American Resources Corporation’s Electrified Materials Signs Binding LOI to Acquire Blackion, Expanding Critical Materials and Battery Supply Chain Platform
Strategic all-stock transaction values Blackion at approximately $13.2 million based on a $275 million pre-money
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Strategic all-stock transaction values Blackion at approximately $13.2 million based on a $275 million pre-money valuation of Electrified Materials Corporation
Acquisition adds experienced management, commercial feedstock origination, battery lifecycle management and customer relationships while accelerating EMCO’s growing platform
Combination strengthens EMCO’s ability to connect battery feedstocks, processing and advanced refining through ReElement Technologies and other strategic partners
FISHERS, IN / ACCESS Newswire / September 21, 2026 / American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC) (“American Resources” or the “Company”) today announced that its majority-owned subsidiary, Electrified Materials Corporation (“EMCO”), has entered into a binding Letter of Intent (“LOI”) to acquire 100% of the outstanding equity interests of Blackion LLC (“Blackion”) in an all-stock transaction.
Blackion is a lithium-ion battery lifecycle and critical materials solutions provider with operations and strategic relationships across the United States and international markets. The company brings complementary capabilities in feedstock origination, reverse logistics, battery lifecycle management, material recovery and commercialization, traceability, and closed-loop supply-chain solutions.
Under the terms of the LOI, the transaction values Blackion at approximately $13.2 million, with the consideration consisting of EMCO common stock valued based on an agreed $275 million pre-money valuation of EMCO. The proposed transaction is subject to the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements, customary closing conditions and any required corporate, regulatory or other approvals.
The consideration is structured to align the Blackion team with the long-term success of the combined platform. Fifty percent will be issued at closing, with an additional 25% scheduled to be issued after 12 months and the remaining 25% after 24 months, subject to continued strategic alignment and mutually agreed integration and participation objectives.
Blackion has developed complementary capabilities across commercial feedstock origination, battery lifecycle management, strategic partnerships and customer development. EMCO and Blackion have worked collaboratively through existing commercial activities, providing both organizations with an opportunity to evaluate their respective capabilities, cultures and strategic alignment prior to pursuing the transaction.
The acquisition is designed to accelerate EMCO’s commercial development by integrating Blackion’s experienced management team, commercial relationships and operating capabilities into EMCO’s existing industrial platform. The transaction is expected to accelerate commercialization, reduce execution risk and expand EMCO’s ability to efficiently originate and manage critical material feedstocks at scale.
Expanding a Connected Critical Materials Platform
A significant focus of the combined platform will be lithium-ion battery materials, including lithium iron phosphate (“LFP”) and other battery chemistries, manufacturing scrap, black mass and other battery-derived critical mineral feedstocks, as well as rare earth magnet materials recovered from end-of-life products and industrial waste streams.
EMCO is building a scalable front-end platform that connects material disposition, reverse logistics, aggregation, dismantling, preprocessing and conditioning with downstream processing and advanced refining, including through its affiliated downstream refiner, ReElement Technologies Corporation, as well as other strategic partners. Blackion’s commercial relationships, feedstock origination capabilities and battery lifecycle expertise are expected to expand EMCO’s reach across this ecosystem while adding an experienced team capable of accelerating execution.
The combined organization intends to work collaboratively with battery and cell manufacturers, automotive and energy-storage companies, collection and logistics providers, battery recyclers, black mass producers, critical mineral processors and refiners, and other domestic and international participants across the battery supply chain.
Chris Dreska, Chief Executive Officer of Electrified Materials Corporation, commented: “Bringing Blackion into Electrified Materials is a natural progression of a commercial relationship we have developed over the past year. We have had the opportunity to work alongside their team, understand their capabilities and see firsthand the value of their commercial relationships and battery supply-chain expertise.
“Importantly, this transaction is about accelerating execution. We believe we could build many of these capabilities organically, but doing so would require additional time, management resources and execution risk. Blackion brings an experienced, entrepreneurial team with complementary capabilities that can immediately strengthen what we are already building at Electrified Materials.
“We share a philosophy that the future of critical materials is not about trying to own every step of the supply chain. It is about connecting the right capabilities to create the most efficient and commercially sustainable solution. Whether material originates from an end-of-life battery, manufacturing scrap, an OEM, another recycler or a black mass producer, our objective is to create an economic pathway that keeps those materials in productive use and returns their critical minerals to the supply chain.”
Douglas Luciano, Founder and Executive Director of Blackion, commented: “We have built Blackion around strong commercial relationships, disciplined execution and finding practical solutions across the critical materials supply chain. Our work with EMCO over the past year has demonstrated how complementary our capabilities are. By combining Blackion’s feedstock origination, battery lifecycle management and commercial relationships with EMCO’s growing industrial platform and access to advanced downstream refining, we believe we can move faster, serve our partners more effectively and create significantly greater long-term value together.”
Connecting Feedstock, Processing and Advanced Refining
The transaction also expands the opportunity for EMCO to work with ReElement Technologies Corporation (“ReElement”) and other strategic partners to connect front-end battery and magnet material processing with advanced critical mineral refining.
EMCO is focused on aggregating, processing and conditioning end-of-life products, manufacturing scrap and other critical material feedstocks. ReElement is developing and operating advanced refining capacity capable of separating and purifying battery-derived feedstocks into high-purity critical mineral products.
Under the companies’ strategic collaboration, battery materials aggregated or processed through EMCO can be further refined by ReElement where commercially appropriate, including the recovery and production of technical- and battery-grade lithium products and other critical battery materials.
This connected model allows EMCO to work across multiple commercial structures and industry participants rather than requiring the Company to replicate every capability internally. The objective is to combine the most efficient feedstock, processing and refining solutions available to compete against global commodity economics while strengthening domestic and allied critical material supply chains.
LFP and the Changing Economics of Battery Recycling
The companies see a particularly attractive opportunity in the rapidly expanding LFP battery market. Unlike certain nickel- and cobalt-bearing lithium-ion chemistries, LFP batteries contain lower concentrations of traditionally high-value metals. As a result, their recycling economics increasingly depend on efficient logistics, preprocessing, scale and the ability to economically recover lithium and other constituent materials.
EMCO has been expanding its capabilities across LFP battery disposition, dismantling, destruction and processing, while ReElement’s advanced refining platform provides an economic pathway to recover lithium from resulting battery-derived feedstocks.
Blackion’s battery lifecycle management capabilities, commercial relationships and feedstock origination network are expected to accelerate the development of this platform while also supporting EMCO’s broader activities across other battery chemistries.
Building Value Across Critical Material Feedstocks
Battery materials represent one of two major critical-material platforms being advanced by EMCO. The Company is also expanding its activities across rare-earth-bearing electronic waste and permanent magnet materials, including materials recovered from data-center hard disk drives and other end-of-life products.
Across these platforms, EMCO seeks to maximize the economic value recovered from each incoming material stream while concentrating critical-mineral-bearing materials for downstream refining.
The proposed Blackion acquisition represents another step in American Resources’ strategy of building, connecting and scaling complementary capabilities across the critical mineral supply chain. By combining strategic feedstock origination, industrial processing, commercial relationships and advanced refining capabilities, American Resources and its affiliated companies are seeking to build capital-efficient supply chains capable of competing in global markets.
About Blackion LLC
Blackion is a lithium-ion battery lifecycle and critical materials solutions provider with operations and strategic relationships across the United States and international markets. The company supports battery manufacturers, OEMs, recyclers, and critical material processors throughout the battery lifecycle, providing integrated solutions for reverse logistics, end-of-life battery management, recycling, material recovery and commercialization, traceability, and closed-loop supply chains. Blackion connects global supply chains with recycling and processing infrastructure to support the responsible recovery and reuse of critical materials.
About Electrified Materials Corporation
Electrified Materials Corporation (“EMCO”) is a majority-owned subsidiary of American Resources Corporation (NASDAQ:AREC). EMCO is an innovative recycler of metals and minerals serving advanced technology, commercial, and defense markets. The company specializes in preprocessing end-of-life magnets, batteries, and ferrous metals to help ensure a secure domestic supply of copper, aluminum, steel, rare earth elements, and battery materials. Through its partnership with ReElement Technologies Corporation, EMCO delivers a fully integrated solution that supports a resilient U.S. supply chain.
About American Resources Corporation
American Resources Corporation is strategically developing a collaborative critical materials ecosystem through its Platform Orchestration strategy, which brings together complementary capabilities across commercial feedstock origination, industrial processing, and advanced refining. Through this capital-efficient approach, the Company is building a flexible platform designed to adapt to evolving technologies, customer requirements, and national priorities while strengthening domestic and allied critical mineral supply chains.
The Company’s operating platforms span conventional and unconventional resource sourcing, feedstock aggregation, recycling, processing, conditioning, and advanced refining through its strategic affiliation with, and former parent relationship to, ReElement Technologies Corporation, a leading provider of high-performance refining capacity for rare earth elements and critical minerals. Together, these complementary capabilities enable American Resources to efficiently align diverse feedstock sources with growing commercial, industrial, and defense-sector demand.
American Resources’ modular, asset-light business model emphasizes disciplined capital allocation, scalable growth, and strategic partnerships. By integrating complementary operating platforms rather than relying on traditional vertical integration, the Company is positioned to expand efficiently while supporting resilient, commercially sustainable supply chains across infrastructure, defense, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, energy, and electrification markets. For more information visit americanresourcescorp.com or connect with the Company on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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.
Company Contact:
Mark LaVerghetta
317-855-9926 ext. 0
investor@americanresourcescorp.com
SOURCE: American Resources Corporation
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