American Resources Corp (AREC) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's American Resources Corporation second-quarter 2023 conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this call may be recorded, and I will be standing by if you should need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Mark LaVerghetta, Head of Corporate Finance and Communications. Please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加今天的美國資源公司 2023 年第二季度電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，此通話可能會被錄音，如果您需要任何幫助，我將隨時待命。現在我很高興將會議交給公司財務和傳播主管 Mark LaVerghetta。請繼續。

Thank you and good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of American Resources Corporation, I'd like to welcome everyone to our second quarter of 2023 conference call and business update. We always welcome this opportunity to provide an update on our businesses and discuss our accomplishments we've made over the past several months and how we are uniquely positioned within the markets that we serve for our American Carbon, American Metals, and ReElement Technologies division.

謝謝大家，大家下午好。我謹代表美國資源公司歡迎大家參加我們的 2023 年第二季度電話會議和業務更新。我們始終歡迎有機會介紹我們的業務最新情況，討論我們在過去幾個月取得的成就，以及我們如何在為 American Carbon、American Metals 和 ReElement Technologies 部門服務的市場中處於獨特的地位。

Also on the call today is Kirk Taylor, our Chief Financial Officer. Chairman and CEO, Mark Jensen, is currently en route to Africa for meetings relating to lithium ore partnership opportunities. So Kirk and I will provide some prepared remarks. Then we'll get into the question-and-answer part of the call.

今天參加電話會議的還有我們的首席財務官 Kirk Taylor。董事長兼首席執行官馬克·詹森目前正在前往非洲參加有關鋰礦石合作機會的會議。因此，柯克和我將提供一些準備好的發言。然後我們將進入通話的問答部分。

Before we kick it off, I'd like to remind everyone of our normal cautionary statement. Certain statements discussed on today's call constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家我們通常的警告聲明。今天電話會議中討論的某些陳述構成《私人證券訴訟改革法》含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受到風險、不確定性和其他因素的影響，可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中討論的結果存在重大差異。

When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors, uncertainties, and other cautionary statements, which are laid out in our press releases and SEC filings. We also do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

在考慮前瞻性陳述時，您應牢記我們的新聞稿和 SEC 文件中列出的風險因素、不確定性和其他警示性陳述。我們也不承擔更新或修改任何前瞻性聲明的義務，無論是由於新信息、未來事件還是其他原因。

Lastly, for anyone wanting to ask questions today, I believe you will need to dial in by phone to get into the queue. We're going to begin today with a few comments from our Chief Financial Officer, Kirk Taylor. Kirk?

最後，對於今天想要提問的人，我相信您需要通過電話撥入隊列。今天我們將從首席財務官柯克·泰勒 (Kirk Taylor) 的一些評論開始。柯克？

Thank you, Mark, and thank you, everyone, for sharing a couple of minutes here this afternoon to listen about our Q2 results and business update. Over the past several months, we have continued our execution on solidifying our strategic positioning within our addressable markets, which we believe positions our companies for long-term value creation. In doing so and in conjunction with the direction of our Strategic Committee, we have embarked on several initiatives to unbundle our unique platform of assets to better unlock value for all of our shareholders and position each entity as a standalone company. I will go into some further detail on each of these initiatives.

謝謝馬克，謝謝大家今天下午在這里分享幾分鐘時間，聆聽我們第二季度的業績和業務更新。在過去的幾個月裡，我們繼續鞏固我們在目標市場中的戰略定位，我們相信這將使我們的公司能夠創造長期價值。為此，並根據戰略委員會的指導，我們採取了多項舉措來分拆我們獨特的資產平台，以更好地為所有股東釋放價值，並將每個實體定位為獨立公司。我將進一步詳細介紹每項舉措。

First, the spin-off of ReElement Technologies. As we've previously discussed, our intention is to spin off our wholly owned ReElement Technologies division into a stand-alone public company. This is given -- this will give it strategic positioning and ground-breaking innovation as a world-leading refining technology platform using our patented chromatography technology to refine critical minerals.

首先是 ReElement Technologies 的分拆。正如我們之前討論的，我們的目的是將我們全資擁有的 ReElement Technologies 部門分拆為一家獨立的上市公司。這是給定的——這將賦予它作為世界領先的精煉技術平台的戰略定位和突破性創新，使用我們的專利色譜技術來精煉關鍵礦物。

This past January, we have filed our Form 10 registration statement with the SEC to begin that process. Subsequently, we have filed the necessary amendments, updated financial information, and addressed comments and questions raised by the SEC. All of our filings related to this can be found at SEC.gov under ReElement Technologies. And at this time, we have addressed all comments and questions from the SEC.

今年 1 月，我們向 SEC 提交了 Form 10 註冊聲明以開始該流程。隨後，我們提交了必要的修改、更新的財務信息，並解決了 SEC 提出的意見和問題。我們所有與此相關的文件都可以在 SEC.gov 的 ReElement Technologies 下找到。目前，我們已經解決了 SEC 的所有評論和問題。

We've also engaged a top tier-one investment bank to advise us through this process while also commencing a capital raising process at the subsidiary level. This is to fund ReElement's initial growth plans as a pure-play next-generation critical mineral refining platform. Feedback and interest from potential strategic investors have thus far been very positive. We expect to have this process completed later this year or early next year, and we'll communicate our progress as much as we are able to.

我們還聘請了一家頂級投資銀行在這一過程中為我們提供建議，同時也在子公司層面啟動了融資過程。這是為了資助 ReElement 作為純粹的下一代關鍵礦物精煉平台的初始增長計劃。迄今為止，潛在戰略投資者的反饋和興趣非常積極。我們預計這一過程將在今年晚些時候或明年初完成，我們將盡可能多地傳達我們的進展情況。

Second, spin-off of American Carbon Corporation. This morning, we filed our initial Form 10 registration statement with the SEC to spin off our wholly-owned American Carbon division into a separate stand-alone public company. The filing can be found as well on SEC.gov under American Carbon Corporation. In conjunction with the recommendation from our Strategic Committee and approved by our Board of Directors, spinning off American Carbon into its own public platform better enables the business for growth, capital allocation, and a dedicated separate operating team.

其次，分拆美國碳公司。今天早上，我們向 SEC 提交了最初的 10 號表格註冊聲明，將我們全資擁有的 American Carbon 部門分拆為一家獨立的上市公司。該文件也可以在 American Carbon Corporation 的 SEC.gov 上找到。根據戰略委員會的建議並經董事會批准，將 American Carbon 分拆為自己的公共平台，可以更好地促進業務增長、資本配置和專門的獨立運營團隊。

In basic terms of structure, American Resources shareholders will receive approximately one share of American Carbon for every two shares of American Resources common shares, which are owned. Additionally, American Resources Corporation will receive up to $300 million in the form of royalty payments from American Carbon over a period of time.

從基本結構來看，美國資源公司股東每持有兩股美國資源公司普通股，將獲得大約一股美國碳公司股份。此外，美國資源公司將在一段時間內從美國碳公司獲得高達 3 億美元的特許權使用費。

Additionally, we have secured a $20 million factory facility for American Carbon to support its normal course of business. And upon the spinoff of American Carbon, we are in negotiations with a $100 million equity financing facility that will be in place under the American Carbon Pub Co. as an additional option to fuel acquisition and operating growth.

此外，我們還為 American Carbon 提供了價值 2000 萬美元的工廠設施，以支持其正常業務流程。在 American Carbon 分拆後，我們正在與 American Carbon Pub Co. 旗下的 1 億美元股權融資設施進行談判，該融資設施將作為推動收購和運營增長的額外選擇。

Both of these financing facilities will go alongside with the already closed and announced $45 million tax and bonds for our expansion and development of Wyoming County, West Virginia, which cumulatively represents approximately $165 million of financing capacity for stand-alone American Carbon. We feel the American Carbon platform will be the most well-capitalized, streamline operation in the met coal space.

這兩項融資設施將與已經關閉並宣布的 4500 萬美元稅收和債券一起用於我們西弗吉尼亞州懷俄明縣的擴張和開發，這相當於獨立的 American Carbon 的累計融資能力約為 1.65 億美元。我們認為 American Carbon 平台將成為冶金煤炭領域資本最充足、最精簡的運營平台。

Further, we have looked at monetization of the carbon platform in other ways other than spending it out. As we have reiterated, we remain highly focused on monetizing our substantial platform of carbon assets, either through operations, leases, or divestitures. We've also previously communicated that we have successfully closed our $45 million tax and industrial development bond offerings to the West Virginia Economic Development Authority, which will fund the expansion and technological improvements to existing metallurgical carbon processing facility at our Wyoming County coal complex.

此外，除了支出之外，我們還以其他方式研究了碳平台的貨幣化。正如我們所重申的，我們仍然高度關注通過運營、租賃或剝離來將我們的碳資產平台貨幣化。我們此前還表示，我們已成功完成向西弗吉尼亞州經濟發展局發行 4500 萬美元的稅收和工業發展債券，該機構將為我們懷俄明縣煤炭綜合體現有冶金碳加工設施的擴建和技術改進提供資金。

Thus come to that closing, we have seen an increased interest in certain and all of our carbon assets from several parties. These include an unsolicited bid for all the assets associated with American Carbon for an implied enterprise value of approximately $260 million, which was not accepted by our Board of Directors due to the duration and structure of the consideration payments, which we had previously announced.

因此，到了結束時，我們發現多方對我們的某些和全部碳資產的興趣有所增加。其中包括以約 2.6 億美元的隱含企業價值主動收購與 American Carbon 相關的所有資產，但由於我們之前宣布的對價支付的期限和結構，我們的董事會未接受該收購。

We also previously announced that we entered into a binding letter of intent to sell certain assets associated to our Deane Mining complex for a total enterprise value consideration of approximately $20.6 million or $0.26 per share. More recently, we also received a non-binding letter of interest from a non-affiliate party to purchase remaining assets of American Carbon for a total consideration of approximately $300 million or $3.83 per share.

我們之前還宣布，我們簽訂了一份具有約束力的意向書，以約 2060 萬美元或每股 0.26 美元的企業總價值對價出售與迪恩礦業綜合體相關的某些資產。最近，我們還收到了非關聯方的一份不具約束力的意向書，擬以約 3 億美元或每股 3.83 美元的總價購買 American Carbon 的剩餘資產。

We've also received a non-binding letter of interest from a separate non-affiliated party to purchase assets associated with the Perry County Resources complex for a total consideration of approximately $40 million in cash and enterprise value or $0.51 per share. Management and our Board of Strategic Committee are currently reviewing these opportunities and will, of course, provide updates when appropriate. There are obviously several options for us to explore. We have a world-class set of assets, world-class operating team, and very well-funded path to high production levels. We will pursue each of these scenarios and determine which best benefit our shareholders and our workforce alike.

我們還收到了來自另一非關聯方的一份不具約束力的意向書，意向書購買與佩里縣資源綜合體相關的資產，總價約為 4000 萬美元現金和企業價值，即每股 0.51 美元。管理層和我們的戰略委員會目前正在審查這些機會，當然會在適當的時候提供最新信息。顯然有幾種選擇可供我們探索。我們擁有世界一流的資產、世界一流的運營團隊以及資金雄厚的通往高生產水平的道路。我們將研究每種情況，並確定哪一種最有利於我們的股東和員工。

Next, I'll turn to our SPAC that we have sponsored: AMAO, American Acquisition Opportunity, Inc. When we IPO-ed AMAO as its main sponsor, we sought to emerge with a dynamic cash flowing company that did not require a complicated or highly dilutive financing as part of the De-SPAC process and which could thrive as a public company.

接下來，我將談談我們贊助的SPAC：AMAO，American Acquisition Opportunity, Inc。當我們將AMAO 作為其主要贊助商進行IPO 時，我們尋求建立一家充滿活力的現金流公司，不需要復雜或複雜的流程。作為 De-SPAC 流程的一部分，高度稀釋性融資可以作為上市公司蓬勃發展。

Last June, AMAO announced the decision of merger agreement to merge with Royalty Management Corporation, whereas RMC would become a public company. As a reminder, RMC is a next-generation royalty company, focused on expanding its current cash flow and revenue streams by identifying undervalued assets within sectors, including natural resources, land, sustainability, controlled environment agriculture, and intellectual property while constructively supporting the communities of those businesses operate in.

去年6月，AMAO宣布決定與Royalty Management Corporation合併，而RMC將成為一家上市公司。謹此提醒，RMC 是一家下一代特許權使用費公司，致力於通過識別自然資源、土地、可持續發展、受控環境農業和知識產權等領域內被低估的資產來擴大當前的現金流和收入流，同時為社區提供建設性支持這些企業的經營地點。

Last December, AMAO filed its Form S-4 registration statement with the SEC in conjunction with the planned merger between AMAO and RMC and has since then working through the comments provided by the SEC. On May 4, AMAO filed its amended Form S-4 to update for December 31, 2022 numbers and to address questions and comments received from the SEC. Soon AMAO will file an updated S-4, further updating numbers as required by the SEC and addressing further comments and questions. Following the proposed De-SPAC merger, American Resources will remain a shareholder and will liquidate interest over time when it believes it maximizes value for all shareholders and stakeholders.

去年 12 月，AMAO 結合 AMAO 和 RMC 的合併計劃向 SEC 提交了 S-4 表格註冊聲明，此後一直在研究 SEC 提供的意見。 5 月 4 日，AMAO 提交了修訂後的 S-4 表格，以更新 2022 年 12 月 31 日的數字並解決從 SEC 收到的問題和評論。很快 AMAO 將提交更新的 S-4，根據 SEC 的要求進一步更新數字並解決進一步的評論和問題。在擬議的 De-SPAC 合併之後，美國資源公司將繼續作為股東，並在相信可以為所有股東和利益相關者帶來最大價值時清算權益。

Our unique platform of assets is in a great position to deliver what we believe are attractive returns and value to our shareholders, including our mining assets, our ReElement Technologies division, as well as our American Metals division, which we are in the process of strategic positioning within electrified economy.

我們獨特的資產平台處於有利地位，可以為我們的股東提供我們認為具有吸引力的回報和價值，包括我們的採礦資產、我們的ReElement Technologies 部門以及我們的American Metals 部門，我們正在對這些部門進行戰略戰略調整。電氣化經濟中的定位。

Now I'll turn to our quarterly summary for American Resource. As a reminder, at January 31, this year, the remaining amounts of the convertible notes in the amount of approximately $9.8 million was converted into approximately 9.4 million common shares of the company, extinguishing all future liabilities under the convertible note. The only new debt we took on over the second quarter of 2023 was associated with the issuance of the tax-exempt industrial development bond for the development of Wyoming County, West Virginia mining complex.

現在我將轉向美國資源公司的季度摘要。需要提醒的是，今年 1 月 31 日，可轉換票據的剩餘金額約 980 萬美元已轉換為公司約 940 萬股普通股，從而消除了可轉換票據項下的所有未來負債。我們在 2023 年第二季度承擔的唯一新債務與為開發西弗吉尼亞州懷俄明縣礦業綜合體而發行的免稅工業發展債券有關。

As of today, August 14, 2023, our current shares outstanding are just over 78.2 million Class A common shares. Cash on hand at the end of second quarter 2023 was approximately $51.5 million. Over the second quarter, we're able to showcase our operational flexibility to where we're able to operate at slightly cash flow positive while driving our value creation mission forward.

截至今天，即 2023 年 8 月 14 日，我們目前已發行的 A 類普通股略高於 7820 萬股。截至 2023 年第二季度末，手頭現金約為 5150 萬美元。在第二季度，我們能夠展示我們的運營靈活性，我們能夠以輕微的正現金流運營，同時推動我們的價值創造使命向前發展。

Lastly, it is probably worth reiterating given the recent regional bank events, that all of our excess cash above FDIC limits are held in the top-two US based bank.

最後，考慮到最近發生的地區性銀行事件，可能值得重申的是，我們所有超出 FDIC 限額的多餘現金都存放在美國排名前兩家的銀行中。

I'd now like to turn over the call to Mark LaVerghetta for some additional comments. Mark?

我現在想將電話轉給馬克·拉維格塔 (Mark LaVerghetta)，徵求一些補充意見。標記？

Thanks, Kirk. I'd first like to applaud our team on another exciting quarter of continued execution and positioning all of our divisions within our end markets, while also leveraging our processing and groundbreaking refining technologies into new and exciting markets. We truly sit at a very interesting position with our ability to bring cost competitive refining of critical minerals to our domestic market in the most environmentally safe and sustainable methods ever developed.

謝謝，柯克。我首先要讚揚我們的團隊在另一個令人興奮的季度繼續執行並將我們所有部門定位在我們的終端市場中，同時還將我們的加工和突破性精煉技術利用到新的和令人興奮的市場。我們確實處於一個非常有趣的位置，我們有能力以有史以來最環保、最可持續的方法，將具有成本競爭力的關鍵礦物精煉引入國內市場。

At no point in our history has our business been better positioned to serve the markets we operate in and to capitalize on our broad asset base, our talent, and our ability to produce, process, and refine raw materials that are in very high demand. We are extremely excited about the opportunities for all of our entities, and we continue to execute on our strategic plan to unbundle assets to extract value and to better position each division for growth, capital allocation, and with separate operating teams.

在我們的歷史上，我們的業務從未有過更好的定位來服務我們所在的市場，並利用我們廣泛的資產基礎、我們的人才以及我們生產、加工和精煉需求量很大的原材料的能力。我們對所有實體的機會感到非常興奮，我們將繼續執行我們的戰略計劃，以分拆資產以提取價值，並更好地定位每個部門的增長、資本配置和獨立的運營團隊。

Let's dive into some of these. First American Carbon. I will first address the revenue shortfall for this past quarter. As global net carbon market softened over the second quarter, we chose to idle carbon production. Over most of the second quarter, our customers became constrained when taking products due to port logistics and bottlenecks within the supply chain. We believe this was largely a result of the shift in China's and Australia's relationship around product sourcing, which created significant shifts within supply chains and the timing of product deliveries.

讓我們深入研究其中的一些內容。第一美國碳。我將首先解決上個季度的收入短缺問題。隨著第二季度全球淨碳市場疲軟，我們選擇閒置碳生產。在第二季度的大部分時間裡，由於港口物流和供應鏈內的瓶頸，我們的客戶在取貨時受到了限制。我們認為，這主要是由於中國和澳大利亞在產品採購方面關係發生變化，導致供應鍊和產品交付時間發生重大變化。

Our ability to idle back production showcases our operational flexibility and also highlights, that given our expansion around our ReElement division, we do not want to take unnecessary risks associated with inventory expansion and rather focus on cost constraints. In other words, we chose not to run our mines just to build up inventory, but rather focus on value-creating initiatives such as ReElement Technologies, the closing of our tax-exempt bond, and potential divestitures of American Carbon assets. We are seeing these short term bottlenecks and logistic issues within the supply chain being resolved and believe carbon prices will respond accordingly over the near, medium, and long term.

我們閒置生產的能力展示了我們的運營靈活性，並且還強調，考慮到我們圍繞 ReElement 部門進行擴張，我們不想承擔與庫存擴張相關的不必要的風險，而是專注於成本限制。換句話說，我們選擇不只是為了建立庫存而經營礦山，而是專注於創造價值的舉措，例如 ReElement Technologies、關閉我們的免稅債券以及潛在的 American Carbon 資產剝離。我們看到供應鏈內的這些短期瓶頸和物流問題正在得到解決，並相信碳價格將在近期、中期和長期內做出相應的反應。

As such, we are beginning to look at restarting mining operations at our Carnegie mines in the near term to capitalize on market demand and pick up where we left off earlier in the quarter where we were realizing some of our best fundamental production levels while executing on the vision of our American Carbon team, including the development of Wyoming County Coal to prepare for its operations next year.

因此，我們開始考慮在短期內重新啟動卡內基礦山的採礦作業，以利用市場需求，並繼續本季度早些時候的工作，當時我們在執行任務的同時實現了一些最佳的基本生產水平。我們美國碳團隊的願景，包括開發懷俄明縣煤炭公司，為其明年的運營做好準備。

As Kirk just mentioned, we are in receipt of two letters of interest for all of the mining assets of American Carbon and Perry County Resources, respectively, which provides us ample opportunities to execute on our mission to monetize our carbon assets to best benefit our shareholders. It's worth reiterating, our platform of carbon assets is unique given the significant mining infrastructure that we own, the quality of carbon that we produce and have access to, the restructuring efforts and investments we have made over the past several years to rightsize and streamline the operations, along with the substantial embedded organic growth, we have to provide incremental high-quality carbon products to the global markets.

正如柯克剛才提到的，我們分別收到了兩份關於美國碳公司和佩里縣資源公司所有採礦資產的意向書，這為我們提供了充足的機會來執行我們的使命，將我們的碳資產貨幣化，以最大程度地造福我們的股東。值得重申的是，我們的碳資產平台是獨一無二的，因為我們擁有重要的採礦基礎設施、我們生產和獲得的碳的質量、我們在過去幾年中為調整規模和簡化碳資產而進行的重組努力和投資。隨著業務的大幅增長，我們必須向全球市場提供增量優質碳產品。

With the recent updates we have provided, I believe we are beginning to see the fruits of that labor materialize. And on a side note, we continue to see the industry drive consolidation, as evidenced by today's news of Cleveland-Cliffs, making a $7.25 billion bid for US Steel. We feel that we're in great position with the assets that we own today.

通過我們最近提供的更新，我相信我們已經開始看到勞動成果的實現。順便說一句，我們繼續看到該行業推動整合，今天克利夫蘭克里夫斯公司以 72.5 億美元收購美國鋼鐵公司的消息就證明了這一點。我們認為，我們目前擁有的資產處於有利地位。

ReElement Technologies: as we frequently state our ReElement Technologies division represents an incredibly exciting and very strategic opportunity for us. We've never been involved with an entity that, in our opinion, has a higher ceiling. As we continue to strategically position ourselves in the global supply chain for critical minerals, I think it is important to reiterate and emphasize our position within that market.

ReElement Technologies：正如我們經常所說，我們的 ReElement Technologies 部門對我們來說是一個令人難以置信的令人興奮且非常具有戰略意義的機會。在我們看來，我們從未參與過具有更高上限的實體。隨著我們繼續在關鍵礦物的全球供應鏈中進行戰略定位，我認為重申和強調我們在該市場中的地位非常重要。

ReElement is an innovative and advanced refining platform for critical minerals. While we believe we are a high-value component within the recycling value chain, we are not solely recycling platform. However, we do believe our position in the recycling market and a sustainable supplier of critical minerals is highly important as we move towards a highly mineral dependent electrified economy. That being said, and again, in our opinion, recycling platforms alone are going to have a hard time bringing -- bridging the gap to an end-of-life manufacturing scrap volumes materialize to levels that can support their CapEx and OpEx fundamentals. That is where our innovative and distinctively different -- are distinctively different and how we are positioned.

ReElement 是一個創新且先進的關鍵礦物精煉平台。雖然我們相信我們是回收價值鏈中的高價值組成部分，但我們不僅僅是回收平台。然而，我們確實相信，隨著我們邁向高度依賴礦物的電氣化經濟，我們在回收市場和關鍵礦物的可持續供應商中的地位非常重要。話雖這麼說，但我們認為，僅回收平台將很難將報廢製造業廢料量實現到能夠支持其資本支出和運營支出基本面的水平。這就是我們的創新和獨特之處——以及我們的定位。

Our innovative and advanced refining methods using chromatography displace the toxic conventional methods used in China, and we believe is an important linchpin in making the United States competitive within the electrified economy. Deploying these conventional refining methods such as solvent extraction or hydrometallurgical here domestically will be very challenging. They are extremely expensive to build and operate due to the harsh chemicals, waste output, and maintenance.

我們使用色譜法的創新和先進的精煉方法取代了中國使用的有毒傳統方法，我們相信這是使美國在電氣化經濟中具有競爭力的重要關鍵。在國內部署這些傳統的精煉方法（例如溶劑萃取或濕法冶金）將非常具有挑戰性。由於含有刺激性化學品、廢物產生和維護，它們的建造和運營成本極其昂貴。

Can they separate and purify critical minerals? Yes, but there is a reason why most of these facilities are located in remote areas of Inner Mongolia. Our ability to refine a variety of critical mineral feedstocks from urgent orders, manufacturing scrap, end-of-life, and unconventional sources in a low cost, low impact, modular and small footprint allows us to grow concurrently with the market's needs. Meaning, we spend less to produce ultrapure products.

它們可以分離和純化關鍵礦物質嗎？是的，但是這些設施大多位於內蒙古的偏遠地區，這是有原因的。我們能夠以低成本、低影響、模塊化和小占地面積的方式從緊急訂單、製造廢料、報廢品和非常規來源中提煉各種關鍵礦物原料，使我們能夠與市場需求同步發展。這意味著我們生產超純產品的花費更少。

The world has never really needed innovation in critical mineral refining until now or maybe we just became complacent with China's dominance of the market. And that is the value proposition of ReElement Technologies. The world needs advancements in refining these raw materials, and we believe we provide the most efficient solution. It's worth noting a few of our recent milestones at ReElement as well.

直到現在，世界從未真正需要關鍵礦物提煉方面的創新，或者我們只是對中國在市場上的主導地位感到自滿。這就是 ReElement Technologies 的價值主張。世界需要在提煉這些原材料方面取得進步，我們相信我們提供最有效的解決方案。值得注意的是 ReElement 最近的一些里程碑。

We recently achieved the production of ultrapure lithium carbonate, which is needed in battery cathode manufacturing verified by an independent third-party laboratory at 99.9978% purity from LFP, lithium iron phosphate battery manufacturing scrap, at commercial scale. We believe we are the first, that we know of, to achieve this milestone worldwide, the very significant achievement.

我們最近實現了以商業規模生產超純碳酸鋰，這是由獨立第三方實驗室驗證的電池正極製造所需的，其純度為 99.9978%，來自 LFP（磷酸鐵鋰電池製造廢料）。我們相信，據我們所知，我們是第一個在全球範圍內實現這一里程碑的人，這是一項非常重大的成就。

This achievement comes on top of us achieving a 99.986% pure lithium carbonate produced at commercial scale, which was recycling end-of-life LFP lithium-ion batteries. What makes these milestones unique is our ability to effectively and very cost efficiently refined materials from LFP battery chemistries. Typically lithium and a lithium-iron phosphate battery is very difficult to recover using conventional refining methods. Usually it's lost. And without the inherent cobalt and nickel, that resides within NMC battery chemistries, it hasn't been remotely cost effective.

這一成就是在我們實現商業規模生產純度為 99.986% 的碳酸鋰之前取得的，這是對報廢 LFP 鋰離子電池的回收。這些里程碑的獨特之處在於我們能夠有效且極具成本效益地從磷酸鐵鋰電池化學材料中精煉材料。通常，使用傳統的精煉方法很難回收鋰和磷酸鐵鋰電池。一般情況下是丟了。如果沒有 NMC 電池化學成分中固有的鈷和鎳，它就根本不具有成本效益。

We are able to flip the paradigm where actually LFP battery chemistry is more economical for us to refine, given our ability to quickly extract and capture the lithium at high purity. And as we see it from our perspective, the market, especially EV is migrating more towards lithium iron phosphate batteries. We expect about 60% of the market will eventually migrate to LFP versus NMC battery chemistry, which puts us in a great strategic position. This is also why we are aggressively pursuing sourcing agreements for lithium spodumene ore given how we technically are able to refine lithium. Obviously, Mark Jensen is currently pursuing such opportunities right now, and we look forward to communicating future developments on that front.

鑑於我們能夠快速提取和捕獲高純度的鋰，我們能夠扭轉範式，實際上磷酸鐵鋰電池化學物質對我們來說更經濟。從我們的角度來看，市場，尤其是電動汽車正在更多地轉向磷酸鐵鋰電池。我們預計約 60% 的市場最終將轉向 LFP，而不是 NMC 電池化學，這使我們處於有利的戰略地位。鑑於我們在技術上能夠提煉鋰，這也是我們積極尋求鋰輝石礦石採購協議的原因。顯然，馬克·詹森目前正在尋求這樣的機會，我們期待著交流這方面的未來發展。

We believe the opportunities to provide low cost and environmentally safe lithium refining around the world in a collaborative manner to meet the needs of the energy storage market are abundant. We've had early success in developing partnerships such as the one we have established with our magnet and battery partners, which we have already announced, and we continue to have good success with several other pilot programs where we are fostering collaborative opportunities within the automotive, wind energy, consumer power tool, and broader energy storage and recycling markets.

我們相信，在世界各地以協作方式提供低成本和環境安全的鋰精煉以滿足儲能市場需求的機會是充足的。我們在發展合作夥伴關係方面取得了早期成功，例如我們已經宣布與磁鐵和電池合作夥伴建立的合作夥伴關係，並且我們在其他幾個試點項目中繼續取得良好成功，在這些項目中，我們正在培育汽車領域的合作機會、風能、消費電動工具以及更廣泛的能源存儲和回收市場。

We are really excited and confident about developing these pilot programs into long-term commercial partnerships. The number of opportunities we are seeing to provide our next-generation advanced refining capabilities as a value-added service continue to accelerate. We're confident as we continue to showcase our competitive distinction, including performance, a lower cost structure, environmentalism, flexibility, and collaborative value ReElement Technologies will garner significant value for our shareholders.

我們對將這些試點項目發展成為長期商業合作夥伴關係感到非常興奮和充滿信心。我們看到提供下一代先進煉油能力作為增值服務的機會不斷增加。我們有信心，隨著我們繼續展示我們的競爭優勢，包括性能、較低的成本結構、環保、靈活性和協作價值，ReElement Technologies 將為我們的股東帶來巨大的價值。

I'd like to recognize our ReElement team for the groundbreaking success that we've had -- that we've achieved to date. And in a quick timeframe, we have achieved it. We do believe the time is of the essence. We also believe as we've put together the best team to continue to drive this revolutionary refining technology. And from a technical perspective, we believe we have the world's best chromatography experts and team behind our ReElement division, whether it's from our university partners, at or from Purdue; or engineering team that has had long-standing success developing and commercializing the foundations of our technology at Eli Lilly.

我想對我們的 ReElement 團隊迄今為止所取得的突破性成功表示認可。在很短的時間內，我們就實現了這一目標。我們確實相信時間至關重要。我們還相信，我們已經組建了最好的團隊來繼續推動這一革命性的精煉技術。從技術角度來看，我們相信我們的 ReElement 部門擁有世界上最好的色譜專家和團隊，無論是來自我們的大學合作夥伴、普渡大學還是普渡大學；或工程團隊在禮來公司的技術基礎開發和商業化方面取得了長期成功。

We have and will continue to add top talent to further execute on our vision as well as position ReElement as a stand-alone company and as a global refining leader. Our goal is to build ReElement's into a multibillion-dollar business. And we believe we have the team and the line of sight to do just that.

我們已經並將繼續招募頂尖人才，以進一步實現我們的願景，並將 ReElement 定位為一家獨立公司和全球煉油領導者。我們的目標是將 ReElement 打造成價值數十億美元的業務。我們相信我們有團隊和視野來做到這一點。

At American Resources, we'll continue to execute on our strategic plan. American resources is focusing on its highest value opportunities and will look to expand it's asset base within the natural resources industry, utilizing cash generated from any asset sales, royalties to acquire interest in high value critical and rare earth mining assets that can feed our ReElement Technologies division to be refined in it's cost effective, environmentally sustainable method.

在美國資源公司，我們將繼續執行我們的戰略計劃。美國資源公司專注於其最高價值的機會，並將尋求擴大其在自然資源行業的資產基礎，利用任何資產銷售和特許權使用費產生的現金來收購高價值關鍵和稀土採礦資產的權益，這些資產可以為我們的ReElement Technologies 提供支持部門以具有成本效益、環境可持續的方法進行完善。

In closing, we remain very confident in the positioning of all of our assets and the long-term value they provide to our shareholders. We remain hyper-focused on unlocking that value. We have ample liquidity to do -- and do not foresee us needing to issue equity at the AREC, American Resources' level to raise cash, especially with some of the sources of non-dilutive capital that we have available.

最後，我們對所有資產的定位及其為股東提供的長期價值仍然充滿信心。我們仍然高度專注於釋放這一價值。我們有充足的流動性，並且預計我們不需要在 AREC（美國資源公司）的水平上發行股票來籌集現金，特別是在我們擁有一些非稀釋性資本來源的情況下。

Just to reiterate, as the largest shareholders of American Resources, our management team is committed to maximizing the value of all of our businesses and believe our continued execution and the unbundling of certain assets will help us achieve that.

重申一下，作為美國資源的最大股東，我們的管理團隊致力於最大化我們所有業務的價值，並相信我們的持續執行和某些資產的分拆將幫助我們實現這一目標。

With that, I'd like to turn the call back over to the moderator for a questions-and-answers.

這樣，我想將電話轉回給主持人進行問答。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Mike Niehuser.

邁克·尼胡瑟。

Hey, Mark. Interesting press release as always. Just a couple of questions for you. I'm not quite sure I understand the reduction in revenues on the carbon side, but it sounds like it just made a lot of sense in order to not -- to be able to maintain a positive cash flow. And my interest -- I'm curious if you're flexible enough to do that or if there's any degradation to the assets by such a significant swing in pausing production or slowing.

嘿，馬克。一如既往的有趣的新聞稿。只是想問你幾個問題。我不太確定我是否理解碳方面收入的減少，但聽起來這很有意義，以便能夠保持正現金流。我的興趣是——我很好奇你們是否有足夠的靈活性來做到這一點，或者如此大幅度的暫停生產或放緩是否會對資產造成任何影響。

Hey Mike. Well first appreciate your questions and all of your support. Hope you're doing well.

嘿邁克。首先感謝您的提問和所有支持。希望你做得很好。

Yes, thank you.

是的，謝謝。

The first answer on the degradation of assets: no, we don't believe there's any degradation. I think from how we're positioned within all of our businesses and we look at the overall platform and taking a conservative approach for the business. And as I mentioned earlier on the call, we weren't just going to produce through what we view as a blip in the supply chain, given we're relatively on a the global landscape, we're relatively small producer of met coal, met carbon. Our customer base is somewhat limited, and we have good customers.

關於資產退化的第一個答案：不，我們不認為存在任何退化。我認為，從我們在所有業務中的定位以及我們對整個平台的看法以及對業務採取保守的方法來看。正如我之前在電話會議上提到的，考慮到我們在全球範圍內的相對位置，我們不會只是通過我們認為的供應鏈中的一個小插曲進行生產，我們是相對較小的冶金煤生產商，遇到碳。我們的客戶群有些有限，但我們有很好的客戶。

However, we weren't going to sacrifice the overall execution of all of our platforms, including ReElement Technologies just to put inventory on the ground. Our customer, our main customer became constraints, just given some of the supply chain dynamics. So we chose not to overextend ourselves, dial back on production, focus on continued execution. We continue to assess a variety of options that came out in front of us. We executed an LOI to sell our Deane Mining Complex, which as we just mentioned, we've received multiple LOIs in all of our assets. We closed on our Wyoming County tax-exempt bond issuance.

然而，我們不會僅僅為了落實庫存而犧牲所有平台的整體執行力，包括 ReElement Technologies。我們的客戶，我們的主要客戶，僅僅考慮到供應鏈的一些動態就成為了限制。因此，我們選擇不過度擴張，減少生產，專注於持續執行。我們繼續評估擺在我們面前的各種選擇。我們簽署了出售迪恩礦業綜合體的意向書，正如我們剛才提到的，我們的所有資產都收到了多個意向書。我們完成了懷俄明縣免稅債券的發行。

So our execution was still head down driving forward. But from a capital standpoint and from an overall risk profile, we weren't just going to spend a bunch of money to put inventory on the ground, just given the execution that we continue to have on the ReElement side of the business. I hope that makes sense for you.

所以我們的執行力仍然是低著頭往前走。但從資本的角度和整體風險狀況來看，考慮到我們在 ReElement 方面繼續執行的業務，我們不會只是花一大筆錢來增加庫存。我希望這對你有意義。

Absolutely. Thanks for the answer. Sorry, just to dive into the question, but -- so it sounds like you've got the flexibility where you can do that between the Carnegie mines and et cetera. And it's interesting that there's just a flurry of activity between Deane, and Perry, and Wyoming County, and these LOIs. What sparked all those things to come to ahead this quarter? Is it just coincidence or a lot of these things been worked on for 6 to 12 months? Or is there something in the environment that's causing this to happen right away? The reason I'm asking is I'm going to try to get an indication of where you're going with this side of the business? Obviously, you can answer?

絕對地。感謝你的回答。抱歉，只是想深入探討這個問題，但是 - 聽起來您可以靈活地在卡內基礦等地之間進行此操作。有趣的是，迪恩、佩里、懷俄明縣和這些意向書之間有一系列活動。是什麼引發了本季度所有這些事情的發生？這只是巧合還是其中很多事情都花了 6 到 12 個月的時間來完成？或者環境中有什麼東西導致這種情況立即發生？我問這個問題的原因是我想了解一下您在這方面的業務發展方向？顯然，你能回答嗎？

Yeah. Sure. No, I think it's, you can read between the lines, I don't think it's a secret. I think we're, as we said, we're steadfast and focused on monetizing our assets and that includes selling of specific assets or all of those assets. I think the closing of the tax-exempt bond issuance are fully capitalizing that as one of the last virgin boundaries of mid-vol met carbon in the Appalachia region brought back some parties to take a better look at our carbon platform.

是的。當然。不，我認為是的，你可以從字裡行間看出，我不認為這是一個秘密。我認為，正如我們所說，我們堅定並專注於將我們的資產貨幣化，其中包括出售特定資產或所有這些資產。我認為免稅債券發行的結束充分利用了這一點，作為阿巴拉契亞地區最後的中等容量碳的處女邊界之一，讓一些各方重新審視我們的碳平台。

Additionally, we press released that we received an unsolicited bid coming out of the gate post that closing of that bond issuance. I think that had -- people that were kicking the tires on the platform of looking at certain assets to get more aggressive with them. And you've seen it in the marketplace today, and it's why I mentioned earlier on the call the Cliffs bid for US Steel. I think where we sit in this cycle of the commodity cycle is folks are very focused on supply chain resiliency, sourcing their feedstocks for global steel production and vertically integrating.

此外，我們還發布消息稱，我們在債券發行結束後收到了主動出價。我認為，人們在尋找某些資產的平台上進行嘗試，以便對它們採取更積極的態度。今天你已經在市場上看到了它，這就是為什麼我之前在電話會議上提到克里夫斯對美國鋼鐵公司的收購。我認為我們在商品週期的這個週期中所處的位置是人們非常關注供應鏈的彈性，為全球鋼鐵生產採購原料並進行垂直整合。

Cliffs have done a great job of it. They're a great example, and they continue to be aggressive in the market. I think that's part of it as well. I think it's a macro trend of producers in the global steel markets looking at vertically integrating their supply chain and sourcing material

懸崖在這方面做得很好。他們是一個很好的例子，並且他們繼續在市場上積極進取。我認為這也是其中的一部分。我認為這是全球鋼鐵市場生產商考慮垂直整合供應鍊和原材料的宏觀趨勢

Well, I know that the quality of the Wyoming County is something else. And so I think that gives kind of a clue as to how others might be looking at you for that supply chain resiliency. So that's another good answer, Mark. The -- also before I forget, congratulations to Taylor, really a competent hands on big picture guy. So I think this is great for him, but be careful what you want and on shifting -- go ahead.

嗯，我知道懷俄明縣的質量是另一回事。因此，我認為這提供了一些線索，說明其他人可能會如何看待您的供應鏈彈性。這是另一個很好的答案，馬克。在我忘記之前，祝賀泰勒，他確實是一個有能力親力親為的人。所以我認為這對他來說很好，但要小心你想要的和轉變——繼續吧。

No. Well, we appreciate that. I'm sure Taylor appreciates that. And like I said, we appreciate your interest. I know you spent a good part of the day with Tylor touring our assets so --.

不，嗯，我們對此表示讚賞。我相信泰勒很欣賞這一點。正如我所說，我們感謝您的關注。我知道你花了一天的大部分時間和泰勒一起參觀我們的資產，所以——。

He is the man.

他就是那個男人。

Yeah.

是的。

So on the lithium side, could you just define -- I'm not the lithium guy at ROTH. But what is manufacturing scrap for lithium? Is that from I guess, what's left over on the cutting room floor at a battery shop? Is that what that is?

所以在鋰方面，你能定義一下嗎——我不是羅斯的鋰專家。但什麼是鋰的製造廢料呢？我猜這是電池店剪輯室地板上剩下的東西嗎？是那個東西嗎？

Yeah. So yeah, I think at a high level, the best way to explain it, and I said it earlier, from our perspective, we believe the energy storage market and it depends on the application, whether it's just general energy storage, electric vehicles, small power tools or things like that. Everybody uses a different battery, your cellphones using LCO typically or your laptop using LCO battery chemistry.

是的。所以，是的，我認為從高層次上來說，最好的解釋方式是，我之前說過，從我們的角度來看，我們相信儲能市場，這取決於應用，無論是普通儲能、電動汽車、小型電動工具或類似的東西。每個人都使用不同的電池，您的手機通常使用 LCO，或者您的筆記本電腦使用 LCO 電池化學成分。

EVs have kind of been a mix between NMC, nickel manganese cobalt, and LFP, lithium iron phosphate. It's migrating more towards LFP, in our opinion, just given the -- you don't need the nickel cobalt, which are high-priced commodities that go into the chemistries of an NMC. Lithium iron phosphate, the lithium is relatively valuable. Iron-phosphate carries less of a value. So the inputs on that -- the difference between the two is the energy density. NMC can carry a higher energy density but as we state battery technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace and you're starting to see good energy density in LFP. It provides a little bit better safety characteristics as well.

電動汽車是 NMC（鎳錳鈷）和 LFP（磷酸鐵鋰）的混合體。我們認為，它正在更多地向 LFP 遷移，因為您不需要鎳鈷，鎳鈷是 NMC 化學成分中的高價商品。磷酸鐵鋰，鋰的價值相對較高。磷酸鐵的價值較低。因此，兩者之間的差異就是能量密度。 NMC 可以承載更高的能量密度，但正如我們所說，電池技術不斷快速發展，您開始在 LFP 中看到良好的能量密度。它還提供了更好的安全特性。

So the market is migrating more towards that as the energy, density, safety, and less expensive feedstocks that go into the production of an LFP battery chemistry. So you're starting -- you've seen Tesla announced LFP giga factories. Ford [in like has it]. So EV is definitely migrating more towards an LFP battery chemistry. And when you're manufacturing cathodes or batteries, there's a lot of waste. It's a messy process. When you spray coat your cathode material, you trim it for sizing, there's a lot of waste in the process. I think it's estimated there's about 20% waste currently, I know, battery manufacturers want to reduce that. But my understanding is they'll never get to zero and trimming it to very low levels is going to be very hard just given inherent capability.

因此，市場正在更多地轉向磷酸鐵鋰電池化學生產中的能量、密度、安全性和更便宜的原料。所以你開始了——你已經看到特斯拉宣布了 LFP 超級工廠。福特[就像這樣]。因此，電動汽車肯定會更多地轉向磷酸鐵鋰電池化學。當你製造陰極或電池時，會產生大量浪費。這是一個混亂的過程。當你噴塗陰極材料時，你會修剪它以調整尺寸，這個過程中會產生很多浪費。我認為目前估計有大約 20% 的浪費，我知道電池製造商希望減少這種浪費。但我的理解是，它們永遠不會達到零，並且鑑於固有的能力，將其削減到非常低的水平將非常困難。

So there's a lot of scrap material that goes into the process, our ability to take that scrap and recycle it back in the high purity forms, having the ability to modularly and co-locate with certain parties gives us a very strategic advantage of when you're looking at domestic manufacturing because logistics matter, input prices matter, and we're able to reduce that. We are able to do it in a collaborative manner to reduce the cost structure for everybody. And that's key when we're competing head-to-head with China and the Asia Pacific region on shoring manufacturing.

因此，在這個過程中會產生大量廢料，我們有能力將這些廢料以高純度形式回收利用，並且能夠模塊化並與某些方共處一地，這給我們帶來了非常戰略性的優勢。我們正在關注國內製造業，因為物流很重要，投入價格也很重要，而我們能夠減少這些。我們能夠以協作的方式做到這一點，以降低每個人的成本結構。當我們與中國和亞太地區在製造業外包方面展開正面競爭時，這一點至關重要。

So this goes along with the theme of that, you can pretty much take anything but pretty much anything. And regardless of what kind of waste it is from different kinds of batteries and conditions sprayed left out in the rain, whatever it is. If you have a basic understanding of your feedstock, you're able to purify it so that none of it goes to -- minimal amount as possible goes to the dump. I think, that's what I'm taking away here. And I guess it depends on you just proved you can do it. It's just a matter of finding the right partner at the right place and such. So that's what I drive out of that.

所以這與主題相一致，你幾乎可以接受任何東西，但幾乎任何東西。不管它是哪種廢物，來自不同類型的電池和在雨中噴灑的條件，無論它是什麼。如果您對原料有基本的了解，您就能夠對其進行純化，使其不會進入垃圾場——盡可能少地進入垃圾場。我想，這就是我在這裡要帶走的東西。我想這取決於你剛剛證明你能做到。這只是在正確的地方找到正確的合作夥伴等問題。這就是我從中得出的結論。

Yeah. You're right. Auto manufacturers are highly focused on all of that, reducing the total amount of waste that come out from any of their production. Our ability to do that, we provide very efficient solutions for that problem. And our strategic positioning of being able to handle LFP, LFP is more cost effective for us. Typically in the recycling process, you can only go after NMC because you need that nickel cobalt value to justify your cost structures. For us, it showcases how low our cost structure is, we can extract the lithium very effectively, very cost efficiently, in a low-cost manner, and very high purity form at commercial scale from LFP battery chemistry. Again, we're the only ones that we know that have been able to showcase that.

是的。你說得對。汽車製造商高度關注所有這些，減少任何生產過程中產生的廢物總量。我們有能力做到這一點，我們為該問題提供非常有效的解決方案。而我們的戰略定位是能夠搞定LFP，LFP對我們來說更具成本效益。通常在回收過程中，您只能選擇 NMC，因為您需要鎳鈷價值來證明您的成本結構合理。對我們來說，它展示了我們的成本結構有多低，我們可以非常有效、非常經濟高效地以低成本方式從 LFP 電池化學中以商業規模提取鋰，並以極高的純度形式提取鋰。再說一遍，據我們所知，我們是唯一能夠展示這一點的公司。

Okay. So along those lines, it's -- you've got a shipment of spodumene coming from Africa, how soon do you think you're going to be able to tackle that? And is that going to kick off marketing to lithium mining companies as they seek to upgrade their lithium with maybe what could become a standardized process in the industry? Is that -- what the time on that?

好的。因此，按照這些思路，您有一批來自非洲的鋰輝石，您認為您多久能夠解決這個問題？當鋰礦開採公司尋求通過可能成為行業標準化流程的方式升級鋰時，這是否會啟動對鋰礦公司的營銷？那是——現在幾點了？

Yeah, it's a good question. I think timing's always hard to predict just given counterparties time lines, but what I think you can take away from it is our ability to refine lithium very effectively from manufacturing to scrap or end of life, whether it's LFP, or NMC, or if it's the input, the feedstock input is ore based virgin spodumene ore it really doesn't differ from a technology perspective. It's very, very similar from a cost structure and purity perspective.

是的，這是一個好問題。我認為，根據交易對手的時間表，時機總是很難預測，但我認為你可以從中得到的是，我們能夠非常有效地提煉鋰，從製造到報廢或報廢，無論是 LFP、NMC，還是輸入，原料輸入是基於礦石的原生鋰輝石礦石，從技術角度來看，它確實沒有什麼不同。從成本結構和純度的角度來看，它非常非常相似。

We look forward to communicating our milestones of purifying lithium coming from natural occurring ores. We have our process lined out. We know what our technology capabilities are. We're fine tuning those today. And I think we'll be in a position here in the short term to communicate those milestones.

我們期待分享我們從天然礦石中提純鋰的里程碑。我們已經列出了我們的流程。我們知道我們的技術能力是什麼。我們今天正在對這些進行微調。我認為短期內我們將能夠在這里傳達這些里程碑。

And then, right, as you think about it, I think, well, it hasn't -- it's already begun. The reason Mark Jensen is not on the call today is because he's visiting some of our partners and looking to expand some of our partnerships abroad to source those raw materials, those natural lithium-based ores to bring in. And again, it showcases our technological advantages of purifying that lithium ore into high-purity carbonate or hydroxide form what the battery industry really needs.

然後，對，當你思考這個問題時，我想，嗯，它還沒有——它已經開始了。馬克·詹森今天沒有參加電話會議的原因是，他正在拜訪我們的一些合作夥伴，並希望擴大我們在國外的一些合作夥伴關係，以採購這些原材料、那些要引進的天然鋰礦石。這再次展示了我們的技術將鋰礦石提純成高純度碳酸鹽或氫氧化物的優點正是電池行業真正需要的。

Well, just a question for modeling for me. As far as like, either revenues, et cetera, on the ReElement side, with the rare earth, sort of the lithium with what you just mentioned or with the carbon assets with everything that's going on there, narrowing activity there. Should we just assume that it's market dependent production there? And as you move closer to be able to start Wyoming County in earnest, there's going to be a couple quarter slump in revenues as things come back into place and you sort out some of these sale agreements. It looks like there's a lot going on.

嗯，這只是一個關於我建模的問題。就 ReElement 方面的收入等而言，稀土、鋰等你剛才提到的，或者碳資產以及那裡正在發生的一切，都縮小了那裡的活動。我們是否應該假設那裡的生產依賴於市場？當你距離真正開始懷俄明縣越來越近時，隨著事情恢復原狀並且你整理出一些銷售協議，收入將會下降幾個季度。看來發生了很多事情。

There's a lot going on. I think from the press release today, you did -- I think there are some decent value that we've tried to showcase that the market is putting on our carbon assets. We talked about earlier on the call and in the press release, we believe our platform of carbon assets is very attractive given the hard work and restructuring efforts that we've taken place. And I think the market is looking at that as a valuable asset, a very valuable growth asset. We're seriously considering all options, but I think the fact that we put that on the front page, we're moving towards certain divestiture options. But again, we're only going to make decisions that are in the best benefit of our shareholders.

有很多事情發生。我認為從今天的新聞稿來看，你做到了——我認為我們試圖展示市場對我們的碳資產的一些體面的價值。我們之前在電話會議和新聞稿中談到，鑑於我們所做的努力和重組努力，我們相信我們的碳資產平台非常有吸引力。我認為市場正在將其視為一項寶貴的資產，一項非常有價值的增長資產。我們正在認真考慮所有選項，但我認為事實上，我們將其放在首頁上，我們正在朝著某些剝離選項邁進。但同樣，我們只會做出最符合股東利益的決定。

In meanwhile, how soon could [washing] or Wyoming County move into something respectable as a startup, start-up of the existing infrastructure with the additional opportunities, et cetera?

與此同時，[洗滌]或懷俄明縣多久才能成為一家受人尊敬的初創公司，啟動現有基礎設施並提供額外的機會等等？

Yeah. We've started some of that early development over at Wyoming County. I think sometime next year we would be in position to start getting some development production started over there.

是的。我們已經在懷俄明縣開始了一些早期開發工作。我認為明年某個時候我們將能夠開始在那裡開始一些開發生產。

Meaningful. Yeah. Okay. And as far as like revenues from ReElement or the lithium too early to tell when we might start seeing revenues?

有意義。是的。好的。至於來自 ReElement 或鋰的收入還為時過早，我們何時才能開始看到收入？

We're -- I think some -- one thing that consider as this entire infrastructure here in the United States gets stood up, right? There's very little that's being produced today. There's not a whole lot of magnet manufacturing that's being produced in the United States. But we're partnered with two of the three, we've heard of a fourth with grand plans to put magnet manufacturing here in the United States, we're in discussions with them.

我認為，隨著美國的整個基礎設施建設起來，我們會考慮一件事，對嗎？今天生產的東西很少。美國沒有大量生產磁鐵。但我們與這三個公司中的兩個合作，我們聽說第四個公司計劃在美國進行磁鐵製造，我們正在與他們進行討論。

But currently today very little rare earth centrifuge manufacturing happens. Same with giga factories here for energy storage and battery production. So we continue to stockpile product, we continue to run our pilot programs. You've been at our facility, we're running our facility much more frequently in a batch process. A lot of times we're taking that purified product and showcasing it back to our potential partners, our pilot program partners that we are nurturing into full commercial partnerships. We think that's more valuable than dropping a few kilograms into the marketplace showcasing the efficacy of our technology and putting up really sound commercial partnerships is probably what suits us best currently.

但目前稀土離心機的製造很少發生。與這裡用於能源存儲和電池生產的巨型工廠相同。因此，我們繼續儲存產品，繼續運行我們的試點計劃。您去過我們的工廠，我們在批處理過程中更頻繁地運行我們的工廠。很多時候，我們都會將純化的產品展示給我們的潛在合作夥伴、我們正在培養的試點項目合作夥伴，以建立全面的商業合作夥伴關係。我們認為，這比向市場投放幾公斤展示我們技術的功效更有價值，並建立真正健全的商業合作夥伴關係，這可能是目前最適合我們的。

Right. Yeah well, inquiring minds want to know. But one last question and I'm sorry for hogging the Q&A, but could you just make a couple of comments about your facilities? It looks like things are starting to take shape as far as capacity and co-locating, and I'll just step off the call, but thank you for taking my questions.

正確的。是的，好奇的人想知道。最後一個問題，我很抱歉佔用了問答時間，但您能否對您的設施發表一些評論？看起來容量和協同定位方面的事情已經開始成形，我將結束通話，但感謝您回答我的問題。

Yeah. Well, we currently, as we've talked about in the past, our Noblesville, Indiana facility is currently running. It's really an R&D center. But just given the technological advantages of our -- of chromatography, we can actually run good throughput through that facility. We've talked about our expansion up in Marion, Indiana, 42-acre campus, building that out with much larger scale capacity initially. Initially, we'll look to build that capacity out of 2000 tonnes of output of pure rare earth oxides per annual and as well as --.

是的。嗯，正如我們過去談到的，我們目前位於印第安納州諾布爾斯維爾的工廠正在運行。這確實是一個研發中心。但鑑於我們色譜的技術優勢，我們實際上可以通過該設施實現良好的通量。我們已經討論過我們在印第安納州馬里昂佔地 42 英畝的園區的擴建，最初以更大的容量進行建設。最初，我們將尋求每年生產 2000 噸純稀土氧化物，以及——。

How many tonnes did you say?

你說的是多少噸？

2,000 tonnes of purified rare earth oxides per year on the rare earth side. And on the critical minerals side, again, it's a little bit harder to model on the battery side of things based off of the variety of inputs, the quality of the inputs, the different chemistries of the input, but we're building that out to be about a 5,000 per year of high purity lithium carbonate, 5,000 tonnes. And a third of that was, let's just say, recycled NMC chemistry from a black mass perspective. From an input that would equate to about 3,000 to 3,500 tonnes of a mixture of nickel and cobalt sulfates. And then we currently are looking at advancing lithium preprocessing in Eastern Kentucky.

稀土方面每年提純稀土氧化物2000噸。在關鍵礦物質方面，根據輸入的種類、輸入的質量、輸入的不同化學成分，在電池方面進行建模有點困難，但我們正在構建它年產高純碳酸鋰約5000噸，即5000噸。可以說，其中三分之一是從黑色物質角度回收的 NMC 化學物質。投入量相當於約 3,000 至 3,500 噸硫酸鎳和硫酸鈷的混合物。我們目前正在考慮在肯塔基州東部推進鋰預處理。

Right, thank you for -- don't forget that. Okay. Well, I'm done. And congratulations, things are actually starting to take shape continuing to --.

好的，謝謝你——別忘了這一點。好的。好吧，我完成了。恭喜你，事情實際上已經開始成形——。

Thanks, Michael.

謝謝，邁克爾。

Thanks, Mark.

謝謝，馬克。

(Operator Instructions) [Michael Samuels], Fisher.

（操作員說明）[Michael Samuels]，Fisher。

Yeah, Mark, I just have a couple of questions: number one, when I was looking at your current quarter, why was your cost of coal sale and processing, it went up almost $1 million this quarter, but yet, our sales went down $14 million. So how was that so high?

是的，馬克，我只有幾個問題：第一，當我查看你們當前季度時，為什麼你們的煤炭銷售和加工成本本季度增加了近 100 萬美元，但我們的銷售額卻下降了1400萬美元。那怎麼會這麼高呢？

That was one thing. And the other question I have too is you announced the buyback sometime ago, did we buy any shares back in the last -- this year so far?

那是一回事。我還有的另一個問題是，您不久前宣布了回購，我們去年（今年到目前為止）是否回購了任何股票？

Two points. Kirk, do you want to maybe jump in on the cost of coal processing?

兩點。柯克，你想參與煤炭加工的成本嗎？

Yeah. And so it's just -- it's a timing aspect really to when you capture inventory costs, when you take it off of your balance sheet and expense it through the P&L when the coal is sold through that we should see that evening out over the next quarter. Our coal shipments are fairly chunky. So if you have one large shipment day before, the day after the quarter, it can provide some more impactful inventory cost swings. So as you look at that over 3, 6, 9, 12 months, you get more even picture.

是的。所以，這實際上是一個時間方面，當你捕獲庫存成本時，當你將其從資產負債表中剔除並通過損益表進行費用時，當煤炭出售時，我們應該會在下個季度的晚上看到這一點。我們的煤炭運輸量相當大。因此，如果您在季度前一天或後一天有大量發貨，則可以提供一些更具影響力的庫存成本波動。因此，當您查看 3、6、9、12 個月的情況時，您會得到更均勻的情況。

Regarding the share buyback program, we do note that the Strategic Committee is one of the points they brought up. As we discussed on the year-end earnings call or the year-end earnings call, we did buy back shares during the end of 2022, but we have not disclosed or bought back any during the 2023.

關於股票回購計劃，我們確實注意到戰略委員會是他們提出的要點之一。正如我們在年終收益電話會議或年終收益電話會議上討論的那樣，我們確實在 2022 年底回購了股票，但我們在 2023 年期間沒有披露或回購任何股票。

I mean, I'm looking -- you're saying you've got this letter of intent and we've had letters of intent, letters of intent and you're saying that could be worth like $3.83 a share and just [so] happen to be watching this stock in the after hour here and the stock just continues to go [down down, down, down, down, down]. And so at $1.60, you would think you would at least be looking at a buyback if you're going to get $3.83 from just the --.

我的意思是，我正在尋找 - 你說你已經收到了這份意向書，我們也收到了意向書，意向書，你說這可能值每股 3.83 美元，而且[所以] 碰巧在盤後在這裡觀看這只股票，並且該股票繼續上漲[下跌，下跌，下跌，下跌，下跌]。因此，在 1.60 美元的價格下，如果你想從 -- 中獲得 3.83 美元，你至少會考慮回​​購。

And then the other question I had is you also mentioned at the beginning of the call that we were going to spin off American Carbon like one share for every two shares of American Resources. But then we also, last year we were going to do the same with ReElement's. So why would we be spinning both sections off, that half a share each.

我的另一個問題是，您在電話會議開始時也提到，我們將按照每兩股美國資源公司一股的方式剝離美國碳公司。但去年我們也打算對 ReElement 做同樣的事情。那麼為什麼我們要分拆這兩個部分，各佔一半。

You want me to take that one, Kirk, or do you want to continue?

你想讓我接受那個，柯克，還是你想繼續？

No. Yeah. So yes. So again, as we've gone through the options through the Strategic Committee, each operating business does deserve to be it's standalone public companies. So as we looked at building world-class management teams to run them, attraction of talent, attraction of customers, they do seem to deserve to be on their own. Once those are executed, American Resources would remain as a Nasdaq listed public company and would give it the flexibility to execute on some opportunities that lie outside of the current operating business model. It would give it more flexibility to take on those opportunities.

不，是的。所以是的。因此，正如我們通過戰略委員會審議的選項一樣，每個運營企業確實應該成為獨立的上市公司。因此，當我們考慮建立世界一流的管理團隊來管理它們、吸引人才、吸引客戶時，它們似乎確實值得依靠自己。一旦這些計劃得以執行，美國資源公司將繼續作為納斯達克上市公司，並使其能夠靈活地執行當前運營業務模式之外的一些機會。這將使其更加靈活地抓住這些機會。

So again, as we progress in the business plans and those subsidiaries, each of them have a clear defined structure and message to the investment community as well as to workforce and to customer base. And so again, the Strategic Committee of the Board and management feels that the each deserve to be their own public company.

同樣，隨著我們在業務計劃和這些子公司方面取得進展，每個子公司都有明確的結構和向投資界、員工和客戶群傳達的信息。董事會和管理層的戰略委員會再次認為，每個人都應該成為自己的上市公司。

Okay. Last --.

好的。最後的 - 。

Go ahead.

前進。

I can add on that too. It's -- each separate entity, we would capitalize American Carbon differently than we would ReElement Technologies. Those things would look differently just given the markets that they operate in and the opportunities that they have in front of them. They probably also carry a different multiple in the public market as well. Hence, the reason to drive forward with that unbundling of assets to extract that value. We think both of them carry different multiples as well. So capital allocation for growth, multiples in the public marketplace, and then separating it from a operational and governance perspective as well makes a lot of sense to do so.

我也可以補充一下。對於每個獨立的實體，我們對 American Carbon 的資本化方式與對 ReElement Technologies 的資本化方式不同。考慮到他們所處的市場以及他們面前的機會，這些事情看起來會有所不同。它們在公開市場上的市盈率也可能不同。因此，這就是推動資產分拆以提取該價值的原因。我們認為它們的倍數也不同。因此，為增長進行資本配置，在公共市場上倍增，然後從運營和治理的角度將其分開，這樣做也很有意義。

So -- and then where American Resources would sit post that potential split or divestiture of any of the carbon assets, American Resources would continue to leverage the ReElement refining just given that strategic advantage of refining critical minerals to be able to broaden the natural resource play. Again, Mark's over in Africa, we're looking at a variety of different lithium plays, again because we can refine lithium very cost effectively into high-purity forms. It's a hard element to refine.

因此，美國資源公司在可能分割或剝離任何碳資產的情況下，將繼續利用 ReElement 煉油廠，因為精煉關鍵礦物具有戰略優勢，能夠擴大自然資源領域的影響力。再次，馬克在非洲，我們正在研究各種不同的鋰礦，同樣是因為我們可以非常經濟有效地將鋰精煉成高純度形式。這是一個很難精煉的元素。

We will be able to get enough batteries?

我們就能得到足夠的電池嗎？

Well, that's the unique thing. The opportunities we're exploring right now are for spodumene, which is natural occurring ore, just like coal, just like iron ore, or any other mine-based product. That is, again strategically differentiates us because it helps us bridge that gap of when are all these batteries going to come to an end of life, is it going to be 5 years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now. The recycling market is dependent on end-of-life or manufacturing scrap.

嗯，這就是獨特之處。我們現在正在探索的機會是鋰輝石，它是天然礦石，就像煤炭、鐵礦石或任何其他礦山產品一樣。也就是說，再次在戰略上使我們與眾不同，因為它幫助我們彌合了所有這些電池何時達到使用壽命的差距，是從現在起 5 年、從現在起 10 年還是從現在起 15 年。回收市場依賴於報廢或製造廢料。

But like I said earlier, nobody is producing a whole lot of things here in the United States yet. The mandate's been set, the capital is being deployed, infrastructure is being stood up, but manufacturing scrap isn't widely available in large volumes today. Getting our hands and access on high quality ores in the lithium market is very attractive for us. That helps us bridge that gap to when recycling takes on a much larger product mix or input mix of your feedstock.

但正如我之前所說，美國目前還沒有人生產大量產品。任務已經確定，資本正在部署，基礎設施正在建設，但目前製造業廢料還沒有大量供應。獲得鋰市場上的優質礦石對我們來說非常有吸引力。當回收利用更大的產品組合或原料輸入組合時，這有助於我們彌合這一差距。

Okay. Then last question, you had -- it's been a while now since we applied for the ReElement side. And I know you had questions back from the SEC and I thought you answered them. So how far along are we on the spin-off of ReElement right now?

好的。那麼最後一個問題，自從我們申請 ReElement 以來已經有一段時間了。我知道美國證券交易委員會向您提出了一些問題，我想您已經回答了這些問題。那麼，《ReElement》的衍生產品目前進展到什麼程度了呢？

No. Time is relative, Mike. I think the reason why we announced it initially was from a strategic perspective because having a really clean tech refining company embedded inside of a coal mining company, just call spade a spade. There is some strategic advantages for us doing that. Some portfolio managers aren't allowed to buy, they want a piece of ReElement, but they can't buy it within American Resources, but announcing that we have a plan to spin off, maybe it gives portfolio managers --.

不，時間是相對的，邁克。我認為我們最初宣布這一消息的原因是從戰略角度出發，因為在煤炭開採公司內部擁有一家真正的清潔技術煉油公司，直言不諱。我們這樣做有一些戰略優勢。一些投資組合經理不被允許購買，他們想要 ReElement 的一部分，但他們不能在 American Resources 內購買它，但宣布我們有一項分拆計劃，也許這會給投資組合經理帶來——。

And there's some other strategies that makes a whole lot of sense from other aspects within the supply chain in developing commercial partnerships and looking at different government based incentives or grants opportunities as well. So there's a reason why we announced it maybe early in the process because we wanted to be on record of this is our plan.

還有一些其他策略從供應鏈內的其他方面來看非常有意義，包括發展商業夥伴關係以及考慮不同的政府激勵措施或補助機會。所以我們在這個過程的早期宣布它是有原因的，因為我們想記錄下這是我們的計劃。

(technical difficulty) the clearance, if we wanted to go forward?

（技術難度）通關後，我們是否還想繼續前進？

Kirk, you want to --?

柯克，你想——？

Yes, I think at this point, we're navigating discussions. As you see. We're trying to maximize shareholder as strategic value along that process. We want to make sure that it is a proper public company and not just spun out just for the sake of spinning out. So we really wanted to go through the process, keep our options open, and get it to this point of being actionable when the value is there to act upon. I really -- [and that's probably] as far as we want to go, I don't want to get into it, we have one comment or no comments or so --.

是的，我認為目前我們正在進行討論。如你所見。我們正在努力在此過程中最大化股東的戰略價值。我們希望確保它是一家適當的上市公司，而不是為了分拆而分拆。因此，我們真的希望完成這個過程，保持我們的選擇餘地，並在價值可付諸行動時使其達到可操作的程度。我真的——[這可能是]就我們想要的而言，我不想介入其中，我們有一條評論或沒有評論等等——。

Right. Mike, I've also said now repeatedly when you talk to me in the past or I've have talked is, the spin out of ReElement is, a, strategic. But b, it's not -- we like to execute on things quickly. And I think we've showcased our ability to do so. But in regards to the ReElement's spin off, it's not -- speed is not the primary objective here. I think if speed where the primary objective, we could separate ReElement and let it drop off into the public market and let the public market figure out how to value it, or we can help investors hit the easy button by discovering value through the capital raising process through strategic partnerships.

正確的。邁克，當你過去跟我談話時，或者我曾經說過，我現在也反复說過，ReElement 的衍生是戰略性的。但是，事實並非如此——我們喜歡快速執行事情。我認為我們已經展示了我們這樣做的能力。但就 ReElement 的衍生產品而言，速度並不是這裡的主要目標。我認為，如果速度是主要目標，我們可以將 ReElement 分離出來，讓它進入公開市場，讓公開市場弄清楚如何對其進行估值，或者我們可以幫助投資者通過融資發現價值，從而按下簡單按鈕通過戰略夥伴關係的過程。

Okay. No, I understand. Thank you.

好的。不，我明白。謝謝。

Thank you. We appreciate it.

謝謝。我們很感激。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Steven Segal, KBB Asset Management.

史蒂文西格爾，KBB 資產管理公司。

Hey, Mark. The question I was going to ask was just answered, but I was just wondering, I know we talked a lot -- I mean, you talked a lot about lithium so far on this call. Has there been any new things or new developments in the magnet area as far as partnerships?

嘿，馬克。我要問的問題剛剛得到了回答，但我只是想知道，我知道我們談了很多——我的意思是，到目前為止，您在這次電話會議上談論了很多有關鋰的問題。就合作關係而言，磁鐵領域有什麼新的事情或新的進展嗎？

On the magnet side of things or on the lithium?

在磁鐵方面還是在鋰方面？

Yeah, magnet side.

是的，磁鐵面。

We continue to have very strong pilot programs in our pipeline today where we intake a variety of feedstocks from large, powerful manufacturers, auto OEMs. We continue to showcase the efficacy of our technology and showcasing what we're able to do in providing sustainable sources back into their supply chain of those critical raw materials. So yes, there continues to be progress in developments made. We just haven't gotten to a point yet where we're able to publicly announce them by name. But I would say we're getting closer on the magnet side.

今天，我們的管道中繼續有非常強大的試點計劃，我們從大型、強大的製造商、汽車原始設備製造商那裡獲取各種原料。我們繼續展示我們技術的功效，並展示我們在為這些關鍵原材料的供應鏈提供可持續來源方面所能夠做的事情。所以，是的，所取得的進展仍在繼續。我們只是還沒有達到能夠公開宣布他們名字的程度。但我想說，我們在磁鐵方面已經越來越接近了。

I think one thing to also highlight, Steve, is the flexibility of our platform allows us to look at -- from looking at different feedstocks, our ability to take the entire powertrain of an EV and recycle it back in the high purity sustainable products is differentiated as well. So our ability to take the motor and magnets out of an EV, recycle them back, gives us the ability to talk to OEM's battery team as well and vice versa rather than just looking at we're a battery recycler and we can only handle NMC battery chemistries.

史蒂夫，我認為還需要強調的一件事是，我們平台的靈活性使我們能夠通過不同的原料來看待我們將電動汽車的整個動力系統回收到高純度可持續產品中的能力也有區別。因此，我們能夠從電動汽車中取出電機和磁鐵，將它們回收回來，這使我們能夠與 OEM 的電池團隊交談，反之亦然，而不僅僅是看看我們是電池回收商，我們只能處理 NMC電池化學。

We have a much broader and appealing proposition from an auto's perspective, I would say to look at. But we continue to drive those pilot programs forward with what we feel is a high degree of success. And, yeah, we look forward to communicating those milestones when we're able to.

從汽車的角度來看，我們有一個更廣泛、更有吸引力的主張，我想說看看。但我們繼續推動這些試點項目取得了巨大的成功。是的，我們期待著在可能的情況下傳達這些里程碑。

Okay. And then the other question is -- I'm not sure like -- as far as the LOI goes for the whole CL, is there some type of timeframe on that? Because -- or in the meantime, you still have to progress and get Carnegie reopened when you can, get Wyoming starting, right?

好的。然後另一個問題是——我不確定——就整個 CL 的意向書而言，是否有某種類型的時間框架？因為——或者同時，你仍然需要進步，盡可能讓卡內基重新開放，讓懷俄明州開始，對吧？

Yes, I think that's why we talked about both paths forward. We're not just not going to hang our hat on one path. We need to drive our execution forward from an operational standpoint as far as developing Wyoming County. Getting our Carnegie mines back up and running when we feel the market is solidifying. I did mention earlier on the call that our customer base is fairly narrow. We're working on broadening our customer base as well there. So we continue to drive that execution forward while we explore other alternative avenues as well, like divesting the entire platform or pieces of the platform.

是的，我認為這就是我們討論兩條前進道路的原因。我們不會僅僅停留在一條道路上。我們需要從運營的角度推動我們的執行，以發展懷俄明縣。當我們認為市場正在鞏固時，讓我們的卡內基礦山恢復運行。我之前在電話中確實提到過，我們的客戶群相當狹窄。我們也在努力擴大我們在那裡的客戶群。因此，我們繼續推動執行，同時探索其他替代途徑，例如剝離整個平台或平台的一部分。

Right. Okay. Thank you.

正確的。好的。謝謝。

Thank you. Appreciate it.

謝謝。欣賞它。

Appreciate you guys.

感謝你們。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

And it appears that we have no more questions at this time. I'll turn the program back to the speakers for any additional or closing remarks.

看來我們現在沒有更多問題了。我會將節目轉回給發言人，以供補充或結束語。

I'd like to thank everyone for your interest in American Resources and your time you took out of your busy schedules to participate in today's call. We look forward to executing on your behalf and communicating with you in the near future. Thanks again.

我要感謝大家對美國資源公司的關注，並感謝您在百忙之中抽出時間參加今天的電話會議。我們期待在不久的將來代表您執行並與您溝通。再次感謝。

This does conclude today's program. Thank you for your participation and you may disconnect at any time.

今天的節目到此結束。感謝您的參與，您可以隨時斷開連接。