Mulberry–Ramaco Brook mine rare earth MoU: supply and processing notes for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Mulberry Industries has signed a non-binding offtake MoU with Ramaco Resources for customised rare earth oxide blends from the Brook mine in Wyoming, billed as the United States’ first new rare earth and critical mineral mine in more than 70 years and sourced from coal and carbonaceous ore. Ramaco has begun full-scale mining and is building a pilot processing plant to supply oxides including samarium, NdPr, yttrium, gallium and Dy/Tb on a non-exclusive basis. Mulberry will use the domestic feed to supplement its 10-year stockpile for NdFeB, SmCo and AlNiCo magnet production at its Georgia plant for defence, aerospace, automotive and robotics customers.
Technical Brief
- Ramaco has secured a second five-year land use approval from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.
- Full-scale mining is already underway at the Brook mine near Sheridan, concurrent with pilot plant construction.
- Customised oxide blends under negotiation explicitly include samarium, NdPr, yttrium, gallium and dysprosium/terbium.
- Mulberry operates an end-to-end SmCo magnet production line in Georgia, unusual among Western manufacturers.
- The MoU is explicitly non-exclusive, allowing Ramaco to place Brook mine output with multiple downstream users.
Our Take
Brook mine’s rare earth and gallium focus lines up with US policy support: a recent item on the US “One Big Beautiful Bill” flagged US$7.5 billion plus Department of Energy funding aimed specifically at rare earths and gallium, which could improve downstream processing and offtake optionality for Mulberry Industries and Ramaco Resources in the USA.
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s second five‑year land use approval signals relatively predictable permitting tenure for Brook Mine, which is valuable for long‑lead rare earth and titanium supply contracts that Western aerospace manufacturers are trying to lock in through to around 2044.
In our database, only a subset of the 53 keyword‑matched critical minerals pieces involve coal‑hosted rare earths in the US West, suggesting Brook Mine sits in a niche segment where operators can command strategic attention from both defence and clean‑tech buyers compared with more common hard‑rock REE projects.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
Construction
Quality control software for construction companies with material testing, batch tracking, and compliance management.
CMRR-io
Streamline coal mine roof stability assessments with our cloud-based CMRR software featuring automated calculations, multi-scenario analysis, and collaborative workflows.
HYDROGEO-io
Comprehensive hydrogeological testing platform for managing, analysing, and reporting on packer tests, lugeon values, and hydraulic conductivity assessments.
GEODB-io
Centralised geotechnical data management solution for storing, accessing, and analysing all your site investigation and material testing data.