American Rare Earths Advances Halleck Creek Amid U.S. Policy Boost

American Rare Earths Limited (ASX:ARR) has experienced notable share price appreciation recently, climbing around 19% in a single session to approximately AU$0.37, with a 52-week range spanning AU$0.23 to AU$0.84. This uptick aligns with several operational breakthroughs at its flagship Halleck Creek project in Wyoming, including an upgraded JORC mineral resource estimate of 2.63 billion tonnes at 3,292 ppm TREO, successful impurity-removal testwork achieving high recoveries for key light rare earths like Nd (84%) and Pr (85%), and completion of test mining with 3,080 tonnes extracted. These developments have fueled increased trading volumes as investors respond to the company's progress toward a prefeasibility study and demonstration plant.

Market sentiment remains bullish, bolstered by the appointment of Mark Wall as CEO effective January 5, 2026, bringing over 30 years of mining expertise to steer ARR toward U.S. production. The company also expanded its partnership with Tetra Tech for engineering support and is actively pursuing U.S. government funding, including Wyoming matching grants totaling around A$8.8 million available. A recent U.S. trade proclamation under Section 232, issued in mid-January 2026, highlighted foreign rare earth dependencies as a national security risk, directly reinforcing ARR's strategic positioning in domestic supply chains. This policy tailwind has amplified optimism, with ARR noting its alignment to the broader mine-to-magnet initiative.

Further enhancing credibility, ARR partnered with the University of Wyoming on a NSF-backed STAR project announced January 22, 2026, to explore valuable byproducts from Halleck Creek tailings, potentially improving project economics through lab testing and modeling. While specific analyst updates on ARR are limited in recent coverage, the sector's positive outlook is evident from Benchmark's sharp price target hike for peer USA Rare Earth to $45, reflecting expanded capacity expectations amid similar U.S. funding pursuits. Trading activity has picked up, with quarterly cash reserves at A$21.2 million supporting ongoing permitting and optimization efforts into 2026.

In the broader context, ARR's developments coincide with larger events impacting rare earth stocks over the past few months, such as the U.S. government's Defense Production Act invocations and streamlined permitting for critical minerals, alongside China's ongoing export restrictions on rare earth materials. These geopolitical tensions have spotlighted North American projects, contributing to sector-wide gains despite volatile commodity prices. Additionally, ARR's evaluation of a potential U.S. listing could further catalyze liquidity and investor access, positioning it well within President Trump's reelection-driven push for domestic resource independence.