Known for its natural beauty, the US state of Wyoming may soon be known for something buried beneath its stunning topography: An estimated 2.34 billion metric tons of rare earth minerals (REMs), which make the world’s computing-dependent technologies possible, were recently discovered near Wheatland, a town in southeastern Wyoming.
According to American Rare Earths, the company’s wholly-owned deposits have a potential volume far greater than China’s estimated 44 million metric tons of the minerals, which could establish the US as the world’s largest supplier. At present, China supplies about 95% of the global supply of REMs, 74% of which are imported by the US.
In a technical report issued earlier this month, American Rare Earths—the US division of a Sydney, Australia-registered exploration company—disclosed that it had discovered 64% more REMs than it had originally speculated in a March 2023 land assessment. Donald Schwartz, CEO of American Rare Earths, explained the surprise upgrade to Cowboy State Daily: “Typically, you’ll see the resource decrease as infill drilling takes place—instead we’re seeing the opposite, with only 25% of the project being drilled to this point.”
The upgraded estimate came from a Fall 2023 drilling conducted by American Rare Earths that reached a depth of 1,000 feet, about double the depth of the initial, more shallow exploration in March 2023.
The company expects to mine and process neodymium and praseodymium, in particular, from its Wyoming deposits, via its Wyoming Rare (USA) Inc. unit.
Next month, they plan to disclose the value of the REMs that could potentially be mined over the next 30 years.
But don’t expect a sudden, dramatic increase in REM supply. Schwartz told Cowboy State Daily that the annual global demand for REMs is about 60,000 tons. “If you build a really big mine, can the market take all of that material?” he said. “We’re trying to make something that’s modular and scalable, that can grow in the market over time.”
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