FISHERS, Ind. (Mar. 31, 2026)

We are pleased to announce that in Tokyo today ReElement Technologies Corporation and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (MMC) announced a strategic collaboration to advance U.S. and allied critical mineral supply chains. This is a highly significant milestone.

This collaboration includes an investment from MMC into ReElement which underscores

MMC’s confidence in ReElement’s refining-first platform and further aligns both companies in

advancing scalable, economically viable solutions for critical mineral supply chains across the United States and allied nations.


Representing ReElement at the ceremony, Chief Financial Officer Kirk Taylor said, “We are

honored to partner with Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, a global leader in materials

innovation and resource circulation. Their commitment, expertise, and long-term vision

represent a meaningful step forward in building secure and resilient critical mineral supply

chains across the United States and allied nations. 


"Through this collaboration, we are combining MMC’s strengths in feedstock sourcing and

recycling with ReElement’s refining-first platform, which is designed to deliver high-purity

materials in a scalable, capital-efficient, and environmentally responsible manner. Together,

we are advancing a practical and economically viable solution to one of the most critical

challenges in the global supply chain,” Kirk continued

Tetsuya Tanaka, Executive Officer and President of Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, hailed the agreements as creating the future through resource circulation, and "representing an important initiative to concretely advance the enhancement and global expansion of our circular resource business."

In the U.S., the collaboration will focus on supporting ReElement’s refining operations through feedstock sourcing, tolling, and offtake opportunities, enabling the continued expansion of domestic refining capacity.


In Japan, the parties will jointly evaluate opportunities to develop and commercialize rare earth and critical mineral recycling solutions, leveraging MMC’s established recycling infrastructure and ReElement’s proprietary chromatographic refining platform.


✅ Read the full press release here.

(From the top): Kirk Taylor, ReElement Technologies Corporation Chief Financial Officer, and Tetsuya Tanaka, Executive Officer and President of Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, shake hands following the signing ceremony. Both men made remarks on the importance of the collaboration. Kirk Taylor and Tetsuya Tanaka, flanked by Shane Tragethon (left), ReElement Vice President, International Strategy, and Nobuhiro Takayanagi, President, Metals Company, after the signing ceremony.

Other March Highlights

March 26: Marion Rare Earth and Critical Mineral Refinery Buildout and Production Capacity - With global refining capacity highly concentrated outside the United States, ReElement's expansion is positioned to address one of the most significant structural gaps in the critical mineral supply chain - the midstream refining bottleneck.

The Phase 1 expansion at our Marion, Indiana, facility includes four production lines capable of processing both recycled and primary feedstocks, representing more than 16,000 metric tons of annual separated and purified oxide capacity. The project remains on schedule and under budget, with initial production expected in the Q3 2026 and full Phase 1 commissioning throughout the balance of the year.

Phase 1 Product Lines


✅ Specialty Hard Products Recycling Line – Y, Gd, Zr, Sm, Co


✅ Rare Earth Elements - Recycled Feedstocks – Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb


✅ Rare Earth Elements - Primary Feedstocks – Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb, Y, Gd, Sm

✅ Semiconductor and Strategic Materials Line – Ge, Ga


Why this matters


✅ This is another important step in scaling domestic and allied refining capacity for light and heavy rare earths and other essential critical minerals.


Click here for more details on the specific elements, their applications, and projected annual refining capacity.

March 6: Our American Resources' wholly owned subsidiary, Electrified Materials (EMCO), expanded its preprocessing capabilities with new equipment to aggregate and condition magnet materials, copper, aluminum, and ferrous metals from end-of-life products and manufacturing scrap. 

Conditioned rare earth and critical mineral feedstocks will flow directly to ReElement for advanced separation and ultra-high-purity refining, completing a fully domestic circular supply chain. Expansion will be supported by a private capital raise at the EMCO subsidiary level, and a State of Indiana recycling grant.

Why this matters


✅ The expansion responds to increasing volumes of recycled feedstocks being received by EMCO and growing market demand for domestically produced high-purity rare earth oxides. 


✅ These materials are commonly found in industries and products including EVs and e-mobility platforms; wind turbines and renewable energy infrastructure; e-waste and electronics recycling; data centers and hard disk drives; energy storage systems and lithium-ion batteries; consumer electronics and industrial power tools.

Trends

✅ White House: US-Japan collaborate on critical minerals and rare earths

✅ Tech recycling gaining traction


✅ Africa development

ICYMI, March 23: American Resources Corporation and ReElement Technologies applaud the new initiatives announced by President Donald J. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on March 19 at the White House to strengthen supply chain resilience and energy security, notably in the area of critical minerals. Read our statement. 

We congratulated our partner ERI on the launch of ERI Japan in collaboration with ITOCHU Corporation. This is a meaningful step forward for circularity, responsible electronics recycling, and the global recovery of valuable materials.

March 11: Ben Kincaid (center), CEO of ReElement Technologies Africa, joined a vigorous panel discussion on e-waste recycling at the REMADE Circular Economy and Tech Summit in Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the REMADE Institute, panelists included ERI CEO John Shegerian (a ReElement partner), and representatives from Mint Innovation, Samsung, and the Department of Energy. The discussion and audience question and answer session revealed broad interest in increasing e-waste recycling to improve the economics of resource management, developing economic incentives for recycling, product design and closing the loop in mid-stream refining. E-waste recycling is a growing sector, and we welcome more companies into the community to meet the demand for domestically refined critical minerals and rare earths.

March 20: Ben Kincaid (second from right, below) represented ReElement at the Powering Africa Summit. The discussion involved U.S. government leaders, institutional and private investors, African energy, finance and mineral leaders, and others focused on the role of Africa's critical minerals in meeting global demand. On March 25, he represented ReElement at the Veterans for Africa exploratory meeting, also in Washington, D.C. Veteran leaders and stakeholders discussed economic resilience, humanitarian resilience, innovation, impact investment, and initiatives aimed at combating terrorism and human trafficking across Africa. @ForAfrika and the @Small Farm Cities Resilience Fund hosted the Veterans for Africa interest meeting.

March 3: ReElement Further Expands IP Portfolio Complementing Direct Lithium Extraction with Patent for High-Purity Lithium Production from Brines

The new patent filing advances intellectual property for separation and purification of lithium from lithium-bearing brines.


Technology has been field-tested alongside membrane-based concentration systems, feeding into ReElement's proprietary final stage purification and high-purity output.

Why this matters


✅ Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) is an upstream technology which efficiently extracts and concentrates lithium from brines.


✅ ReElement's refining platform is uniquely positioned to convert those concentrated streams into high-purity, battery-grade lithium products.


✅ The combination enhances overall process efficiency, reduces cost, optimizes recovery, and improves final product purity. By complementing that process, we are building a stronger, more resilient, and economically competitive domestic rare earth and critical mineral ecosystem.

Upcoming Events in April

✅ April 23: The Battery Saloon @ The Battery Innovation Summit, San Francisco. Shane Tragethon, ReElement Vice President of International Strategy, will be among the panelists discussing “Overcoming Commercialization & Scale Challenges” during SF Climate Week. The summit brings together leaders who are tackling one of the hardest challenges in climate tech: scaling battery innovation. To schedule time to speak with Shane, please contact him through LinkedIn.

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To speak with or interview a member of our executive team, please contact Marjorie Weisskohl at All Seasons PR or Mark LaVerghetta through the ReElement website.

We hope you find our news brief useful, and we invite your feedback. Be sure to stay in touch!