History
Ramaco went public in 2017 as a coal miner, grew through reserve purchases and debt, then raised heavily from 2025 to develop its Brook Mine rare-earth project.
2017-2020: Going public
Ramaco Resources listed in February 2017 through an initial public offering of 6 million shares at $13.50, raising about $43.7 million after costs. The deal also reorganized the founders' Ramaco Development LLC into a wholly owned subsidiary of the new public company. The money was meant to repay a promissory note to an affiliate and to fund development at the Knox Creek and Elk Creek metallurgical coal properties (coal used in steelmaking). Sponsors Yorktown Energy Partners and Energy Capital Partners secured rights to name a share of the board in proportion to their ownership.
The record for the next few years is thin. In November 2018 Ramaco arranged its first bank facility with KeyBank: a $10 million term loan and a $30 million revolver, maturing in 2021. Shares on issue rose modestly over the period, from about 39.6 million at the end of 2017 to about 42.7 million at the end of 2020. The beats do not explain that growth, and nothing else major was disclosed.
2021-2022: Buying reserves
In July 2021 Ramaco sold its first public bond: 9.00% senior notes due 2026, which closed at $34.5 million once the over-allotment was exercised. The money was for acquisitions, capital spending and working capital.
Acquisitions followed. In October 2021 Ramaco agreed to buy a mine complex in West Virginia and Virginia from Coronado-affiliated sellers for $30 million cash, its first coal purchase since the IPO. It closed in December, adding about 50 million tons of coal reserves, several permitted mines and an idled processing plant near its Berwind Mine. In the same announcement Ramaco declared its first dividend, $0.0567 a share.
In 2022 came a related-party deal. Ramaco bought Ramaco Coal, LLC for $65 million from an entity owned by Yorktown and members of Ramaco's own management. A special committee of independent directors reviewed it and found it fair to outside shareholders. It closed in April with $10 million paid upfront and $55 million deferred through 2023. In August Ramaco agreed to buy Maben Coal LLC, holding about 33 million tons of reserves, for $30 million. It closed in September, with $21 million funded by a vendor loan from Investec Bank.
2023-2024: Bigger credit lines and auditor turnover
In February 2023 Ramaco enlarged its bank facility to $175 million, with Cadence Bank joining, and drew $25 million to pay off costlier debt. In May 2024 it grew again to $275 million, maturing in 2029, at a cost about half a percentage point higher.
The period also had accounting troubles. In June 2024 Ramaco dismissed Cherry Bekaert, its third audit relationship in under three years, and hired Grant Thornton. The filing disclosed a broad material weakness for fiscal 2023: a pervasive lack of documented accounting policies and controls. That was more serious than an IT-controls weakness disclosed in 2022. No audit opinion was ever qualified.
In November 2024 Ramaco sold a further $50 million of 8.375% senior notes due 2029, adding to the bond debt alongside the 2026 notes.
2025: The rare-earth push
In July 2025 Ramaco released early economics for its Brook Mine project in Wyoming, which it calls the largest unconventional U.S. rare-earth deposit, discovered there in 2023. The study showed a pre-tax value of $1.2 billion at an 8% discount rate and a 38% internal rate of return. The completed assessment followed on 10 July, with early leaching tests described as promising.
Funding followed quickly. Ramaco sold new 8.25% notes due 2030, totalling $65 million with the over-allotment, and used the proceeds to redeem all $34.5 million of its 2026 notes. In August it raised about $188 million by selling 10.7 million shares at $18.75, to accelerate Brook Mine development. In November it raised $345 million through zero-coupon convertible notes due 2031, with capped-call hedges costing $32.8 million to limit dilution up to a $54.56 cap. It also agreed to buy more Buchanan-area reserves from the same sellers for $15 million cash.
On 30 December 2025 Ramaco replaced its bank facility with a $350 million asset-based revolver plus a $150 million accordion, adding Truist and Old National Bank as lenders. That was roughly nine times the original $40 million commitment of 2018. At that date Ramaco was a Central Appalachian coal producer funding a rare-earth development with bonds, convertible notes, new shares and a much larger bank line.
Written from the 31 story beats below (2017 to 30 Dec 2025), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.