American Rare Earths grows Halleck Creek resource by 12%

American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR) has announced a significant increase in resource at its Halleck Creek project in Wyoming, further establishing what is already one of the largest rare earth deposits in North America.

The new JORC-compliant resource estimate now exceeds 2.63 billion tonnes, representing a 12.2% increase over the previous estimate. The resource has an average grade of 3,926 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO), containing 8.65 million tonnes of TREOs.

A major component of the project is the Cowboy State mine, the first phase of development within the Red Mountain area. Its resource total also grew by 29.4% to 543 million tonnes, along with a 2.7% increase in TREO grade to 3,438 ppm.

The resource growth, says American Rare Earths, highlights the “transformational scalability” of the project.

Mining Intelligence had ranked Halleck Creek as one of the world’s top 10 rare earth projects measured in TREOs. Due to the strategic importance of rare earths, the project is being considered for a loan of US$456 million from the US Export-Import Bank to support its phased development.

“This resource update demonstrates the continued growth, scale and strategic importance of Halleck Creek as a cornerstone project for the US rare earth supply chain,” American Rare Earths CEO Chris Gibbs commented in a news release Wednesday.

Gibbs also highlighted the project’s “remarkable” upside potential, given the current resource covers only about 16% of the greater Halleck Creek surface area, and the deposit remains open at depth and along strike.

The updated resource, according to American Rare Earths, is expected to have a positive impact on Halleck Creek’s project economics. The company is now integrating the resource data into a new scoping study, set to be released next month, as well as a pre-feasibility study (PFS), which it aims to complete later this year.

At the same time, metallurgical test work continues to highlight the potential for cost-efficient processing at Halleck Creek. The previous scoping study found that approximately 90% of the waste material can be removed during gravity and magnetic separation, thereby significantly increasing grades through physical separation methods prior to leaching, which would cut operational costs. Results of testing are anticipated this quarter.

American Rare Earths gained 1.8% to A$0.28 apiece by market close Wednesday in Australia. The company has a market capitalization of A$139.3 million.