Ramaco Resources (NASDAQ:METC) executives highlighted improved coal-cost performance and a major shift in the company’s critical minerals strategy during the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call, pointing to a new proprietary processing approach at its Brook Mine project in Wyoming and stronger liquidity following significant financing activity in the second half of 2025.
Coal operations: lower costs, stable workforce, and 2026 growth plans
Chairman and CEO Randy Atkins said the quarter marked “the best quarter in years” for the company’s metallurgical coal operations, emphasizing cost control and productivity gains. At the Elk Creek complex, he said costs averaged $80 per ton, the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2021. CFO Jeremy Sussman later reported fourth-quarter cash costs per ton sold of $92, which he said represented the company’s strongest quarterly cash-cost performance in four years and placed Ramaco in the first quartile of the U.S. cash cost curve.
For 2026, management initiated annual met coal guidance and said the company expects to grow total sales for a sixth consecutive year while lowering overall cash costs for a third year in a row. Sussman guided to:
- 2026 production of 3.7 million to 4.1 million tons
- 2026 sales of 4.1 million to 4.5 million tons
Atkins said roughly 80% of 2026 production is committed at the midpoint of guidance. Chief Commercial Officer Jason Fannin added that Ramaco has secured commitments for 3.1 million tons, including 1.1 million tons to North American customers at an average fixed price of $142 per ton, and 2.0 million export tons at index-linked pricing.
Market backdrop: low-vol improvement, high-vol competitive pressure
Management described diverging conditions between low-vol and high-vol metallurgical coal. Atkins said the company is seeing “clarity” that could lead to a rebound in index pricing, citing supply constraints in Australia and stronger demand signals from India. He noted Australian premium low-vol indexes around $240 per ton, up more than $40 per ton from the fourth quarter, while average low-vol and high-vol indices were up almost 10% compared to the fourth quarter.
Fannin said steel and coal markets are increasingly influenced by policy, citing record Chinese steel exports in 2025 and suggesting export licensing measures and political pressure could reduce those exports in 2026. He also pointed to European steel prices rising nearly 20% since early Q4 2025 amid tighter import controls, and said U.S. steel prices were nearing $1,000 per ton for the first time since mid-2023. In India, he described continued growth in blast furnace production and noted discussions that could potentially remove an import tax on U.S. met coal into India.
By contrast, Atkins and other executives said high-vol markets remain oversupplied, with pressure from new projects. Fannin said longwall high-vol capacity in the U.S. has intensified competition domestically and in export markets, and that U.S. high-vol pricing continues to lag historical relativities to Australian premium low-vol pricing.
Low-vol projects pulled forward: Berwind and Maben
Against what management characterized as improving low-vol market dynamics, Ramaco said it is accelerating or initiating certain low-vol growth projects previously deferred into 2027. Atkins said these moves shift activity into 2026, with projects expected to add about 100,000 to 200,000 tons of incremental production in 2026 and about 500,000 tons in 2027, along with about $20 million in growth capital spending in 2026.
EVP of Mine Planning and Development Chris Blanchard provided more detail, stating the board approved pulling forward approximately $20 million of growth capital into 2026 at Berwind and Maben.
At Berwind, Blanchard said Ramaco plans to ramp low-vol production about a year ahead of schedule, contingent on completion of two additional air shafts expected to finish during the summer. Once ventilation is in place, the mine will add a full section with expected annual production of about 350,000 tons. Interim low-vol production will also come from the Laurel Fork Mine, and the combined plan is expected to add roughly 150,000 clean tons during 2026.
At Maben, Blanchard said the company is proceeding with a flood-load batch weigh loadout system designed to avoid roughly $20 per ton of trucking-related logistics costs. He projected the system would load its first train in mid-fourth quarter 2026. In response to a question, Blanchard said the underground portion at Maben is largely permitted and could be brought to first production within roughly six to eight months after a go-forward decision, depending on equipment and development work.
Brook Mine: new carbochlorination flow sheet and revised product strategy
A major portion of the call focused on Brook Mine and what Atkins called a “proprietary technology breakthrough” using carbochlorination for separation and extraction from coal and carbonaceous clays. Atkins said the revised approach reduces the complexity and cost of the prior processing concept, improves recoveries and yields, and changes the product slate toward higher-value outputs. The company plans to work with independent consultant Hatch to validate estimates and publish a revised preliminary economic assessment (PEA) with third-party economics by mid-year.
EVP of Critical Mineral Operations Michael Woloschuk said the company completed expanded testing of Brook Mine composite samples at multiple external metallurgical facilities, including initial carbochlorination testing. He described carbochlorination as a high-temperature industrial process using carbon and chlorine to convert metal oxides into volatile metal chlorides and water-soluble chlorides, noting it is the “dominant technology” used for most titanium manufacturing today.
Woloschuk said initial testing indicated the Brook Mine responds favorably, with volatilized critical minerals including gallium, germanium, aluminum, and silica. He stated initial tests showed “virtually all of the gallium was volatilized,” which he described as a significant recovery improvement versus the prior flow sheet. Management said the new approach enables production of higher-purity gallium, high-purity alumina, and high-purity quartz—products it positioned as targeting semiconductor and other advanced industries.
Atkins said the new product slate reduces reliance on scandium as the primary value driver, while still viewing scandium as an important future market. Woloschuk added that the company intends to selectively remove scandium to produce scandium oxide, while simplifying the rare earth portion of the process to sell rare earth production primarily as mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC). Management said this change allows Ramaco to forgo a costly solvent extraction circuit, reducing associated capital and reagent costs.
Executives also said the revised flow sheet will “modestly increase” the timeline for completion of Hatch’s pre-feasibility study work, and Woloschuk stated full pilot operations are now expected to start in 2027. The pilot plant building in Wyoming is expected to be complete later this summer, with the company deferring installation of internal processing infrastructure until flow sheet testing is finalized.
During Q&A, management said it had been discussing financing and offtake options in “real time” and suggested a more gallium-centric product slate could enhance discussions with strategic and governmental stakeholders. Woloschuk also cited engagements with Element USA and Kingston Process Metallurgy for aspects of the testing and simulation work and said Ramaco has filed provisional patents related to the carbochlorination process.
Liquidity and financing activity
Sussman said Ramaco ended the fourth quarter with record liquidity of $521 million, up more than 275% year-over-year, and a net debt position of $11 million. He outlined several financing steps completed in the second half of 2025, including $65 million in unsecured notes, $200 million in equity, $345 million in 0% coupon unsecured convertible notes, and an expanded revolving credit facility to $500 million inclusive of an accordion feature.
For the fourth quarter, Sussman reported Adjusted EBITDA of $9 million compared to $8 million in the third quarter, and a Class A EPS loss of $0.22 compared to a $0.25 loss in the prior quarter. He noted the quarter’s results excluded a one-time, non-recurring expense related to structuring a strategic critical minerals terminal at Brook Mine.
About Ramaco Resources (NASDAQ:METC)
Ramaco Resources, Inc (NASDAQ:METC) is a U.S.-based producer of premium metallurgical coal and industrial minerals, focused on supplying the steel and allied industries. The company’s operations are centered in the Appalachian region of West Virginia, where it develops, mines and processes high-carbon coal products designed to meet the quality requirements of blast‐furnace and electric‐arc furnace steelmakers.
The firm’s flagship asset is the Elk Creek underground mine in Wyoming County, West Virginia, which began commercial production in 2019 and delivers a range of high‐grade metallurgical and anthracite coals.
