Only one Australian miner was among the 50 best performing companies on New York’s OTCQX in 2024 and it took out third place.
The 2025 OTCQX Best 50 companies traded a total US$5.85 billion ($9.43 billion) in volume and delivered a median total return of 74% last year to investors.
The median market cap for the companies ranked in this year’s list was over US$173 million, and among them were seven companies with a market cap greater than $1 billion.
American Rare Earths (OTCQX:AMRRY) took home bronze, although it was actually the top performing miner in the list, coming in behind Vancouver-based quantum computing technology firm BTQ Technologies (OTCQX:BTQQF) in top spot and Toronto-headquartered health technology company VitalHub (OTCQX:VHIBF).
Sydney-based American Rare Earths is advancing projects in the US states of Wyoming and Arizona.
The company’s Halleck Creek Project in Wyoming has a 2.34 billion tonne resource containing 7.48 million tonnes of total rare earth oxides (TREO), including the high-demand magnet metals neodymium and praseodymium.
American Rare Earths says the project could become the largest rare earth mine in North America and a multi-generational project, making it the first major rare earth mine to be developed in the US since Mountain Pass.
CEO Chris Gibbs says being ranked as the third most traded company among the 2025 OTCQX Best 50 reflects the growing confidence in the company’s vision to secure a domestic supply chain for critical minerals essential to America’s future.
“Halleck Creek, with its 2.34 billion tonnes of TREO under JORC standards, is more than a resource — it is a cornerstone of the US rare earths supply chain,” he says.
“Its scale and potential align perfectly with national priorities to reduce reliance on foreign imports, enhance energy independence, and support advanced technologies in clean energy and defence.”
American Rare Earths was recently granted a licence to enable test mining to be undertaken and in September 2024 received a non-binding letter of interest from the US Export-Import Bank for up to US$456 million in debt funding for the Cowboy State Mine area at Halleck Creek.
Prior to that, the company secured a $10.7 million grant from the State of Wyoming, also for the development of the Cowboy State Mine.
Thirteen other miners made the 2025 OTCQX Best 50 list, including Luca Mining (OTCQX:LUCMF) which was the only other resources company to land in the top 10.
Lundin Gold (OCTQX:LUGDF) came in 14th, Aftermath Silver (OCTQX:AAGFF) landed at number 25, Marimaca Copper (OCTQX:MARIF) ranked 44th, and Robert Friedland’s Ivanhoe Mines (OTCQCX:IVPAF) just snuck into the second last spot.
The OTC Markets Group (OTCQX:OTCM) operates regulated markets for trading over 12,000 US and international securities.
Trading on ‘over-the-counter’ markets – including stocks, bonds and derivatives – is done via a broker-dealer network rather than on a centralised platform like the New York Stock Exchange.
The OTCQX Best 50 is an annual ranking of the top 50 US and international companies traded on the OTCQX Best Market, based on an equal weighting of one-year total return and average daily dollar volume growth.
Companies in the 2025 OTCQX Best 50 were ranked based on their performance during the 2024 calendar year.
Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group, says the latest OTCQX Best 50 companies achieved a high level of performance during another challenging year for markets.
“This year’s group includes companies from all over the world, representing a diverse set of industries and specialties that clearly show the value of global cross-border trading,” he says.
Canadian and US companies accounted for a high concentration of the contingent at 27 and 11 companies respectively. The list also includes companies traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange, Australian Securities Exchange, and London Stock Exchange.
American Rare Earths will be exhibiting at this year’s Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) event being held from 2-5 March in Toronto, Canada.
The annual award winning convention brings together up to 30,000 attendees from over 130 countries for its educational programming, networking events, as well as business and investment opportunities.
Mining.com.au is an official media partner for the upcoming event.
To register for PDAC 2025 click here.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: American Rare Earths
