Key Facts About Americus Oxides LLC
Company Overview
- Company
- Americus Oxides LLC
- Incorporated
- Delaware, 2015
- Locations
- Little Mountain, SC / Lombard, IL
- President
- Lee Wiskowski
312-952-7100 · leewisk@protonmail.com - VP Finance
- Robert Reininga (a.k.a. "Bob Rhino", "B Rhino")
406-249-0224 · rhinocapital@protonmail.com - AZ Registration
- R19857167
- SC Registration
- 935944
By the Numbers
- Royalty payments to investors
- $0
- Years of broken promises
- 2016–2025
- PPP loans received
- $26,922
- PPP loan details
- 2 loans from Bank of America (June 2020 + Jan 2021), reported 7 jobs, status: "Paid in Full" (likely forgiven) — ProPublica source
What Happened
Americus Oxides LLC claims to process rare earth element oxides. Investors were promised royalty payments of $10–$25 per ton of processed ore in exchange for their capital. Formal Royalty Agreements were signed in April 2019.
Since then, investors have received exactly $0 in royalty payments. Every promised payment date has been missed. Company president Lee Wiskowski has provided a continuous stream of excuses and "imminent" payment promises — none of which have materialized. Lee Wiskowski himself described the company as a "pig in a poke" in June 2024.
Meanwhile, the company received $26,922 in PPP loans during 2020–2021, reporting 7 jobs. Both loans were marked "Paid in Full," likely meaning they were forgiven by the government — taxpayer money flowing in while investor money flows nowhere.
What If You'd Invested $10,000 Elsewhere in January 2019?
Instead of investing in Americus Oxides LLC, here's what $10,000 would be worth today:
| Investment | Jan 2019 | Feb 2025 Value | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | $10,000 | ~$228,000 | +2,180% |
| NVIDIA (NVDA) | $10,000 | ~$36,000 | +257% |
| S&P 500 (SPY) | $10,000 | ~$24,000 | +136% |
| Americus Oxides LLC | $10,000 | $0 | -100% |
Even the most conservative investment — a simple S&P 500 index fund — would have more than doubled. Instead, investors in Americus Oxides LLC have received nothing.
Investor Rating
What Investors Were Promised
On April 17, 2019, Lee Wiskowski sent a formal written commitment:
"Please find this email as a formal confirmation and commitment that I, Lee Wiskowski, as sole managing member of Americus Oxides LLC, will execute an Americus Oxides, LLC Royalty Agreement for $10.00 per ton of processed ore for a deposit of $10,000."
The executed Royalty Agreement was signed the same day. View the documents:
About Lee Wiskowski
Lee Wiskowski was previously president of Advanced Equities, an investment bank. He was also involved with Pixelon, another failed venture. In my opinion, there is a pattern of involvement in ventures that take investor money and fail to deliver returns.
In his own words (June 5, 2024), Lee described Americus Oxides as a "pig in a poke" — an item sold with a misleading description.