American Resources Corporation's Electrified Materials Awarded Recycling Grant from State of Indiana

Rhea-AI Summary

American Resources (NASDAQ:AREC) subsidiary Electrified Materials Corp has secured a $911,519 matching grant from Indiana's Department of Environmental Management's Waste Diversion Project. The grant will support the expansion of recycling infrastructure for rare earth magnets and battery materials.

Electrified Materials specializes in processing used metals and minerals for recycling into steel-based, battery-grade, and magnet-grade products. The company focuses on preprocessing end-of-life waste containing critical minerals from sources like wind turbines, EV motors, lithium-ion batteries, and e-waste. These materials are then supplied to ReElement Technologies for final refinement.

The company has also established a tri-party joint venture with Lohum Cleantech and ReElement Technologies to develop circular magnet-grade and battery-grade mineral processing technology.

Positive

• Secured $911,519 matching grant for recycling infrastructure expansion
• Strategic partnership with India's largest critical minerals producer Lohum Cleantech
• Established processing pipeline through ReElement Technologies collaboration

Negative

• Requires matching funds to access the grant

Insights

Financial Analyst

American Resources 's subsidiary Electrified Materials has secured a $911,519 matching grant from Indiana's Department of Environmental Management, providing strategic funding for their rare earth magnet and battery materials recycling infrastructure. Representing approximately 2% of AREC's current market capitalization, this funding delivers meaningful non-dilutive capital to advance their specialized recycling capabilities.

The grant's significance extends beyond its monetary value by providing important external validation of AREC's recycling technology and business model. For a micro-cap company operating in the critical minerals space, securing state-level funding demonstrates credibility with government stakeholders and potentially positions them for additional public-private partnership opportunities.

AREC's strategic positioning within the circular economy for critical minerals addresses growing supply chain vulnerabilities in these materials. The company's vertical integration approach - with EMCO handling preprocessing before ReElement refines materials into manufacturing-grade products - creates operational synergies that could enhance margins if executed effectively.

Their tri-party joint venture with Lohum Cleantech further strengthens their technology development capabilities and expands their market reach. However, investors should recognize that while this grant provides important validation and funding, the timeline from infrastructure development to meaningful revenue generation typically involves multiple phases and additional capital requirements.

The critical minerals recycling landscape is becoming increasingly competitive, making technological differentiation and scale important for long-term success. This grant represents incremental progress rather than a transformative development, though it aligns with AREC's strategic roadmap and strengthens their position in a high-growth segment of the materials market.

Environmental Technology Expert

The $911,519 matching grant awarded to Electrified Materials targets a critical bottleneck in the circular economy for rare earth and battery materials: the preprocessing stage that determines overall recovery efficiency and economic viability. This funding addresses a specific technical challenge in recycling complex end-of-life products like wind turbines, EV motors, and lithium-ion batteries, where material separation presents significant engineering difficulties.

The technical approach combines preprocessing at EMCO with final refining at ReElement Technologies, creating a closed-loop system that enables the recovery of multiple critical minerals at manufacturing-grade quality. This vertical integration model potentially solves the "chicken-and-egg" problem that has historically plagued recycling efforts - the need for both collection/preprocessing infrastructure and advanced refining capabilities to develop simultaneously.

The tri-party joint venture with Lohum Cleantech introduces valuable international expertise in sustainable critical minerals production, potentially accelerating technology development beyond what EMCO could achieve independently. This collaborative approach can yield faster technical improvements in separation efficiency and process economics.

The timing aligns perfectly with intensifying supply constraints for materials essential to electrification. Rare earth magnets contain neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium - elements facing severe supply limitations as demand from EV motors and wind turbines accelerates. Similarly, battery materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel face significant supply challenges.

From a strategic perspective, developing domestic recycling capabilities reduces dependency on foreign mineral sources while simultaneously addressing waste management challenges. As regulatory frameworks increasingly mandate recycling of these materials, early movers establishing efficient preprocessing technology gain significant competitive advantages with both suppliers and downstream customers.

$911,519 grant awarded for cutting-edge equipment for the recycling of rare earth magnets and battery materials

Indiana's Recycling Market Development Program awards grants to innovative projects in the recycling sector

Electrified Materials Corporation will expand its preprocessing of end-of-life rare earth magnets, lithium-ion batteries and ferrous metals, ensuring a sustainable domestic supply chain for copper, aluminum, steel, plastic and critical minerals

FISHERS, IN / ACCESS Newswire / March 10, 2025 / American Resources Corporation's (NASDAQ:AREC) ("American Resources") announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Electrified Materials Corp ("Electrified Materials" or "EMCO"), has been awarded a $911,519 matching grant under the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's Waste Diversion Project. This initiative aims benefit Indiana's economy by expanding recycling infrastructure for recycling, creating jobs, and addressing supply chain challenges.

Electrified Materials is a cutting-edge recycler of metals to the electrified economy specializing in processing used metals and minerals to be recycled and further refined into new steel-based, battery-grade and magnet-grade products. Today, EMCO operates within the U.S. with its origins in reclaiming former thermal coal mines and industrial sites. By leveraging its regional logistics and infrastructure, along with its affiliation with ReElement Technologies Corporation ("ReElement"), a leader in critical minerals refining, EMCO aims to expand its footprint in the high-growth markets of used steel, rare-earth elements and critical battery materials. Additionally, EMCO remains committed to cleaning up old infrastructure left behind from the declining mining industry. Through its affiliation and collaboration with ReElement, EMCO will preprocess end-of-life waste containing critical minerals, such as wind turbines, EV motors, lithium-ion batteries, consumer power tools and e-waste, before supplying these concentrates to ReElement for further refinement into manufacturing-grade final products, ready to reenter the supply chain.

Mark Jensen, Chairman and CEO of American Resources Corporation commented, "As a proud Hoosier, we are excited to collaborate with State of Indiana and our Department of Energy to drive innovation in the rare earth and battery materials marketplace. We commend Indiana's Department of Energy for recognizing the importance of recycling in building a sustainable and resilient supply chain of critical minerals for national security. The leadership demonstrated by Indiana's Secretary of Energy, Suzanne Jaworoski, and her team is a true testament to effective public leadership. Our team is working relentlessly to address the needs of our defense industry, semiconductor manufacturers, magnets producers and auto OEMs, and Indiana has the potential to be at the forefront of this mission. This grant will play a key role in advancing the recycling technology necessary to innovate and efficiently meet the growing market demand."

As previously announced, EMCO has formed a tri-party joint venture with Lohum Cleantech Ltd., India's largest producer of sustainable critical minerals, and ReElement Technologies to develop circular magnet-grade & battery-grade mineral processing technology. Additionally, the company is actively engaged in discussions with several other domestic and international partners committed to cost-effectively strengthening the supply chain and advancing energy and critical mineral independence.

About American Resources Corporation

American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ: AREC) is a next-generation, environmentally and socially responsible supplier of high-quality raw materials to the new infrastructure market. The American Resources is focused on the extraction and processing of metallurgical carbon, an essential ingredient used in steelmaking, critical and rare earth minerals for the electrification market, and reprocessed metal to be recycled. American Resources has a growing portfolio of operations located in the Central Appalachian basin of eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia where premium quality metallurgical carbon and rare earth mineral deposits are concentrated.

American Resources has established a nimble, low-cost business model centered on growth, which provides a significant opportunity to scale its portfolio of assets to meet the growing global infrastructure and electrification markets while also continuing to acquire operations and significantly reduce their legacy industry risks. Its streamlined and efficient operations are able to maximize margins while reducing costs. For more information visit americanresourcescorp.com or connect with the American Resources on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About Electrified Materials Corporation

Electrified Materials Corporation ("EMCO") was formed by, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of, American Resources Corp (Nasdaq: AREC). EMCO is a cutting-edge recycler of metals for the electrified economy. It controls the preprocessing of both end of life magnets, batteries and ferrous metals that enables EMCO to ensure a domestic supply chain for copper, aluminum, steel, plastic as well as rare earth and battery elements through its refining partnership with ReElement Technologies Corp.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, or achievements or industry results to differ materially from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond American Resources Corporation's control. The words "believes", "may", "will", "should", "would", "could", "continue", "seeks", "anticipates", "plans", "expects", "intends", "estimates", or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Any forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this release. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. The Company cannot assure you that the projected results or events will be achieved.

Investor Contact:
JTC Team, LLC
Jenene Thomas
(908) 824 - 0775
arec@jtcir.com

Company Contact:
Mark LaVerghetta
317-855-9926 ext. 0
investor@americanresourcescorp.com

SOURCE: American Resources Corporation

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

FAQ

What is the value of the recycling grant awarded to AREC's Electrified Materials?

Electrified Materials Corp received a $911,519 matching grant from Indiana's Department of Environmental Management's Waste Diversion Project.

What types of materials will AREC's Electrified Materials recycle with the grant funding?

The company will recycle end-of-life rare earth magnets, lithium-ion batteries, wind turbines, EV motors, consumer power tools, and e-waste containing critical minerals.

What is the partnership structure between AREC's Electrified Materials and ReElement Technologies?

Electrified Materials preprocesses critical minerals waste and supplies these concentrates to ReElement Technologies for final refinement into manufacturing-grade products.

Who are the partners in AREC's tri-party joint venture for mineral processing technology?

The joint venture consists of Electrified Materials Corp, Lohum Cleantech (India's largest sustainable critical minerals producer), and ReElement Technologies.