Ramaco Resources has officially released new information on its Brook Mine project in Wyoming, marking the integration of two new third-party groups i.e. Fluor Corporation and Hazen Research, Inc. Owing to that, both the companies will now contribute towards advancing development of rare earth and critical mineral deposits at the site. Talk about all the companies that will work on this particular project moving forward, we begin from Fluor Corporation itself. As a global leader in engineering and construction, Fluor Corporation plans on conducting a comprehensive techno-economic assessment of rare earth mining operations. Once that bit is duly completed, it will leverage the stated validation and economic assessment to design the rare earth and critical mineral refining and processing demonstration plant at Ramaco’s Western operations in Wyoming. As of today, the company is looking to start construction on the new facility in mid 2025. The next company we have here is SGS, which is known for being a world-leading inspection, verification, testing, and certification company. In essence, SGS helps you with mineralogical and elemental analysis, and in case that doesn’t like enough, then we must mention how its expertise in hydrometallurgy will support various aspects of Ramaco’s flow sheet design. Joining the same is now a new partner in Hazen Research Inc. Quite similar to SGS; Hazen Research will empower the Brook Mine project by chipping in with its extensive capabilities in mineralogical and elemental analysis. Not just that, it will also leverage its physical beneficiation testing to achieve a similar purpose. All in all, the company’s prowess in what it does should greatly enhance Ramaco’s understanding of ore characteristics, and at the same time, improve beneficiation processes, critical for optimizing resource recovery.
“We are now moving with dispatch to complete chemical, mineralogical and metallurgical testing of the deposit while simultaneously doing further exploration. 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. Lastly, we are moving to complete planning, design and development steps to initiate construction on a rare earth demonstration processing facility contiguous to the mine site by middle of next year,” said Randall Atkins, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Ramaco Resources.
Rounding up partners’ line up for the Brook Mine project is National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), a company which can help you big time when it comes to continuing assessment and interpretation of the Brook Mine deposit. Apart from that, NETL is also actively collaborating with Ramaco on novel AI-assisted high-grade mapping that will help identify and target the highest concentrated areas, thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Ramaco’s mining efforts.
As for Ramaco’s own credentials, they are rooted in being an operator and developer of high-quality, low-cost metallurgical coal. At present, the company has four active metallurgical coal mining complexes in Central Appalachia and one development rare earth and coal mine near Sheridan, Wyoming. Alongside that, Ramaco also operates carbon research and pilot facility related to the production of advanced carbon products and materials from coal. It fulfills that obligation, and all the other ones, through a body of roughly 60 intellectual property patents, pending applications, exclusive licensing agreements, and various trademarks.
“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 Atkins.
