Technology overview

The complete modular, adaptable, deployable, and circular critical mineral refining solution

Technology origins & history

Born from Over 4 Decades of Research and Development at Purdue University

Over 40 years ago, Professor Linda Nien-hwa Wang, of Purdue University began her research into designing a portable artificial kidney. Her initial research into multicomponent competitive absorption phenomena in a fixed bed led to the maturation of chromatography as an economically viable solution for refining and processing critical minerals. From those early days with limited publicized literature on chromatographic methods applied to mineral processing, Professor Wang was ultimately able to create what former Purdue Research Foundation President, Dan Hasler, called, “the most important patent Purdue has ever produced.”

In 2020, Professor Wang’s research was discovered by American Resources Corporation co-founders, Mark Jensen and Thomas Sauve. At that time, Jensen and Sauve were attempting to identify a refining technology that could process rare earth elements concentrated in coal production byproducts and coal mine pond tailings. From their nearly 2 decades of experience across natural resources operations, they identified Professor Wang’s chromatographic separation technology as a cost-effective solution to treat not just coal run-off but the entire rare earth element industry at large; an industry calcified into a global monopoly. After initial feasibility testing the recovery and refining of rare earth elements from Indiana wind turbine magnets, ReElement Technologies was born.