Ramaco Resources Inc. said it found two more rare minerals at a coal mine in Wyoming, which it said is one of the largest deposits of rare earth elements in the U.S., according to a Dec. 6 report in the foreign press.

The rare-earth mine the coking-coal producer is investigating also contains gallium and germanium, two minerals on which China recently imposed export controls, Randall Atkins, the company's chief executive officer, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. The discovery of those materials could make the mine worth as much as $37 billion, he said.

In July, China announced restrictions on gallium and germanium as part of a tit-for-tat technology trade war with the US and Europe. The Pentagon signed its first contract with a U.S. or Canadian company to recycle gallium before the end of the year. Gallium is a mineral used in semiconductors and military radar systems. The Kentucky-based company has been in contact with the U.S. Department of Defence about the discovery, Atkins said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

Atkins told investors he wouldn't give a timetable for when the company would start producing or processing rare earth elements. He said in a television interview Wednesday that Ramaco would spend 12 to 24 months analysing how to extract the minerals.
[Source - CKNews.com]