The INSIDE TRACK

U.S. Critical Materials Reports Independent Lab Confirms up to 10% Rare earth Oxides at Depth at Sheep Creek Montana Claims

U.S. Critical Materials Corp. announced that rare earth samples taken from 125 feet underground confirm over 10% (100,000 ppm) of total rare earth oxides (TREO), including high levels of neodymium and praseodymium. These rare earth readings far exceed any other domestic rare earth resource. The results included channel samples from 2 underground adits (tunnels) unsealed in October 2022 and sampled in November 2022. These adits are dug up to 400 feet horizontally and are 125 feet below the surface. The analytical results were obtained from Activation Labs, Ancaster, Canada.

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Advanced Scramjet Engine Powers Hypersonic Vehicle Flight in Partnership with DARPA, AFRL, Lockheed Martin

In partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and Lockheed Martin team, an advanced Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet engine powered the recent flight (announced January 30) of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). This is the second successful flight test for this team.

Launched from a B-52, the test flight exceeded Mach 5 while traveling more than 300 nautical miles at altitudes exceeding 60,000 feet, accomplishing all primary test objectives. The DARPA HAWC program aims to develop and demonstrate critical technologies to enable an effective and affordable air-launched hypersonic cruise missile system. This test flight increased the amount of scramjet-powered vehicle performance data to help bring this vision to fruition.

“Aerojet Rocketdyne is proud to be a key part of the team demonstrating maturity in advanced hypersonic flight,” said Eileen P. Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO, and president. “With a second successful flight test now complete, we are, along with our partners, one step closer to making affordable hypersonic flight a reliable capability in support of the national defense.”

The U.S. Critical Materials claims at Sheep Creek, Montana, contains twelve (12) essential critical minerals needed for the world’s evolution toward electrification and a sustainable economy.” In addition to high grades of rare earth, remarkably, the underground data continues to show a low thorium level below 500 parts per million (ppm). This will negate the need for an NRC permit and make extraction and processing easier, faster, and less damaging to the environment.

Jim Hedrick, US Critical Materials President and former rare earth commodity specialist for the United States Geological Survey (USGS), stated, “The combination of high-grade rare earth, low thorium, and carbonatites 125 feet below the surface is a geological phenomenon that does not exist in other reported U.S. deposits. Throughout my career independently evaluating rare earth properties within the U.S., I have never encountered a property with the grades generated by Sheep Creek. I firmly believe that this project will continue to produce exceptional results and further our objective of opening a new district-scale rare earth destination to address U.S. industry and government’s critical rare earth needs.”

Aerojet Rocketdyne has continued to improve the aerothermal performance, affordability, scalability, and rapid manufacturability of scramjet engines to meet emerging needs for hypersonic missile and aircraft applications.

Along with innovative scramjets, Aerojet Rocketdyne manufactures a wide range of products to support hypersonics, including solid rocket motor boosters, warheads, and missile defense technologies.