OSRT To Invest $60M In West Virginia 

In southern West Virginia, Omnis Sublimation Recovery Technologies (OSRT) will invest $60 million in Wyoming County to extract rare earth metals from coal waste impoundments. The company’s revolutionary technology and process will be used to supply the critical, strategic, and rare earth metals that are necessary for the building and manufacturing of smartphones, computers, and other high-performance electronic devices, as well as new high-performance building materials.

“OSRT is giving new life to West Virginia’s coal waste impoundments by using the only commercially viable process to extract strategic metals and rare earth elements without any waste and no negative environmental impact,” said OSRT’s Vice President of Global Sustainability and Innovation Michelle Christian. “West Virginia has continuously provided our great country with the highest quality natural resources that built our society for the last 200 years, and we are proud to be a part of the next generation.”

OSRT has begun engineering and will immediately start site infrastructure. The building and equipment are expected to be completed and installed by mid-2023. OSRT will hire 100 team members and train them to operate the technology in a safe, clean environment.

“I am beyond excited to welcome this company to Southern West Virginia,”  said Governor Jim Justice. “Coal is such a big part of our state’s livelihood, and it’s amazing that we can now take the coal waste and turn it into something the world desperately needs, all while providing jobs to our hard-working people and investment to our great state.”

The West Virginia Department of Economic Development worked closely with OSRT, providing financial incentives and helping to navigate the permitting process.

“We are ecstatic about this announcement,” said Secretary Mitch Carmichael. “Bringing jobs to our people is one of our top priorities, and being able to do that while also utilizing the resources we have in our state is a win-win for everyone. We can’t wait to see what comes of this partnership.”

Coal waste impoundments and gob piles are rich in critical metals, including strategic metals and rare earth metals. Millions of tons of these metals are concentrated from the natural coal seam sources. The coal mining process has concentrated these minerals, and they are available in many waste impoundments. OSRT’s technology can extract pure metals from coal impoundment mineral waste using Ultra-High Heat without acids or harmful chemicals. The technology recovers 100% of the metals, including all critical, strategic, and rare earth metals, with zero waste and no harmful emissions.

“We’re excited to welcome a company like Omnis to Wyoming County, and we look forward to a long-lasting relationship between the company and community. Omnis will provide a strategic asset to Wyoming County that will grow the economy with 100 jobs and provide the opportunity for additional surrounding business growth,” said Wyoming County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Christy Laxton. “We’re grateful for the strong partnerships between our economic development authority, the WV Department of Economic Development, and the Governor’s Office, that make doing business in West Virginia possible for companies like Omnis.”

This is the second investment announcement by the Omnis companies in West Virginia this year (see sidebar). In March, Gov. Justice announced that Omnis Building Technologies will build a $40 million, 150,000-square-foot facility in Bluefield to manufacture housing materials that will revolutionize the future of residential construction, creating between 150 and 300 jobs.

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