American Resources signs Uzbek tungsten refining test agreement
ReElement reports high-purity oxide; the Oct. 21 release gives no assay percentage, test volume or schedule for the U.S. demonstration.
Theo Marchetti
American Resources Corporation NASDAQAREC said on Wednesday that an agreement signed Oct. 19 will advance U.S. commercial testing of Uzbek tungsten after ReElement Technologies Corporation reported refining it into high-purity oxide. The program expands a November 2025 memorandum of understanding, but the Oct. 21 release gives no test tonnage, purity percentage or start date.
American Resources develops a minerals business spanning feedstock sourcing, processing and refining partnerships, and holds a strategic minority interest in ReElement. ReElement develops and operates mineral separation and refining technology.
Before Wednesday's release, American Resources shares NASDAQAREC closed at US$1.10, down 2.65 per cent, on Nasdaq at 4 p.m. EDT on Oct. 20. That closing price predates the tungsten announcement.
The other signatories are Uzbekistan Technological Metals Complex, or UzTMK, and the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, or UFRD. The agreement covers demonstration work at ReElement's U.S. facilities and preliminary engineering for potential refining operations in Uzbekistan.
U.S. Test Will Assess Commercial Viability
The planned U.S. work is intended to assess processing efficiency, product quality, scalability and commercial viability using Uzbek-sourced tungsten. The announcement describes successful initial technical validation, while the commercial demonstration remains planned.
The companies described the earlier product as high-purity tungsten oxide. Their Oct. 21 release did not include a numerical assay, recovery rate or independent laboratory result for that material.
The release calls the document an executed agreement and says the parties agreed to expanded evaluation. It does not reproduce the contract or disclose binding purchase volumes, prices, capital commitments or offtake terms.
"Our initial success in refining Uzbek-sourced tungsten provides an important technical foundation for this next phase," Mark Jensen, chairman and chief executive of American Resources and ReElement, said in the release.
Engineering Also Targets Uzbekistan
The Uzbek work includes preliminary engineering, process design and economic modelling for possible local refining operations. A joint working group representing all 4 parties will coordinate technical activities, engineering and economic evaluations, and subsequent project proposals.
The collaboration also includes opportunities for Uzbek technical specialists to visit ReElement's U.S. facilities and evaluate additional applications of its technology.
ReElement says its chromatography platform uses resin-based separation columns and can expand by adding columns. The company presents the technology as a smaller-footprint alternative to conventional solvent extraction, but the tungsten announcement gives no comparative processing cost or operating rate.
Producer Almonty Industries Inc. NASDAQALM FRAALI1 reports on its website that Sangdong in South Korea has produced tungsten for the first time since 1993. It lists Panasqueira and Los Santos among its other tungsten projects.
Read more: CME Group plans tungsten futures for early 2027 pending regulatory review
The next step is commercial demonstration at ReElement's U.S. facilities. The Oct. 21 announcement gives no start date, completion deadline or date for a subsequent project proposal.
