Arizona Tribune - ReElement Technologies Rapidly Expands Workforce to Support Accelerating Demand for U.S. Rare Earth and Critical Mineral Refining

FISHERS, IN / ACCESS Newswire / July 21, 2026 / American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) ("American Resources") through its minority holding in ReElement Technologies Corporation ("ReElement"), a leading U.S. innovator in rare earth element (REE) and critical mineral refining, today announced the addition of 13 professionals as the Company continues to build the operational, engineering, laboratory and corporate capabilities required to commission and scale its advanced critical mineral refining platform while supporting growing commercial customer demand.

The additions strengthen ReElement across the disciplines required to commercialize advanced refining technologies, including plant operations, engineering, maintenance, laboratory sciences, finance and process optimization. The expansion directly supports commissioning of the Company's Marion, Indiana refining campus while reinforcing ReElement's demand-aligned strategy of deploying production capacity alongside commercial customer demand.

"Demand for secure, domestic rare earth and critical mineral refining is moving quickly, and we are building the organization to move just as quickly," said Kirk Taylor, Chief Financial Officer of ReElement Technologies. "These hires represent much more than additional headcount. They bring the operational, technical and financial expertise needed to commission equipment, improve processes, expand production and serve customers at commercial scale. Our technology has always been our foundation, but commercialization is driven by people. These additions bring the operational, engineering, scientific and financial expertise needed to scale our refining platform, support growing customer demand and execute on the next phase of ReElement's growth. Just as importantly, they strengthen the organizational foundation needed as we continue preparing ReElement for the public markets."

Among the newest additions are five experienced professionals who will play important roles in supporting the Company's continued growth:

With nearly 30 years of experience as a results-driven maintenance manager, Luis Garza brings deep operational expertise to ReElement. He will focus on optimizing equipment performance, strengthening maintenance practices and supporting continuous process improvement. Throughout his career, Luis has worked with Befesa USA, Zinc Nacional and other global companies across the United States, Mexico and South Korea.

Anastasiia Natova has more than 10 years of experience building first-of-a-kind industrial systems across pilot, field and commercial environments. At ReElement, she will apply that experience to the rapid scale-up of the Marion facility as the Company advances its goal of becoming a world leader in rare earth and critical mineral production.

Emma Kerr joins ReElement with more than five years of experience as an industrial engineer. In her previous role, she delivered more than $1 million in continuous-improvement savings and led teams of more than 20 frontline employees. As a member of ReElement's engineering team, Emma will help scale operations at the Marion facility and support operational excellence, manufacturing efficiency and commercial production growth..

Silvia Vargas joins ReElement from Purdue University, where her research focused on the separation and recovery of light and heavy rare earth elements from a variety of feedstocks. Her experience developing innovative, technically rigorous solutions adds valuable expertise to ReElement's laboratory team and will support the Company's continued research and process innovation. Silvia has also co-authored two patents related to bismuth and indium, both recently subject to export restrictions by China.

Sara Tanner brings more than eight years of public accounting experience to ReElement and is a Certified Six Sigma Green Belt. She has worked with clients across a range of industries and has expertise in U.S. GAAP financial reporting, consolidations, process improvement and enterprise resource planning implementations. Sara joins ReElement's accounting team to strengthen the financial systems and processes needed to support the Company's continued growth and public-company financial infrastructure.

ReElement's workforce expansion reflects the Company's continued rapid transition from technology validation to commercial execution. As additional refining lines are commissioned and customer demand continues to grow, ReElement is deliberately building the operational expertise needed to scale production in a disciplined, demand-aligned manner. This approach enables the Company to expand refining capacity alongside commercial opportunities while maintaining the flexibility, capital efficiency and operational excellence that define ReElement's refining-first model.

About ReElement Technologies Corporation
ReElement Technologies Corporation, a portfolio holding of American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC), is a leading provider of high-performance refining capacity for rare earth and critical battery elements. Its multi-mineral, multi-feedstock platform technology focuses on the refining of recycled material from rare earth permanent magnets and lithium-ion batteries, concentrated ores and brines, as well as coal-based waste streams and byproducts to create a cost effective and environmentally safe, circular supply chain. ReElement has developed its innovative and scalable "Powered by ReElement" process which collaboratively utilizes its exclusively licensed intellectual property within its partners' material processing flow sheets to more efficiently support the global supply chain's growing demand for magnet and battery-grade products. For more information visit reelementtech.com or connect with the Company on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC)
American Resources Corporation is a leader in the critical mineral supply chain, developing innovative solutions both upstream and downstream of the refining process. The company and its affiliates focus on the extraction and processing of metallurgical carbon and iron ore, essential ingredients in steelmaking, as well as critical and rare earth minerals for the electrification market and recycled metals.

Leveraging its affiliation and former parent status of ReElement Technologies Corporation, a leading provider of high-performance refining capacity for rare earth and critical battery elements, American Resources is investing in and developing efficient upstream and downstream critical mineral operations. These operations include mining interests in conventional and unconventional sources, recycling, and manufacturing.

American Resources has established a nimble, low-cost business model centered on growth, which provides a significant opportunity to scale its portfolio of assets to meet the growing global infrastructure and electrification markets while also continuing to acquire operations and significantly reduce their legacy industry risks. Its streamlined and efficient operations are able to maximize margins while reducing costs. For more information visit americanresourcescorp.com or connect with the Company on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, or achievements or industry results to differ materially from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond American Resources Corporation's control. The words "believes", "may", "will", "should", "would", "could", "continue", "seeks", "anticipates", "plans", "expects", "intends", "estimates", or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Any forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this release. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. The Company cannot assure you that the projected results or events will be achieved.

Company Contact:

Mark LaVerghetta
317-855-9926 ext. 0
[email protected]

SOURCE: American Resources Corporation

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