GREENBRIER COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A new private business venture that plans to invest $150 million in rare earth mineral development in southern West Virginia will be announced Wednesday in Greenbrier County.
According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, Secretary of State Kris Warner will participate in a July 1 press conference to welcome companies involved in a new partnership focused on extracting rare earth minerals from coal waste.
The project will use a patented process to recover rare earth minerals from millions of tons of coal tailings and coal slurry located at permitted coal mine disposal sites. The effort will begin in Greenbrier County before expanding to other parts of 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 previously served as executive director of the West Virginia 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 partnership includes Greenbrier Smokeless Coal Company of Rupert, West Virginia; Flash Metals USA Inc. of Houston, Texas; and AmForge Corporation of Washington, D.C.
According to project officials, the companies will combine advanced processing technology, expertise in large-scale 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 used in advanced technologies, national security systems and modern energy infrastructure. Officials said the United States currently depends on foreign sources for most of these critical materials, and the project is intended to help expand domestic production.
The venture is planned as a hub-and-spoke processing system, with Greenbrier County serving as the central processing hub. Once fully operational, officials expect the project to employ nearly 250 people.
Project officials also plan to announce additional commitments for infrastructure and mineral development investments designed to support expansion of the processing model across West Virginia.
In addition, officials are expected to announce mineral offtake agreements with suppliers in Greenland, Canada and Cameroon.
The agreements would allow the Greenbrier County facility to process critical minerals from international sources alongside rare earth minerals recovered from West Virginia coal tailings, further establishing the site as a domestic processing hub for critical minerals.
