InvestorNews: Chris Gibbs on Advancing American Rare Earths’ Halleck Creek and Building a U.S. REE Supply Chain

September 12, 2024 — In a recent interview with InvestorNews’ Jack Lifton, Chris Gibbs, CEO of American Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARR | OTCQX: ARRNF), discussed the current status and future plans for the company’s Halleck Creek Project in Wyoming. Gibbs, who previously held the CEO position before stepping into a non-executive director role, has returned to lead the company at a pivotal time. He emphasized the significance of recent drill results, including 299.1 meters at 4,393 ppm Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO), highlighting the project’s substantial resource of 2.34 billion tonnes. The Halleck Creek Project, specifically the Cowboy State Mine area, is a focus for ARR due to its location on state lands, which enables fast-tracked permitting. Gibbs noted that the project benefits from Wyoming government support, including over $7 million in non-dilutive state funding, a key factor in advancing the project toward its pre-feasibility study (PFS).

Gibbs explained that ARR’s vision extends beyond mining to producing rare earth metals within the United States, positioning itself as a domestic supplier of neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr). “Just producing the concentrate and shipping that off to China is not the way forward,” Gibbs remarked, emphasizing the importance of local processing to create metal products for the U.S. market. With infrastructure such as high-voltage power lines and proximity to major transport routes, Halleck Creek offers logistical advantages. Gibbs outlined a production timeline for the critical minerals project, with ongoing environmental monitoring and engineering work, and he underscored the potential for further state and federal funding.