US coal and rare earth elements producer Ramaco Resources has received an extension on its permit to mine coal and rare earth minerals from the Brook mine in Wyoming.
The company said on 29 July that the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality's land division had granted it a five-year extension on its permit for the mine near Sheridan, Wyoming, in the Powder River basin.
Ramaco told Argus that the permit currently allows for the mining and sale of up to 2.5mn short tons (st)/yr (2.27mn metric tonnes (t)/yr) of sub-bituminous coal. It was unclear if that included any rare earth elements processed with the coal. The reserve could facilitate higher production levels if allowed, Ramaco said.
"Because the rare earth and critical minerals are associated with the coal seams and intermingled ore layers, the mining of the coal will be proportional to the mining of the [rare earth elements and critical minerals]," said Christopher Blanchard, Ramaco's executive vice president for mine planning and development.
Ramaco held a groundbreaking ceremony for the mine on 11 July, celebrating "the first new coal mine in Wyoming in more than 50 years."
An economic assessment released by Ramaco on 10 July estimated the mine and its associated processing plant are capable of producing 1,000t/yr of total rare earth oxides. The elements are found within claystones and shales located above and below the sub-bituminous coal deposits and are accessible with conventional surface mining techniques.
Ramaco's previous mining permit for the Wyoming site, issued in July 2020, expired in July 2025.
The company's metallurgical coal mines, located in West Virginia and Virginia, produced 3.5mn st in 2024. The company said on Thursday that it expects the mines to produce 3.9mn-4.3mn st this year. The Brook mine is Ramaco's first mining venture in the Powder River basin.
