 5 miles from its first commercial purification facility. The second location being considered is at a controlled property in West Virginia nearby the Company's existing site for premium mid vol carbon processing and electrolysis technology which will be deployed as part of the Company's previously announced tax-exempt bond issuance.

The facility will be initially constructed and expanded as the market for end-of-life magnets and battery material feedstock expands by adding additional magnet and battery purification capacity through its modular design. The annual capacity by 2025 is projected to exceed 95,000 tons of battery black mass or battery waste material (35,000 tons of high purity isolated battery elements) and 6,000 tons of rare earth magnet (2,000 tons of high purity isolated rare earth elements) processing capabilities.

ReElement Technologies sources end of life magnets and batteries that are further processed into an aqueous-based solution to be separated and purified back to magnet and battery grade materials so that they can be reused in the manufacturing of new batteries, magnets or other technologies. The Company's chromatography technology replaces the need for hydrometallurgical / solvent extraction in the separation and purification step in the metal recovery / recycling process. Furthermore, its patented process and technology is unique in that it can purify targeted materials to greater than 99.5% on an isolated or mixed basis, and enables the Company to have flexibility and versatility in what products and form we provide our customers.