UW and American Rare Earths Win STAR Award
1/22/2026, 8:03:05 PM | United States
UW and American Rare Earths won a STAR seed grant to evaluate Halleck Creek tailings for viable end-uses that could improve economics and reduce footprint.
American Rare Earths’ Wyoming subsidiary, Wyoming Rare (USA) Inc., and the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources have been awarded a STAR seed grant under UW’s NSF-funded ART program to assess potential end-uses for tailings and byproducts from the Halleck Creek rare earth project.
The milestone-driven, one-year project will produce a comprehensive material-properties database, use computational modeling to evaluate candidate applications, and perform small-scale laboratory tests to validate high‑potential pathways. Led by Tyler Brown of SER’s Center for Economic Geology Research, the team will examine processing requirements and implications for overall project economics and footprint reduction at the Cowboy State Mine.
The STAR awards are part of UW’s $6.3 million ART initiative to accelerate research translation and commercialization, with an emphasis on industry-relevant outcomes and graduate and postdoctoral training.
Halleck Creek is a major Wyoming rare-earth deposit where American Rare Earths plans onsite processing and separation; identifying viable uses for byproducts could lower operating costs, reduce waste, and support a more resilient U.S. rare-earth supply chain.