"This exciting new partnership in Greenbrier County
represents a new era of innovation for West Virginia coal,"
WV Secretary of State Kris Warner
Charleston, W.Va. – A new business venture focused on the development of rare earth minerals will be announced on Wednesday, July 1st, in Greenbrier County, WV.
WV Secretary of State Kris Warner will attend and participate in a press conference on Wednesday to welcome the companies involved in a new partnership with national implications. That new partnership will feature the use of a patented process to extract rare earth minerals from millions of tons of coal tailings and coal slurry found in permitted coal mine disposal sites, initially in Greenbrier County and eventually throughout West Virginia and neighboring states.
"What makes this announcement so remarkable is not only the size of the investment, but what it represents," said Secretary of State Kris Warner, who served as the Executive Director of the WV Economic Development Authority from 2021 through 2024.
"This project is funded primarily through private investments. No state government subsidies. No state taxpayer funding. No state incentives. Instead, investors have looked at West Virginia, studied our natural resources, recognized the value of our workforce, and concluded that this is the right place to put $150 million to work. That kind of confidence speaks volumes," Warner said.
The companies involved in this partnership come from across the United States. Namely, Greenbrier Smokeless Coal Company of Rupert, WV; Flash Metals USA, Inc. of Houston, TX; and AmForge Corporation of Washington, D.C.
Together, they bring state-of-the art processes, expertise in complex resource and infrastructure projects, and access to one of the nation's largest reserves of Mid-Vol coking coal to extract rare earth minerals from West Virginia coal tailings.
Rare earth minerals are essential to advanced technologies, national security systems, and modern energy infrastructure. Currently, American manufacturers rely on foreign sources for the overwhelming majority of these critical materials. This new venture represents a significant step toward expanding domestic production of these critical resources.
Project officials describe the initiative as a hub-and-spoke model processing facility, with Greenbrier County, WV, serving as the central hub. When fully operational, the Greenbrier County project is expected to employ nearly 250 people. Project officials also plan to announce additional commitments for infrastructure and mineral development investments that will support expansion of the hub-and-spoke model throughout West Virginia.
In addition, project officials are expected to announce mineral offtake agreements involving suppliers in Greenland, Canada, and Cameroon. These agreements will allow the Greenbrier County facility to process additional critical minerals from international sources alongside rare earth minerals extracted from coal tailings throughout West Virginia, further establishing the facility as a domestic processing hub for critical minerals.
Details of the press conference are as follows:
WHEN:
Wednesday, July 1st
Starting at 1:00 PM
WHERE:
Offices of Greenbrier Smokeless Coal Company
4547 Anjean Road in Rupert, WV.
PARTICIPATING:
Kris Warner
WV Secretary of State
Amanda Hale, President & CEO
Greenbrier Smokeless Coal, LLC (Rupert, WV)
Drew Horn, Chief Strategy Officer & Co-Founder
AmForge (Washington, DC)
Steve Ragiel, President & Managing Director
Flash Metals USA (Houston, TX)
Members of the media are encouraged to attend. The individuals listed above will be available for interviews after the press conference.
