Ramaco Hires Director of Critical Minerals and Planning to Oversee Company's Rare Earth Element Development

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Jan 22, 2024, 16:30 ET

Dr. Alex Moyes brings unique experience in rare earth mining, geoscience, operations management, and data-driven production

SHERIDAN, Wyo., Jan. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ramaco Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: METC) announced today it has hired Dr. Alex Moyes as director of Critical Minerals and Planning to oversee the company's expanding rare earth element (REEs) operations.

Dr. Moyes will work with Ramaco's existing research team to manage the geological and chemical assessment of REEs located at Ramaco's Brook Mine near Sheridan, Wyoming, as well as the planning and execution of the eventual extraction of these elements. Moyes's hiring represents Ramaco's next phase in the development of these resources.

Last year, Ramaco announced that its Brook Mine may contain the largest unconventional deposit of REEs discovered to date in the United States and is found in coal and related carbon strata. The company has been developing the extent of the REE deposit over the past several years in association with government researchers from the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory ("NETL") and analysts at mining consultancy Weir International.

Initial findings have determined that the Brook Mine deposit contains levels of high concentrations of heavy and medium magnetic REEs. These are used in applications that include advanced military and electronic technologies, high-capacity batteries, semiconductors and more.

Testing and analysis on the deposit has been conducted on an ongoing basis over the past few years by third-party consultants and government researchers. An interim update to Weir's May 2023 technical report on the rare earth exploration target will be released in the near future.

Moyes brings a deep background in operations management and data-driven production to his new position, including formerly as Director of Geoscience and Engineering at Dominion Energy. His roles there included managing all subsurface planning, production engineering, and operations for numerous natural gas and oil fields, including establishing production plans and overseeing drilling programs. He also served as the company's Director of Innovation, where he led teams that performed advanced techno-economic analysis on the development of energy technology systems including oversight of all new business technologies.

Most recently, Moyes served as Vice President of Economics and Planning at FREYR Battery, a Norwegian company developing battery cell production facilities. At the company he oversaw development of techno-economic models related to raw material selection, global exports, and production line equipment technology investments. He also created the company's production, product, and supply chain assessments and benchmarks.

"The Brook Mine will potentially be the first magnetic rare earth element mine opened in the United States in decades, and therefore presents an exciting but formidable opportunity," said Randall Atkins, Chairman and CEO of Ramaco. "Alex Moyes is a brilliant geologist, manager, and engineer. We're proud he will be joining us to work alongside the Department of Energy's national laboratories to ensure the development path forward is built on a solid scientific, geological, and techno-economic foundation."

Moyes holds numerous degrees from the University of Utah, including a Ph.D. in Mining Engineering, a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Science in Economic Geology, and a Bachelor of Science in Geoscience. His doctoral dissertation involved the economic analysis of in-situ mining of rare earths in Wyoming.

About Ramaco Resources, Inc.
Ramaco Resources, Inc. is an operator and developer of high-quality, low-cost metallurgical coal in southern West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, and southwestern Pennsylvania, as well as an emerging potential producer of rare earth elements and critical minerals. Its executive offices are in Lexington, Kentucky, with operational offices in Charleston, West Virginia and Sheridan, Wyoming. The Company currently has three active mining complexes in Central Appalachia and the Brook Mine in Sheridan, Wyoming, where the company and researchers from the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory have discovered potentially world-class deposits of rare earth elements. Contiguous to the Wyoming mine it operates a research and pilot facility related to the production of advanced carbon products and materials from coal. In connection with these activities, it holds a body of roughly 50 intellectual property patents, pending applications, exclusive licensing agreements and various trademarks. For more information about us, please visit our website at www.ramacoresources.com.

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SOURCE Ramaco Resources, Inc.