“With Energy Fuels’ acquisition of Base Resources and its Toliara Project in Madagascar, we have now acquired the raw materials that, when developed, will enable us to become one of the world’s leading suppliers of advanced rare earth products and titanium and zirconium minerals, while also maintaining our current position as a leading producer of uranium in the United States,” said Mark Chalmers, President and CEO of Energy Fuels Inc.
Chalmers continued: “We have been putting together the missing pieces of the REE supply chain over the past two years, as we create a large-scale and low-cost critical mineral company based in the United States that produces uranium, rare earth elements, vanadium and soon medical isotopes on American soil, along with titanium and zirconium minerals at our mines in the Southern Hemishere. The ‘common thread’ connecting these products is that they are produced from, or associated with, ores that contain uranium, an integral part of our story over many years. We are able to process these ores at our facility in Utah and recover these elements in addition to the contained uranium.”
The Base acquisition is one of the most important pieces in Energy Fuels’ REE plan, as the development of the Toliara Project is expected to greatly increase Energy Fuels’ supply of raw materials and help the Company control its internal supply chain and costs. “We are working to bring rare earth processing capabilities back to the United States, while also mining and processing to the highest global standards for protection of human health, human rights and the environment,” Chalmers remarked. “This is great news for America’s clean energy, economic, and national security.”
Energy Fuels has now assembled a world-class and low-cost REE and critical mineral supply chain, where a suite of HMS projects in the Southern Hemisphere are expected to be developed in the coming years and produce large quantities of REE-bearing mineral product (“Monazite“) from Base’s Toliara Project in Madagascar, the Company’s 100% owned Bahia Project in Brazil, and the Company’s planned interest in the Donald Project joint venture (“JV“) in Australia for which a joint venture agreement was recently entered into with Astron Corporation Limited. Monazite contains the minerals “monazite” and “xenotime,” which have excellent grades and distributions of both “light” and “heavy” REEs.
The Company plans to develop and import Monazite from these HMS projects (and potentially others) into the United States where it will be processed into advanced REE products at the Company’s White Mesa Mill, located near Blanding, Utah (the “Mill“). Earlier this year, Energy Fuels demonstrated its ability to process Monazite and refine the material into separated neodymium-praseodymium (“NdPr“) at commercial scale. Monazite also contains material quantities of natural uranium, which Energy Fuels plans to recover for sale to nuclear utilities who will process it further to be used as fuel to produce carbon-free electricity.
REEs are used in a wide variety of clean energy and advanced technologies, including EVs, PHEVs, direct-drive wind energy, magnets, and a number of other energy transition and defense-related technologies. Over the next 2 to 4 years, the Company plans to develop and put the Toliara, Bahia, and Donald projects into production, which have the combined ability to produce up to 43,000 metric tons (“tonnes“) of Monazite per year. The Monazite produced from these projects, along with Monazite that may be acquired from other parties, is expected to provide sufficient raw materials for Energy Fuels to produce roughly 4,000 – 6,000 tonnes of separated NdPr per year, along with roughly 200 – 300 tonnes of separated dysprosium (“Dy“) and terbium (“Tb“) per year. Energy Fuels is currently in the process of designing and licensing the expansion of its REE separation capabilities at the Mill. Commissioning of the expansion is expected to roughly coincide with the timing of when these mines complete development and begin production of Monazite.
Once developed, Energy Fuels’ HMS projects are also expected to produce significant quantities of traditional HMS product lines, including titanium and zirconium minerals, which are expected to generate significant additional cash flow for the Company. As a result, Energy Fuels also expects to become a significant global supplier of, not only REEs, but also titanium and zirconium minerals. At the same time, the Company is currently ramping-up uranium production at its mines and the Mill in the United States and expects to maintain its position as a leading U.S. uranium producer.
Chalmers concluded: “I am also honored and excited to welcome Base’s highly successful management and employees to the Energy Fuels’ team, which I am confident will elevate our competitive advantages from day one. A key benefit to Energy Fuels from this acquisition is that Base brings to the Company an experienced and highly regarded management and operations team with a proven track record of safe, efficient, and profitable operations at heavy mineral sands operations in Africa. I would also like to welcome Mr. Michael Stirzaker to Energy Fuels’ Board of Directors. Mr. Stirzaker was Base’s Non-Executive Chair, and his many years of experience in mining finance and investment will be a valuable addition to the Company.”
About Energy Fuels
Note 1: The transaction value is US$178,438,295, which is based on the issuance of 31,920,983 common shares of Energy Fuels and assuming a share price of US$5.59 (the closing share price for Energy Fuels on the NYSE American as of October 1, 2024).
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
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