Rare Element Resources Ltd. (Rare Element) engages in the exploration of mineral properties.
Rare Element is focused on advancing the company's Bear Lodge rare earth elements project (the 'Bear Lodge REE Project'), including demonstrating the technical and economic feasibility of the company's proprietary rare earth elements recovery and separation technology through the permitting and licensing, construction, and operation of a planned demonstration scale recovery and separation plant ('Demons...
Rare Element Resources Ltd. (Rare Element) engages in the exploration of mineral properties.
Rare Element is focused on advancing the company's Bear Lodge rare earth elements project (the 'Bear Lodge REE Project'), including demonstrating the technical and economic feasibility of the company's proprietary rare earth elements recovery and separation technology through the permitting and licensing, construction, and operation of a planned demonstration scale recovery and separation plant ('Demonstration Plant'), while postponing further exploration of its Sundance gold project (the 'Sundance Gold Project', together with the Bear Lodge REE Project the 'Projects'). Both Projects are located primarily on the Bear Lodge property, near the town of Sundance in the state of Wyoming (the 'Bear Lodge Property').
The company's main assets include its proprietary rare earth processing and/or beneficiation and separation technology and its 100% interest in a group of unpatented mining claims and repurchase rights to adjacent private property, together known as the Bear Lodge Property, owned through a wholly owned subsidiary, Rare Element Resources, Inc., a Wyoming corporation.
The company is focused on demonstrating the technical and economic feasibility of the company's proprietary recovery and separation technology through the permitting and licensing, construction, and operation of a planned Demonstration Plant and advancing the Bear Lodge REE Project located near the town of Sundance in northeast Wyoming. The Bear Lodge REE Project consists of several large, disseminated REE deposits and a planned hydrometallurgical plant to be located near Upton, Wyoming. The Bear Lodge REE Project is one of the highest-grade REE deposits identified in North America containing a favorable distribution of CREE.
In its development efforts for the Bear Lodge REE Project, the Ccmpany has done extensive laboratory bench-scale and pilot plant testing on metallurgical processes to recover saleable rare earth products and has been granted two patents on its metallurgical processing innovations. Among them, the company has pilot tested and received patent protection on a rare earth separation technique that modifies conventional solvent extraction methods for rare earth separation expected to be more cost efficient and environmentally sound, involving minimal waste effluents discharged from the process.
The Bear Lodge REE Project deposit is located near excellent mining infrastructure, including good road access and power lines within two kilometers of the property.
The Bear Lodge Property contains two projects, the Bear Lodge REE Project and the Sundance Gold Project. The Bear Lodge REE Project consists of the Bull Hill mineral district, inclusive of the Bull Hill and Whitetail Ridge deposits and the exploration targets of East Taylor and Carbon, all of which are located near Sundance, Wyoming (together the 'Bull Hill District'). The Bear Lodge REE Project also includes the proposed hydrometallurgical plant site to be located on private property in Upton, Wyoming that the company has an option to purchase. The company holds its interest in the Bear Lodge Property through the company's indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Rare Element Resources, Inc., a Wyoming corporation.
The Bear Lodge Project is located seven air miles (11 kilometers) or 12 road miles (19 kilometers) northwest of the town of Sundance, Wyoming, which is on U.S. Interstate Highway 90, and 22 air miles (35 kilometers) west of the South Dakota state line. The Bear Lodge Property is accessible by paved and well-maintained gravel roads. The Bear Lodge Property lies within the Black Hills National Forest along the crest of the northern part of the Bear Lodge Mountains, a narrow northwest-trending range. Physiographically, it is the northwest extension of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and is characterized by rolling grass and pine-covered mountains that reach elevations of 1,950 meters within the Bear Lodge Property. The mountains have moderate slopes covered by western yellow pine forest interspersed with dense thickets of brush. Narrow grassy meadows cover the upper reaches of seasonal drainages. The lowest point within the Bear Lodge Property is about 1,768 meters in elevation. The climate during the summer is warm and relatively dry, followed by cold winters with variable amounts of snow.
The company controls 100% of the mineral rights at the Bear Lodge Property, consisting of unpatented mining claims and a right of repurchase on adjacent private land. The company holds 499 unpatented mining claims located on land administered by the USFS. The Bear Lodge Property is located within parts of Sections 5, 7 through 9, Sections 14 through 23 and Sections 26 through 35 in Township 52 North and Range 63 West, Sixth Principal Meridian, Crook County, Wyoming.
The company's 100% interest in the 499 unpatented mining claims was, in part, acquired from Phelps Dodge Exploration Company (now a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. ('Freeport')) by way of a Mineral Lease and Option for Deed in 2000, and 404 claims were transferred from Newmont Mining Corporation ('Newmont') to the company in May 2010.
Patents, Trademarks and Licenses
As of December 31, 2022, the company had filed U.S. provisional patent applications relating to processing methods, including (1) selective recovery of REEs from mixed chloride leach solutions using oxalic acid, and (2) separation of thorium from bulk REEs in a solvent extraction ('SX') process. These provisional applications provided the basis for the current patent portfolio, which includes two issued U.S. patents and one pending U.S. divisional patent, one pending foreign application, and fourteen issued foreign patents across thirteen foreign jurisdictions. The issued U.S. patents have a term of 20 years measured from the filing date of the utility patent applications. The company licensed its intellectual property, including patents and related technical information to Synchron in October 2017, in which the license became exclusive to Synchron and its affiliates in October 2019. The company retains a limited use right to use its intellectual property and any enhancements thereto. See 'Item 1A. Risk Factors' of this Annual Report. Several of these technologies have potential value for application in other industries.
Environmental Regulation
The company's Bear Lodge Property in Wyoming is subject to federal and state environmental laws, regulations, and permits. The federal agency with primary regulatory jurisdiction is the U.S. Forest Service (the 'USFS'), Bear lodge Ranger District, Sundance, Wyoming. The state agency with regulatory jurisdiction is the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. The company operates under approvals and permits granted by these two agencies and has established a surety bond to ensure environmental reclamation of areas disturbed.