FISHERS, IN / ACCESS Newswire / August 8, 2025 / American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) ("American Resources" or the "Company"), along with its holding in ReElement Technologies Corporation ("ReElement"), a leading U.S. innovator in rare earth element (REE) and critical mineral refining, today applauded the recently announced cooperation between the Governments of the United States of America and the Cook Islands to advance scientific research and the responsible development of seabed mineral resources.

This bilateral initiative - announced in recognition of the Cook Islands' 60th Anniversary as a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand - marks a significant step forward in fostering sustainable economic development and strengthening U.S.-linked commercial participation in the region. As stated in the joint declaration, the partnership reflects a shared commitment to scientific advancement, economic self-reliance, and the responsible management of deep ocean resources.

Mark Jensen, CEO and Chairman of ReElement, commented, "ReElement supports and celebrates this bold partnership between the U.S. and Cook Islands, which reinforces the importance of transparency, science-led development, and environmentally responsible resource strategies. With our proven and economically viable refining platform, we are uniquely positioned to refine seabed-derived nodules in a way that maximizes value for all stakeholders while minimizing environmental impact."

The U.S.-Cook Islands agreement comes just weeks after ReElement Technologies announced two significant milestones related to its seabed refining platform:

• On July 23, ReElement signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Impossible Metals to toll process polymetallic nodules responsibly collected from the ocean floor.

• On July 30, ReElement signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the American Samoa Economic Development Council to launch Deep Sea Nodule Refining Collaboration.

Editor's Note: American Resources Corporation has issued a correction to its July 30, 2025 press release to accurately reflect that the Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the American Samoa Economic Development Council (AMEDC), not the American Samoa Economic Development Authority (AMEDA) as previously stated. Click here to view the corrected release.

These collaborations exemplify ReElement's role in supporting allied nations' critical mineral independence and building a more diversified and ethical global supply chain.

Mr. Jensen continued, "I want to recognize the efforts of our independent director, Ambassador Mark Gilbert, whose leadership and international diplomacy experience have played a critical role in fostering these partnerships. As the world increasingly depends on technologies that require rare earth and critical minerals, we must develop and deploy processes that are both sustainable and economically scalable. That's exactly what ReElement is doing."

ReElement's refining platform has been engineered to separate rare earths and critical minerals with exceptional efficiency, scalability, and purity. Their patented, programmable platform handles multiple feedstocks and minerals, enabling rapid modular deployment across locations and resource types. Unlike legacy solvent extraction methods, it uses far fewer chemicals, requires less space, and generates minimal waste - making it faster to permit, simpler to co-locate near feedstock or end-use customers, and eliminates a significant amount of CapEx and OpEx. This breakthrough eliminates a major chokepoint in global critical mineral supply chains, which has been dominated by single-source processing, no longer tenable as the U.S. must forge critical mineral supply chain independence, both through refining in the U.S. and in partnership with allies abroad - while also creating a true circular life-cycle solution.

About American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC)
American Resources Corporation is a leader in the critical mineral supply chain, developing innovative solutions both upstream and downstream of the refining process. The company and its affiliates focus on the extraction and processing of metallurgical carbon and iron ore, essential ingredients in steelmaking, as well as critical and rare earth minerals for the electrification market and recycled metals.

Leveraging its affiliation and former parent status of ReElement Technologies Corporation, a leading provider of high-performance refining capacity for rare earth and critical battery elements, American Resources is investing in and developing efficient upstream and downstream critical mineral operations. These operations include mining interests in conventional and unconventional sources, recycling, and manufacturing.

American Resources has established a nimble, low-cost business model centered on growth, which provides a significant opportunity to scale its portfolio of assets to meet the growing global infrastructure and electrification markets while also continuing to acquire operations and significantly reduce their legacy industry risks. Its streamlined and efficient operations are able to maximize margins while reducing costs. For more information visit americanresourcescorp.com or connect with the Company on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About ReElement Technologies Corporation
ReElement Technologies Corporation, a portfolio company of American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC), is a leading provider of high-performance refining capacity for rare earth and critical battery elements. Its multi-mineral, multi-feedstock platform technology focuses on the refining of recycled material from rare earth permanent magnets and lithium-ion batteries, concentrated ores and brines, as well as coal-based waste streams and byproducts to create a cost effective and environmentally-safe, circular supply chain. ReElement has developed its innovative and scalable "Powered by ReElement" process which collaboratively utilizes its exclusively licensed intellectual property within its partners' material processing flow sheets to more efficiently support the global supply chain's growing demand for magnet and battery-grade products. For more information visit reelementtech.com or connect with the Company on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Learn more about ReElement Technologies' process and technology here - Video.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, or achievements or industry results to differ materially from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond American Resources Corporation's control. The words "believes", "may", "will", "should", "would", "could", "continue", "seeks", "anticipates", "plans", "expects", "intends", "estimates", or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. Any forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this release. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. The Company cannot assure you that the projected results or events will be achieved.

Investor Contact:
JTC Team, LLC
Jenene Thomas
(908) 824 - 0775
arec@jtcir.com

Media Inquiries:
Marjorie Weisskohl
703-587-1532
mweisskohl@allseasonspr.com

Company Contact:
Mark LaVerghetta
317-855-9926 ext. 0
investor@americanresourcescorp.com

SOURCE: American Resources Corporation