A Calgary-based mining company has filed 21 mineral lode claims in theBear Lodge Mining District of northeast Wyoming, marking another entry into the state's exploding rare earth industry.
Argyle Resources Corp. announced this week that it has partnered with Elko, Nevada-based Rangefront Mining Services to stake claims on federal land north of Sundance in Crook County.
The claims, collectively named the Sundance Bear Lodge REE Project, are located on Black Hills National Forest land where mining claims are managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Brian Goss, president of Rangefront Mining Services, said his company has been seeing increased activity in rare earth exploration after years of focusing primarily on uranium projects in Wyoming.
“This rare earth stuff has picked up, and there's been quite a few years where I haven't seen this type of work,” said Goss.
Rangefront specializes in claim staking, which Goss described as putting "monuments on the ground to delineate the claim or claims" using wooden stakes, followed by filing the claims with both the BLM and county authorities.
Goss said his company is well-suited for operating in Wyoming's remote locations like the Bear Lodge Mining District.
"We are the type of people who love this type of work, and we love getting out in these areas and working in remote areas," Goss said. "For us, that's just standard. It can be challenging — weather, all these things we deal with every year — but those are normal challenges, and we're used to it."
Rare Earth Centra
The newly staked claims are strategically positioned within the Bear Lodge Mining District, according to Argyle Resources Corp. The district has been an active mining region since gold was discovered near Warren Peak in 1875.
The area has historically produced gold, barium, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, niobium, tantalum, thorium, fluorine and phosphate.
Most notably, the district is home to the Bear Lodge Critical Rare Earth Project owned by Rare Element Resources Ltd. (RER), which received a nonbinding letter of intent from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for up to $553 million in potential debt financing.
The area is reportedly rich in rare earth minerals critical to high-strength magnet manufacturing. The claims staked by Argyle sit just to the east of deposits RER is developing.
RER is also building a processing facility nearby in Upton.
Expanding Portfolio
According to Argyle, the 21 lode claims have been submitted to the BLM for application processing, with finalization expected within about six weeks. The BLM office in Cheyenne confirmed Rangefront submitted the 21 claims on behalf of Argyle.
"We are excited about the acquisition of these new claims, which add to our expanding portfolio of mineral assets," said Argyle CEO Jeff Stevensin a statement. "The historical mining activity in the region, coupled with our technical team's expertise, presents a strong opportunity to unlock value from these properties."
The Argyle portfolio, according to its website, includes a rare earth project in Ontario, Canada, along with silica operations in Quebec and Idaho.
Keith Guille, outreach manager for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, told Cowboy State Daily that his agency has so far not received any applications or permits from Argyle Resources.
"This looks like they're now announcing about filing the claims," Guille said. "So that would be obviously the first step that they need to do. If they do any type of extraction or mining, they’re going to have to go through permitting with us.”
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
