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Celebrating 23 years in the industry, InvestorNews Inc. is the proud publisher of InvestorNews.com, your premier source for capital market and equity funding news. Known for unbiased reporting by elite analysts and seasoned journalists, InvestorNews presents online and in-person events via InvestorTalk C-presentation Q&A series. Investor.Coffee offers regular interviews and podcasts. They also spearhead the Critical Minerals Institute, promoting critical minerals essential for a decarbonized economy.

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October 26, 20268 min

The Best Defense: Why Wicheeda Matters to Korea

Defense Metals Corp. (TSXV: DEFN | OTCQB: DFMTF) is positioning its Wicheeda project in British Columbia as a potential Canadian source of rare earth materials for Korean industrial supply chains. In an InvestorNews interview with Tracy Hughes, President, CEO and Director Mark Tory outlined the priorities behind his trip to Seoul, including meetings with Hanwha and an appearance before Korean corporations at a British Columbia government event. Tory’s investment case centres on Wicheeda’s metallurgy and its potential to reduce the amount of material requiring downstream chemical processing.Tory is travelling to the 22nd International Rare Earths Conference, taking place October 27–29, 2026. The visit also provides an opportunity to advance discussions under the non-binding memorandum of understanding announced in May with Hanwha Ocean Co. Ltd. and Hanwha Corporation. That framework covers potential long-term offtake and strategic investment, subject to further due diligence, negotiations and definitive agreements.Hanwha’s interest also reflects the Korean group’s ambitions in Canada’s naval and maritime sectors. The May announcement described a potential partnership aimed at securing the critical materials needed for those capabilities. For a Korean industrial group, that places a Canadian rare earth project within a wider strategy for its manufacturing supply chains.Tory said Hanwha is reviewing Defense Metals’ data room as the parties explore potential investment, offtake and technical support. He indicated that any agreement would likely come in 2027.At Wicheeda, Tory identified bastnaesite and monazite among the rare earth minerals supporting the project’s processing case. He described the ability to upgrade material grading approximately 2.4% total rare earth oxides, or TREO, into a concentrate grading about 50% through crushing, grinding and flotation. “It all revolves around the metallurgy and the ability for us to upgrade from that 2.4% TREO in the ground to a 50% concentrate grade,” he said.The commercial significance, in Tory’s assessment, is the effect on the hydrometallurgical plant, where the concentrate undergoes chemical processing. A higher concentrate grade means less material needs to pass through that stage for a given rare earth output, potentially reducing plant size and costs. He described the intended advantage as “lower capex, lower opex to get the same output.” For prospective Korean partners, those costs are central to assessing Wicheeda as a potential long-term supplier.To read the full column, go to: https://bit.ly/4z8UH5E Disclaimer: Video interviews and other video content published by InvestorNews are produced as part of paid media services. The issuer or company featured in this video has compensated InvestorNews for the creation and publication of such content. The views expressed in these interviews are those of the interviewees or guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of InvestorNews, its writers, or its affiliates. For full details, please refer to our complete disclaimer at www.investornews.com/disclaimer

October 19, 202612 min

Australian Rare Earths Advances the AR3 ANSTO Pilot and Neo Performance Offtake Plans

Australian Rare Earths Limited (ASX: AR3) is advancing its Koppamurra pilot programme at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to generate the technical results and customer samples needed to support rare earth offtake agreements. In an InvestorNews interview with Tracy Hughes, Managing Director and CEO Travis Beinke explained how the work will help prospective buyers evaluate the company’s mixed rare earth oxide product while informing its definitive feasibility study. An existing non-binding offtake memorandum of understanding with Neo Performance Materials Inc. (TSX: NEO | OTCQX: NOPMF), covering half of planned Stage 1 production, gives AR3 a commercial relationship to build on as it advances customer qualification and financing discussions.“Yes, we do have a non-binding MOU for offtake for half of our Stage 1 production with Neo Performance Materials,” Beinke said. Neo became a shareholder when AR3 listed in 2021 and has provided technical support as Koppamurra has developed. The relationship gives AR3 access to downstream expertise as it advances discussions about the eventual sale of its production. The memorandum of understanding remains non-binding, with definitive commercial arrangements still to be secured.The pilot programme is centred on ANSTO’s purpose-built facility for clay-hosted rare earths, where AR3 is the first industry participant. Approximately 30 tonnes of Koppamurra material are being used in a campaign designed to validate the full processing flowsheet and generate mixed rare earth oxide samples for prospective offtakers. Beinke said access to an existing facility reduces the capital and time the company would otherwise need to establish its own pilot plant. “It also saves us a significant amount of time, being able to utilize the great facility that’s been built at ANSTO,” he said.AR3’s September 10, 2026 update showed the programme advancing into downstream product recovery. Its first heap leach column cycle, using approximately eight tonnes of ore, had generated rare earth-bearing solution that was subsequently processed through a mixed rare earth hydroxide precipitation circuit. That hydroxide is an intermediate product to be further refined into the mixed rare earth oxide samples intended for customer assessment. The campaign is scheduled to continue through December 2026, collecting operating and engineering data for the definitive feasibility study, which the company is targeting for completion in 2027.For the larger construction funding requirement, Beinke identified potential debt support from Export Finance Australia and possible investment by offtakers as options the company is exploring. “We do think there are going to be opportunities with the likes of Export Finance Australia to provide the debt component for the project,” he said. He also sees scope for customers interested in securing the proposed rare earth product to consider financial participation in its development. Those possibilities remain financing options the company is evaluating as it works toward a construction funding package.Asked how AR3 allocates capital between its projects, Beinke was unequivocal about Koppamurra’s priority. “The vast majority of our capital, our resources and our focus is on delivering this project into production as quickly and efficiently as we can,” he said.Disclaimer: Video interviews and other video content published by InvestorNews are produced as part of paid media services. The issuer or company featured in this video has compensated InvestorNews for the creation and publication of such content. The views expressed in these interviews are those of the interviewees or guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of InvestorNews, its writers, or its affiliates. For full details, please refer to our complete disclaimer at www.investornews.com/disclaimer

October 19, 202611 min

Rackla Metals Bets on High-Grade Canadian Tungsten

The tungsten grades that attracted Union Carbide to Lentung more than four decades ago are showing up again in drill core from Rackla Metals Inc. (TSXV: RAK). The company’s October 13 drilling results included a 17.95-metre downhole interval grading 2.28% tungsten trioxide (WO₃), adding fresh evidence to the historical record at its Northwest Territories project. The mineralization’s proximity to surface gives management another reason to examine its development potential. In an InvestorNews interview with world renowned critical minerals expert Jack Lifton, CEO Simon Ridgway explained how Rackla plans to combine these results with Union Carbide’s extensive drilling database to establish a current mineral resource.Union Carbide Exploration Corporation acquired the property, previously known as Lened, in 1976 and completed 26,900 metres of drilling in 178 holes between 1977 and 1982. Rackla’s January 2026 account of that work cites a 1980 historical estimate of 2.82 million tonnes grading 1.27% WO₃ across the Western Skarn and Stephens Ridge zones. That estimate predates NI 43-101 and must not be treated as a current mineral resource. Its value today lies in the geological information available for verification and the development questions it allows Rackla to investigate.In early 1982, Union Carbide submitted the project to the federal Environmental Assessment and Review Process seeking a mine permit, then withdrew its application as tungsten prices declined. The Bhopal disaster followed in December 1984, while Dow’s acquisition of Union Carbide was completed in February 2001. Those events belong to a longer corporate history; the documented reason for suspending the project in 1982 was deteriorating tungsten prices. The investment question is whether modern technical work and sustainable market conditions can now support development.Rackla arrived at tungsten through gold exploration. During its regional work in 2025, the company evaluated intrusions around Lened for gold potential, found that much of the historical drill core remained recoverable, and staked the property. The geological connection is meaningful: Lentung’s scheelite mineralization occurs in altered limestone beside Cretaceous intrusions belonging to the Tungsten Suite. For a company exploring the broader Tombstone Gold-Tungsten Belt, the opportunity emerged from following the geology into a different commodity.Ridgway described the hillside geometry as “a very simple mining scenario,” reflecting his interest in an open pit concept. The reported drill intervals are not true widths, however, and favourable geometry is only one part of a mine design. Modern engineering and metallurgical work must establish how the mineralization could be mined and processed, with recoveries, slope stability and costs determining the economics.The next major milestone is a current mineral resource estimate. Rackla’s October corporate presentation targets the first or second quarter of 2027, consistent with Ridgway’s interview comments about initially aiming for the first quarter before acknowledging that “it will likely be the second quarter.” That gives investors a defined milestone to follow. The estimate should help establish the scale, grade and geological confidence available to support subsequent engineering and economic work.To read the full column, go to: https://bit.ly/3TM3IT3 Disclaimer: Video interviews and other video content published by InvestorNews are produced as part of paid media services. The issuer or company featured in this video has compensated InvestorNews for the creation and publication of such content. The views expressed in these interviews are those of the interviewees or guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of InvestorNews, its writers, or its affiliates. For full details, please refer to our complete disclaimer at www.investornews.com/disclaimer

October 19, 202615 min

American Rare Earths Is Betting That Scale Is the Easy Part

At Halleck Creek, Mark Wall’s priority is turning a vast Wyoming rare earth resource into a commercially viable American supply chain. In a recent conversation with Tracy Hughes, the Chief Executive Officer of American Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARR | OTCQX: ARRNF) explained why growing the deposit is no longer the company’s immediate focus. That shift is the most interesting thing about American Rare Earths right now, and it frames both the opportunity and the risk.The headline numbers come from the updated Scoping Study for the Cowboy State Mine, the initial development phase of Halleck Creek in Wyoming. It estimates an after-tax net present value of approximately US$1.07 billion at an 8% real discount rate and an after-tax internal rate of return of 21%. Initial capital is estimated at approximately US$900 million, including contingency, and the model assumes an NdPr oxide price of US$151 per kilogram. These are preliminary project economics, with no ore reserves declared, rather than an established valuation of the company or a completed mine-to-magnet business.Wall’s gloss on the scale is the telling part. The initial mine plan “uses around 4% of the resource, which really just gives a sense of scale of this deposit.” The broader Halleck Creek mineral resource stands at approximately 2.63 billion tonnes, grading 3,292 parts per million total rare earth oxides. The distinction matters: the initial mine plan uses a small fraction of Halleck Creek, while the Cowboy State Mine resource itself represents a substantially larger share of the overall deposit.That is why the latest drilling focused on improving geological confidence and supporting development studies. Infill drilling can support future reserve estimation, but declaring reserves also requires the relevant technical and economic assessments. Wall described the mineralization as “porphyry-like”, contiguous and consistent, and said the campaign also tested theories about where grade runs a little higher. In a bulk, low-grade system, modest grade gains in the early years can matter disproportionately to payback. That detail deserves more attention than the drill metres.The harder question is whether the company can help carry the project from rock through to the magnet supply chain. Wall is explicit that this is the ambition. “This is a technology business,” he said. “We’re trying to get through to the end product, which is a magnet, which essentially enables technology to move.” The upstream, he concedes, is “a fairly simple mine.” The difficulty, and much of the potential value, lies downstream in processing, separation and metallization, where commercial execution remains to be demonstrated.The pilot program is therefore the thing to watch. At the time of the interview, Wall said material had been mined and crushed in Wyoming and that the concentration circuit was awaiting a final equipment item. The company’s published program envisages concentration work in Wyoming followed by hydrometallurgical processing at Saskatchewan Research Council, with separated rare earth oxide targeted for late Q2 2027. Wall says hydrometallurgical recoveries are already very good and identifies physical separation as the place “where we see real opportunity to improve further the economics of the project by increasing the recoveries.”To read the full column, go to: https://bit.ly/4dOSfsv Disclaimer: Video interviews and other video content published by InvestorNews are produced as part of paid media services. The issuer or company featured in this video has compensated InvestorNews for the creation and publication of such content. The views expressed in these interviews are those of the interviewees or guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of InvestorNews, its writers, or its affiliates. For full details, please refer to our complete disclaimer at www.investornews.com/disclaimer

October 14, 202613 min

Element One Advances Twin Sisters Magnesium and Targets Hydrogen Field Tests

Element One Hydrogen & Critical Minerals Corp. (CSE: EONE) is evaluating a potential U.S. magnesium supply opportunity at Twin Sisters in Washington State, following assays of up to 28.46% magnesium. In a recent InvestorNews interview with host Tracy Hughes, Brad Kitchen, President, CEO and Director, explained how access to existing quarry material could support the company’s development plans while its hydrogen research progresses. The strategy combines a proposed magnesium operation with efforts to generate hydrogen from rock and explore for naturally accumulated hydrogen.At Twin Sisters, eight samples returned magnesium values ranging from 26.39% to 28.46%, alongside nickel values of 2,660 to 3,305 parts per million. Element One’s memorandum of understanding with Millbank Materials provides the right to purchase up to 50,000 tonnes of material annually, with an option to increase that amount to 100,000 tonnes. Kitchen said sourcing material from an established operator could reduce the work required to develop a new mine and associated infrastructure. “They just deliver it effectively to our front door,” he said.Asked which magnesium product Element One intends to bring to market first, Kitchen was direct: “We will be producing magnesium oxide.” He described a proposed closed-loop process designed to recover valuable minerals while limiting waste, with nickel and silica also discussed as potential products. Kitchen sees the Washington State opportunity as a possible earlier source of revenue while the company develops its hydrogen business. His objective is to reach cash flow within approximately two years, a management target that remains dependent on successful development.The next step at Twin Sisters is to establish recoveries and product quality through testing with Revora Materials Inc. in New York. In its September 25 update, Element One said the work would evaluate mineral separation, processing inputs and costs using Revora’s IonMet electrochemical platform. Recovery rates, product specifications and economic viability have yet to be established, and the company had made no decision to construct a pilot or commercial facility. The feedstock volumes contemplated by the MOU therefore describe potential access to material, rather than forecast production.Element One’s hydrogen research centres on accelerating reactions in ultramafic rocks, which contain minerals that can participate in hydrogen-generating processes. Kitchen said laboratory work with Dr. Greeshma Gadikota and her team at Columbia University is focused on improving hydrogen extraction rates and refining the conditions needed for those reactions. Under a two-year sponsored research agreement announced in May, Element One committed US$1.67 million to research into hydrogen stimulation and the potential co-recovery of critical metals. The agreement provides that Columbia retains ownership of inventions and research results generated under the program, subject to Element One’s option to negotiate licenses to certain resulting inventions or information.Disclaimer: Video interviews and other video content published by InvestorNews are produced as part of paid media services. The issuer or company featured in this video has compensated InvestorNews for the creation and publication of such content. The views expressed in these interviews are those of the interviewees or guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of InvestorNews, its writers, or its affiliates. For full details, please refer to our complete disclaimer at www.investornews.com/disclaimer

October 9, 20266 min

On the Road to Gold Queen, Silver Bullet Mines Finds a Mine History Forgot

When Silver Bullet Mines Corp. (TSXV: SBMI | OTCQB: SBMCF) began extending its access road from the Columbia Mine toward the Gold Queen Mine, the objective was straightforward: reach the second of two past-producing mines within its Columbia / Gold Queen Complex. Along the way, the company discovered a third.The Steamboat Mine appears in historical records, but its precise location had been lost over time. Silver Bullet's field team rediscovered it unexpectedly while clearing the new road, uncovering remnants of an earlier mining operation, including underground rail tracks, mule harnesses, bags and empty dynamite boxes."This was a serious mine," Peter Clausi, Vice President of Capital Markets and a Director of Silver Bullet Mines, told InvestorNews host Tracy Hughes during a recent interview. "And if they were using mules, history will tell you there's a certain grade of gold that goes with that."The discovery came as Silver Bullet reported four newly identified zones it considers prospective for high-grade gold, all located beside the new access road. The company has also identified what it believes are thousands of tons of mineralized material in historical surface stockpiles, likely associated with previous operations at the Gold Queen Mine.The potential significance of those discoveries remains subject to assay results. Clausi acknowledged the distinction between what the field team can observe and what Silver Bullet can establish through technical analysis and disclose under Canada's NI 43-101 framework."The eye sees a lot," he said. "But let's see what the assay lab tells us."Results from samples taken from the first of the newly identified zones are expected shortly, according to Clausi. Some samples are being submitted to an independent ISO-certified laboratory in addition to testing conducted through the company's own facilities.Of the new developments, the historical stockpiles could have the most immediate implications for Silver Bullet's economics. Unlike material that must first be drilled, blasted and removed from underground, stockpiled material has already been mined and brought to surface, potentially eliminating a substantial portion of the extraction costs associated with conventional mining."It reduces our processing cost because the cost of extraction has already been incurred by somebody else," Clausi explained. Disclaimer: Video interviews and other video content published by InvestorNews are produced as part of paid media services. The issuer or company featured in this video has compensated InvestorNews for the creation and publication of such content. The views expressed in these interviews are those of the interviewees or guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of InvestorNews, its writers, or its affiliates. For full details, please refer to our complete disclaimer at www.investornews.com/disclaimer

October 9, 202635 min

Quantum eMotion’s Plurilock Acquisition Accelerates Its Push into Quantum Cybersecurity

Quantum eMotion Corp. (NYSE American: QNC | TSXV: QNC) is preparing for a significant expansion of its cybersecurity business following its definitive agreement to acquire Plurilock Security Inc. (TSXV: PLUR | OTCQB: PLCKF). The proposed transaction brings together Quantum eMotion’s proprietary quantum technology and Plurilock’s established commercial operations, creating an opportunity to accelerate the introduction of quantum cybersecurity solutions to government agencies and major corporations.During a recent InvestorNews interview hosted by Tracy Hughes, Dr. Francis Bellido, President, CEO and Director of Quantum eMotion, and Ian Paterson, CEO of Plurilock Security, discussed the strategic rationale behind the acquisition, the commercial opportunities emerging from quantum computing and the growing urgency surrounding cybersecurity threats.For Bellido, the acquisition addresses one of the greatest challenges facing technology companies: transforming years of research and development into commercial revenue. Quantum eMotion has invested substantially in developing proprietary quantum random number generation technology, but establishing a commercial sales organization requires different expertise. Plurilock offers an existing platform with customer relationships, technical advisory capabilities and an established record of commercial execution.Paterson explained that Plurilock has grown substantially since going public in 2020, lifting annual revenue from roughly C$500,000 to nearly C$61 million in 2025. He said about half its business comes from public-sector customers, with the rest from large commercial enterprises. In August, its Integra Networks subsidiary was named one of the contract holders under a five-year NATO cybersecurity procurement framework, giving the company its first position to compete for NATO task orders.The combination is particularly attractive because Plurilock already works with institutions evaluating emerging cybersecurity technologies. Rather than building a new commercial organization, Quantum eMotion intends to introduce its proprietary products through established customer relationships. Paterson believes this approach could substantially accelerate commercialization while allowing Plurilock to expand beyond distributing third-party solutions into selling technology owned by the combined organization.The transaction also has important financial implications. Paterson highlighted Quantum eMotion’s stronger balance sheet, access to major U.S. capital markets and the potential for improved margins through proprietary technology sales. Plurilock has been working toward profitable growth, and the acquisition could provide additional resources to support that transition. For Quantum eMotion, the objective is to accelerate revenue generation while reducing some of the commercial risks associated with bringing new technology to market. Hughes also questioned Bellido about the recent appointment of Bernard Crotty, former Chairman and CEO of Certicom, as an independent director. Bellido explained that the appointment reflects Quantum eMotion’s efforts to strengthen corporate governance following its NYSE American listing. Crotty brings extensive experience in cryptography, corporate leadership and law, including his involvement with Certicom, which was acquired by Research In Motion, now BlackBerry.To access the complete InvestorNews.com column - https://bit.ly/4hXEsBk Disclaimer: Video interviews and other video content published by InvestorNews are produced as part of paid media services. The issuer or company featured in this video has compensated InvestorNews for the creation and publication of such content. The views expressed in these interviews are those of the interviewees or guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of InvestorNews, its writers, or its affiliates. For full details, please refer to our complete disclaimer at www.investornews.com/disclaimer

October 7, 20268 min

Critical Metals, Trump Demand and Christopher Ecclestone’s Warning on What Comes Next

The critical minerals boom may be real, but Christopher Ecclestone believes the market is approaching a more discriminating phase, one in which simply owning a project containing a strategically important metal will no longer be enough. During a recent InvestorTalk interview hosted by Tracy Hughes, Ecclestone, Principal and Mining Strategist at Hallgarten + Company, discussed the central argument behind his latest monthly resource review, Critical Metals, Trump Demand. His thesis is potentially uncomfortable for a sector enjoying extraordinary political attention. Some of today’s critical mineral shortages are structural, some are temporary, and others may prove considerably less severe than the prevailing narrative suggests.“A lot of this is being driven at the moment by Trump,” Ecclestone said, pointing particularly to the Trump administration’s focus on China and the vulnerability of Western mineral supply chains. But political attention, he cautioned, should not be confused with permanent commodity fundamentals. The challenge is determining which commodities face enduring supply constraints capable of supporting new mines and processing capacity over many years, and which are experiencing shortages that could disappear before many development-stage projects ever reach production.That distinction is particularly important in mining, where projects conceived during periods of exceptionally high prices may require years of permitting, financing, construction and commissioning before producing their first commercial material. If a shortage disappears during that period, the economics that originally attracted capital can change dramatically. “What we need to do now is work out which of these investments in critical metals have a long-term good prospect because the shortage is going to be long-term,” Ecclestone said, “and which of them is just temporary.”For Ecclestone, antimony may be providing an early warning. He described it as the “canary in the coal mine,” pointing to the sharp retreat in prices after the extraordinary surge that followed China’s export restrictions. His concern is not that antimony has ceased to be strategically important, but that the price movement demonstrates how quickly the economics surrounding a supposedly acute shortage can change. A geopolitical supply disruption can create extraordinary prices, but those same prices encourage alternative sourcing, substitution, inventory adjustments, recycling and new production.Ecclestone applied similar skepticism to gallium and germanium. China dominates global gallium production and has used export controls as part of its broader critical minerals policy, yet semiconductor and other downstream manufacturing outside China has continued. For Ecclestone, that raises questions about how impermeable such restrictions really are and whether material is continuing to find its way into international markets through alternative channels. His broader point is that Chinese dominance remains strategically important, but global supply chains can be more adaptive than the most dramatic shortage scenarios imply.The conversation also turned to the remarkable resurgence of mining finance in Canada. TMX Group reports that mining companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange raised approximately C$16 billion in equity capital during 2025, with 54 new mining listings during the year. Ecclestone was actually less impressed by the number of new listings than by the amount of capital raised, arguing that conventional listing statistics do not necessarily capture the full level of activity because resource companies frequently reach the public markets through Capital Pool Companies and reverse takeovers.To read the full column, go to: https://bit.ly/4dVZLBQ

October 6, 202611 min

Grid Metals’ Lucy South Emerges as the West’s Second-Largest Cesium Resource in Active Development

Cesium occupies an unusual corner of the critical minerals market. It is extraordinarily rare, strategically important and used across industries ranging from energy and telecommunications to defense, yet it remains unfamiliar even to many experienced resource-market participants. For Grid Metals Corp. (TSXV: GRDM | OTCQB: MSMGF), that scarcity is becoming increasingly important following the announcement of a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate at the Lucy South pegmatite on its Falcon West Property in southeastern Manitoba.During a recent InvestorNews interview hosted by Tracy Hughes, Robin Dunbar, President, CEO and Director of Grid Metals, discussed the significance of the new resource and the company's plans to move Lucy South toward development. Grid reported an open-pit measured resource for the Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum Zone of 51,500 tonnes grading 2.58% Cs₂O and 1.47% Li₂O, containing 1,322 tonnes of Cs₂O. Within it is a higher-grade Pollucite Zone containing 15,600 tonnes grading 5.19% Cs₂O and 1.76% Li₂O. The resource averages approximately 20 metres below surface, remains partly open in several directions and, according to Grid, establishes Lucy South as the second-largest cesium resource being actively developed globally by Western-domiciled exploration and development companies.“It's probably about half of one year's global supply of cesium feedstock, so significant,” Dunbar told Hughes. “And the deposit is also significant. It's near surface in a great location, easy to extract, easy to process.” Those characteristics take on additional importance because cesium supply is highly concentrated and new primary sources are exceptionally uncommon. Grid estimates that only six cesium-bearing pollucite deposits have been discovered globally and only three primary cesium mines have ever operated.A Rare Metal with Strategic ApplicationsThe cesium market is broadly divided between cesium formate, used as a high-density drilling and completion fluid in demanding oil and gas wells, and a collection of specialized technology applications. Dunbar pointed to uses in petrochemical refining, optical and medical technologies, defense applications, night-vision equipment and atomic clocks associated with GPS and telecommunications networks. He also highlighted emerging applications such as perovskite solar cells, where cesium could play a role in future generations of photovoltaic technology.“The world would use more cesium if you had it,” Dunbar said. “But it's incredibly rare.” That rarity is closely connected to geology. Pegmatites themselves are common, but economically interesting concentrations of cesium occur only in highly fractionated pegmatites, with pollucite representing the preferred mineral feedstock for the cesium chemicals industry. Cesium has consequently been designated a critical mineral by both Canada and the United States, where supply-chain vulnerability has elevated interest in potential Western sources.Location and Processing Could MatterTo read the full column, go to: https://bit.ly/4ebqU3J Disclaimer: Video interviews and other video content published by InvestorNews are produced as part of paid media services. The issuer or company featured in this video has compensated InvestorNews for the creation and publication of such content. The views expressed in these interviews are those of the interviewees or guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of InvestorNews, its writers, or its affiliates. For full details, please refer to our complete disclaimer at www.investornews.com/disclaimer

September 23, 202619 min

American Resources’ Mark Jensen Builds a Critical Minerals Ecosystem Using “Platform Orchestration”

In critical minerals, ambition is often described as a straight line from the orebody to the finished magnet. Mark C. Jensen, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ: AREC), is deliberately building something less linear and potentially more adaptable.“I’m not a mine-to-magnet guy,” Jensen said in a recent InvestorNews interview. “There is very little chance that one company is going to solve all these problems.” That conviction sits behind American Resources’ “platform orchestration” strategy: a network of specialist businesses, investments and commercial partners addressing different links in the critical minerals supply chain.The distinction matters. American Resources owns approximately 17% of ReElement Technologies Corporation, the refining business it founded and later separated, and 100% of Electrified Materials Corporation, which aggregates and preprocesses end-of-life magnets, batteries and other recyclable materials. American Resources is also pursuing interests in mines and unconventional feedstock sources.Under Jensen’s model, mining specialists run mines, refining specialists run refineries and manufacturers make finished products. American Resources seeks economical material and strategic positions; ReElement concentrates on separation and purification; and commercial partners provide feedstock, industrial scale, offtake or downstream manufacturing. It is horizontal expansion within each area of competence, joined vertically through contracts, equity interests and partnerships.The strategy grew out of a problem rather than a fashionable investment thesis. Jensen and his business partner acquired distressed coal operations and inherited significant environmental obligations. Their team began recovering metals from mine-affected water to reduce treatment costs, only to discover that concentrating the material was easier than refining it economically.Conventional solvent extraction did not solve that cost problem. The search for another route led to chromatography work associated with Penn State and Purdue University and to the expertise of Dr. Linda Wang. An attempt to lower environmental costs became ReElement’s technological foundation just as Western governments and manufacturers began confronting their dependence on China-dominated refining capacity.ReElement’s chromatographic platform is designed for mineral concentrates, recycled permanent magnets, battery black mass and manufacturing byproducts. Its Noblesville, Indiana, qualification facility produces rare earth oxides and critical battery materials, while the larger Marion campus is intended to expand commercial output. Jensen said Marion’s planned lines encompass germanium, gallium, magnet materials and mixed rare earth carbonate feedstocks.The commercial validation is increasingly difficult to dismiss. After a lengthy technical review, POSCO International moved from evaluating ReElement’s capabilities to a formal partnership. In May 2026, POSCO International announced that it and ReElement had signed an agreement to establish a U.S. joint venture. The parties plan to invest a combined US$200 million in a rare earth separation and purification facility with targeted annual capacity of 6,000 tonnes, followed by integrated permanent magnet production. Pilot production is planned for late 2027 and mass production for 2028. Disclaimer: Video interviews and other video content published by InvestorNews are produced as part of paid media services. The issuer or company featured in this video has compensated InvestorNews for the creation and publication of such content. The views expressed in these interviews are those of the interviewees or guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of InvestorNews, its writers, or its affiliates. For full details, please refer to our complete disclaimer at www.investornews.com/disclaimer

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