Tactical Resources eyes Nasdaq debut as Texas rare earths project advances 

Vancouver-based rare earths developer Tactical Resources (TSX: RARE) is preparing to move its listing to Nasdaq through a SPAC transaction with Plum Acquisition Corp as the company advances plans to develop a rare earth processing operation in Texas aimed at supplying the growing U.S. critical minerals supply chain. 

Tactical is currently developing the Peak project located southeast of El Paso, Texas, with the aim of becoming the next rare earth elements (REE) producer on American soil. Its flagship project contains the exclusive rights to acquire REE-enriched tailings and stockpiled materials extracted from the Sierra Blanca quarry.

The miner views Peak as one of only a few hard-rock direct-leach-extractable projects in the world, with initial quarry operating permits already in place. 

The company controls what it believes is one of the only production-ready rare earth assets in the United States — ~1.5 million tons of REE-bearing tailings already mined and stockpiled at a quarry site in West Texas, with an agreement in place to acquire the quarry itself.  

While most domestic rare earth projects are still a decade out from production, Tactical’s feedstock-first model skips the traditional mine development cycle, with no new mining or permitting required and the company says is positioning to move directly into processing. 

Chief executive officer Ranjeet Sundher said the company expects to complete its uplisting in 2026, declining to provide a specific timeline due to regulatory restrictions. 

“We’re really a U.S. story,” Sundher told MINING.COM in an interview. “Our project is in Texas, and we believe that a Nasdaq listing will open up many more doors as far as capital and partnerships.” 

The company currently trades on the TSX Venture Exchange and OTC markets and plans to delist from both upon completion of the transaction. 

Tactical’s flagship project is located near about two miles from USA Rare Earth’s Round Top deposit.  

Unlike many rare earth developers focused on delineating resources, Tactical is advancing a project built around processing material already available at an operating quarry. 

The site has existing infrastructure, including power, water, rail access and crushing facilities, Sundher said. 

For more than two decades, the operation has produced railway ballast, generating stockpiles of material that Tactical believes are enriched in rare earth elements. 

According to Sundher, the company recently completed the acquisition of the underlying quarry operation, giving it control over the land, mineral rights, equipment and stockpiled material. 

“We now control the entire operation 100%,” he said. “We can work towards repurposing a rock quarry for railway ballast into the next rare earth producer in the US.” 

The company estimates there are approximately four million tonnes of tailings available on site, which Sundher said could support the first five years of planned operations while further geological work is undertaken. 

Processing-first strategy 

Tactical’s development plan differs from many rare earth projects by focusing initially on processing and separation rather than resource expansion. 

The company plans to process material through a pilot-scale program to produce rare earth oxides before advancing to separation of individual rare earth elements and securing offtake agreements with downstream customers. 

Sundher said the project is particularly focused on heavy rare earth elements such as dysprosium, terbium and yttrium, which are critical components in high-performance permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, defense systems, robotics and other advanced technologies. 

One of the project’s key advantages, he said, is that the mineralization appears amenable to direct-leach extraction, potentially reducing the number of processing steps required compared with conventional hard-rock rare earth operations. 

“We bypass many of the traditional rare earth processing steps,” Sundher said. 

The company plans to develop a demonstration processing plant at the site before scaling operations through a modular approach. 

Benefiting from policy tailwinds 

Tactical’s plans come amid growing US efforts to build domestic supplies of critical minerals and reduce dependence on Chinese processing capacity. 

Sundher said federal policy support for domestic critical mineral production has strengthened considerably over the past two years, creating a more favourable environment for projects capable of producing and processing rare earth materials in the United States. 

The company is also evaluating opportunities to secure government funding as it advances the project. 

“We’re one of the few companies that have materials ready to process,” Sundher said. “One of the reasons we’re pushing so hard on creating materials from our site and demonstrating separation capability is to show that we tick all the boxes.” 

With infrastructure already in place and processing studies advancing, Tactical is positioning itself as a potential participant in the emerging US rare earth supply chain at a time when demand for domestically sourced critical minerals is on a steep trajectory.