American Resources Corporation's Electrified Materials Receives RCRA Permit for Recycling Batteries and Rare Earth Magnets

Rhea-AI Summary

American Resources Corporation's (NASDAQ:AREC) subsidiary, Electrified Materials Corp (EMCO), has secured a crucial Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit from the EPA and IDEM. This permit enables EMCO to preprocess and recycle end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and rare earth magnets at its Noblesville, Indiana site. The company will process materials from sources like wind turbines, EV motors, and consumer electronics to produce critical mineral concentrates. These will be supplied to ReElement Technologies for refinement into high-purity (99.5% to 99.999%) materials for domestic defense and commercial supply chains. The initiative is supported by a $900,000+ grant from Indiana and represents a comprehensive circular lifecycle solution for critical materials recycling in the United States.

Positive

• Secured RCRA permit enabling recycling operations for lithium-ion batteries and rare earth magnets
• Received $900,000+ grant from the State of Indiana
• Strategic partnership with ReElement Technologies for refining capabilities
• Ability to produce high-purity materials (99.5% to 99.999%)
• Established infrastructure with power and substation at Noblesville site

Negative

• None.

Insights

Environmental Resource Economist

AREC's new recycling permit creates revenue streams from critical minerals while positioning the company in the growing circular economy for battery materials.

This RCRA permit represents a significant operational milestone for American Resources Corporation, enabling its Electrified Materials subsidiary to fully monetize the recycling process for lithium-ion batteries and rare earth magnets. The permit specifically allows for preprocessing and recycling end-of-life products to extract valuable materials including copper, aluminum, ferrous metals, and critical minerals.

The strategic value here is substantial. This creates a circular economy business model where AREC can process waste streams into high-value inputs for domestic supply chains. The company has positioned itself at a critical junction in the sustainability ecosystem - taking materials that would otherwise be discarded and transforming them into refined products with 99.5% to 99.999% purity through their partnership with ReElement Technologies.

What's particularly notable is the $900,000+ grant from Indiana, indicating government recognition of this recycling operation's importance to domestic resource security. The company appears to have overcome technical challenges faced by earlier market entrants, developing more efficient and safer preprocessing technologies.

The business model leverages existing infrastructure from AREC's historical operations in reclaiming coal mines, creating operational synergies while addressing environmental remediation needs. This permit effectively expands AREC's addressable market to include high-growth sectors like wind turbine components, EV motors, consumer electronics, and e-waste - all significant waste streams with valuable embedded materials.

By establishing this critical minerals recovery pathway, AREC is positioning itself in an emerging market with substantial growth potential as the volume of end-of-life batteries and electronics continues to increase exponentially with the electrification transition.

Electrified Materials recycles lithium ion batteries and rare earth magnet material to create MREC and Battery Black Mass from end-of-life and non-spec products

The permit enables Electrified Materials to monetize copper, aluminum and ferrous metals along with critical minerals and rare earth elements at its Noblesville, IN site

FISHERS, IN / ACCESS Newswire / May 14, 2025 / American Resources Corporation's (NASDAQ:AREC) ("American Resources") announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Electrified Materials Corp ("Electrified Materials" or "EMCO"), has received its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). This permit enable EMCO to preprocess and recycle products containing end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and rare earth magnets to produce critical mineral concentrates that will be supplied to ReElement Technologies to be refined into magnet and battery-grade materials for the domestic defense and commercial supply chains.

Mark Jensen, Chairman and CEO of American Resources Corporation commented, "The full life cycle solution we've created provides a streamlined and collaborative platform to efficiently return critical minerals, rare earth elements, and defense metals back into the domestic supply chain. Securing this permit-along with the installation of our power and substation at our Noblesville, Indiana site-marks a key milestone in scaling our recycling and refining partnership with ReElement Technologies. Together, our ecosystem of incubated companies now delivers the first truly comprehensive circular lifecycle solution in the United States capable of processing and refining end-of-life and off-spec products into high-purity (99.5% to 99.999%) critical materials, rare earths, and defense metals. This permit, combined with the $900,000+ grant from the State of Indiana and our strategic alignment with ReElement, will accelerate our expansion and strengthen our domestic footprint."

Mark Jensen further added, "Many early market entrants deployed underdeveloped processes that ultimately lacked scalability or efficiency. Today, our preprocessing (recycling) technologies have been significantly refined - making them safer, more efficient, and more versatile than ever. We're excited to demonstrate a solution that can be scaled and replicated in other states and countries currently under evaluation."

Electrified Materials (EMCO) is a next-generation recycler focused on supporting the electrified economy by processing used minerals and metals into new steel-based, battery-grade, and magnet-grade products. Operating across the U.S., EMCO traces its roots to reclaiming former thermal coal mines and industrial sites. By leveraging regional logistics and infrastructure, and through its strategic partnership with ReElement Technologies - a leader in critical mineral refining - EMCO is expanding into high-growth markets for used steel, rare earth elements, and key battery and defense materials. The company is also committed to remediating legacy mining infrastructure. EMCO will preprocess end-of-life materials such as wind turbines, EV motors, lithium-ion batteries, consumer electronics, and e-waste, delivering concentrated critical minerals to ReElement for final refinement into manufacturing-grade products ready to reenter the domestic supply chain.

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 does the RCRA permit mean for AREC's recycling operations?

The RCRA permit allows AREC's subsidiary Electrified Materials to legally preprocess and recycle end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and rare earth magnets at its Noblesville, Indiana facility, enabling the production of critical mineral concentrates for domestic supply chains.

How much funding did AREC receive from the State of Indiana for its recycling operations?

AREC received a grant exceeding $900,000 from the State of Indiana to support its recycling and refining operations.

What types of materials will AREC's Electrified Materials recycle?

Electrified Materials will recycle end-of-life materials including wind turbines, EV motors, lithium-ion batteries, consumer electronics, and e-waste to produce critical mineral concentrates.

What is the purity level of AREC's refined materials?

Through its partnership with ReElement Technologies, AREC can produce high-purity materials ranging from 99.5% to 99.999% pure.

How does AREC's recycling partnership with ReElement Technologies work?

Electrified Materials preprocesses end-of-life materials to create mineral concentrates, which are then supplied to ReElement Technologies for final refinement into manufacturing-grade products for the domestic supply chain.