Ramaco posts $15.4 million Q2 loss, values Wyoming rare earth project at $8 billion

Ramaco Resources reported a second-quarter 2026 net loss of $15.4 million, or $0.26 per Class A diluted share, with adjusted EBITDA of $5.7 million, the company said August 4. Ramaco (Nasdaq: METC, METCB) operates metallurgical coal mines in Central Appalachia and is developing a coal, rare earth and critical minerals project in Wyoming.

Share buybacks and liquidity

During the quarter, Ramaco repurchased 3.5 million Class A common shares in the open market at an average price of $14.41 per share, spending about $51 million. Year to date, the company has repurchased nearly 4.6 million shares at an average price of $14.44, for almost $66 million, equal to more than 8% of Class A shares outstanding. Ramaco ended the quarter with $400.1 million in liquidity, up nearly 360% from a year earlier.

Cash costs and growth projects

In its core metallurgical coal business, non-GAAP cash mine cost per ton sold was $99, four dollars lower than the second quarter of 2025 and the fourth straight quarter under $100 per ton. Ramaco said its cash costs remain in the first quartile of the U.S. metallurgical coal cost curve.

In June, Ramaco's board approved a $25 million development project for the first two underground sections at the company's Maben Complex in Appalachia, with spending planned over the next 12 months. The company said the project should add 0.6 million tons of premium low-vol production at full capacity, at cash margins roughly double its overall second-quarter margins. At the Berwind Complex, the Laurel Fork Mine has restarted, and Ramaco expects a third Berwind section to be operating this September. Together, the Maben and Berwind projects are expected to add 100,000 to 200,000 tons in 2026 and, once fully developed, more than 1 million annualized tons of low-vol production. A new rail loadout at Maben remains on track for completion in the fourth quarter and is expected to cut trucking costs there by about $20 per ton.

2026 guidance

Ramaco lowered full-year 2026 production guidance to 3.6 million to 3.9 million tons, from 3.7 million to 4.1 million tons previously, citing continued weakness in high-vol coal markets. The company is idling one section at its high-vol Stonecoal Mine at the Elk Creek Complex despite the mine's strong cash costs. Sales guidance was cut to 4.0 million to 4.3 million tons, from 4.1 million to 4.5 million tons. Ramaco kept the midpoint of its full-year cash cost guidance at $96 to $99 per ton, versus $95 to $100 previously, and said it expects third-quarter cash costs to trend toward the top of that range because of elevated fuel costs tied to the Iranian conflict. Full-year capital expenditure guidance rose to $92 million to $97 million, from $85 million to $90 million, reflecting spending on the Maben underground project. Ramaco expects to ship 950,000 to 1,100,000 tons of coal in the third quarter.

Sales commitments and market conditions

As of June 30, Ramaco had sales commitments for 2026 totaling 3.8 million tons, slightly more than its 2026 production guidance midpoint of 3.75 million tons. Of that, 1.1 million tons are committed to North American customers at an average fixed price of $138 per ton, and 1.4 million tons to seaborne customers at an average fixed price of $108 per ton; combined, 2.5 million tons are locked in at an average fixed price of $121 per ton. A further 1.3 million export tons are committed to seaborne customers at index-linked pricing not yet set.

Ramaco said conditions in U.S. metallurgical coal markets were flat in the second quarter versus the first, with current spot prices marginally below second-quarter averages. Low-vol indices are running about $40 per ton above high-vol averages, coinciding with relative strength in Australian premium low-vol markets.

Rare earth project value estimate rises

Ramaco released an independent conceptual study by Hatch Associates Consultants on July 29, evaluating the financial viability of the Brook Mine critical mineral and rare earth project in Wyoming. The Hatch study replaces an earlier conceptual report from Fluor Corp completed in July 2025. Using the capital and operating cost figures in the Hatch report, Ramaco's internal modeling shows a potential net present value of $8 billion for Brook Mine and average annual adjusted EBITDA of $1.3 billion, both higher than the estimates in the Fluor report.

Hatch preliminarily put construction capital at $3.2 billion, plus about $0.8 billion in contingency, with initial production targeted for 2031. Ramaco said it expects further testing and engineering work to compress that capital estimate and timeline. Hatch is set to begin a Preliminary Feasibility Study next year, and Ramaco expects an interim update to the project's economics by year-end 2026. The company is also examining whether blending e-waste and PVC into its feedstock, along with other critical mineral elements, could add value. A Technical Report Summary focused on the project's geology will follow the Hatch report. Ramaco said it remains in advanced discussions on potential domestic and international offtake deals and non-dilutive project financing from public and private sources.

Wyoming pilot plant

The pilot plant's building structure is under construction in Wyoming and is expected to be complete in the fall of 2026. Interior equipment and testing facilities are being built at a Zeton, Inc. facility in Canada, with fabrication starting this fall and full-scale pilot operations expected in 2027.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Randall Atkins said the company continues to move toward a "dual platform model" of coal and critical minerals, citing "a number of meaningful milestones" achieved in recent months. He pointed to the Hatch study and an accompanying shareholder letter describing a shift to a carbochlorination technique in the proposed refinery process.