- Energy Fuels is restoring essential U.S. critical mineral
supply chains and processing capabilities that are key to clean
energy, economic security, and national defense.
- Acquisition of Base Resources secures the world-class
Toliara Project in Madagascar,
which Energy Fuels believes is the best critical mineral
development project in the world.
- The Toliara Project is a new large-scale and low-cost source
of rare earth minerals that Energy Fuels plans to develop and
process into advanced rare earth products at the Company's existing
facility in Utah.
- Rare earths are key ingredients in various clean energy
technologies, including electric vehicles (EVs), Plug-In Hybrid
Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), and direct-drive wind energy, along with
critical national defense technologies.
- Acquisition positions Energy Fuels to become a globally
significant producer of titanium and zirconium minerals in the
future, while also maintaining its current position as a leading
U.S. producer of uranium.
- Acquisition also secures Base Resources' mine development
and operations team, who have a successful track-record of
designing, constructing, and profitably operating the Kwale
Project, a world-class heavy mineral sands operation in
Africa.
DENVER, Oct. 2, 2024
/PRNewswire/ - Denver-based Energy Fuels
Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR) ("Energy
Fuels" or the "Company"), an industry leader in the U.S.
production of uranium and rare earth elements ("REE"), today
announced that it has completed the acquisition of Base Resources
Limited ("Base"), an established heavy mineral sands
("HMS") and critical mineral company, headquartered in
Perth, Australia, in consideration
of the issuance of Energy Fuels shares totaling approximately
US$178.4 million in
value1. The financial terms and details of the
transaction can be found here.
"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.
The Toliara Project is considered by the Company to be one of
the best HMS and critical mineral development projects in the
world, due to the high-grade and high-quality of the titanium,
zirconium and REE minerals, and its long mine life. The definitive
feasibility study for titanium and zirconium minerals, along with
the prefeasibility study for the addition of the Monazite stream,
showing attractive project economics is available here. The Toliara
and Donald Projects are currently in the development phase and the
Bahia project is currently in the exploration and permitting phase.
In addition, the Toliara Project is subject to negotiation of
fiscal terms with the Madagascar government and the
receipt of certain Madagascar government approvals and
actions before a current suspension on activities at the project
will be lifted and development may continue.
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
Energy Fuels is a leading US-based critical minerals company,
focused on uranium, REEs, HMS, vanadium and medical isotopes. The
Company has been the leading U.S. producer of natural uranium
concentrate for the past several years, which is sold to nuclear
utilities that process it further for the production of carbon-free
nuclear energy, and owns and operates several conventional and
in situ recovery uranium projects in the western
United States. The Company also
owns the White Mesa Mill in Utah,
which is the only fully licensed and operating conventional uranium
processing facility in the United
States. At the Mill, the Company also produces advanced REE
products, vanadium oxide (when market conditions warrant), and is
preparing to begin pilot-scale recovery of certain medical isotopes
from existing uranium process streams needed for emerging cancer
treatments. The Company also owns the operating Kwale HMS project
in Kenya which is nearing the end
of its life and is developing three (3) additional HMS projects,
including the Toliara Project in Madagascar, the Bahia Project in Brazil, and the Donald Project in Australia in which the Company has the right
to earn up to a 49% interest in a joint venture with Astron
Corporation Limited. The Company is based in Lakewood, Colorado, near Denver, with its heavy mineral sands
operations managed from Perth,
Australia. For more information on all we do, please
visit http://www.energyfuels.com.
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
This news release contains certain "Forward Looking
Information" and "Forward Looking Statements" within the meaning of
applicable United States and Canadian securities
legislation, which may include, but are not limited to, statements
with respect to: any expectation that the Company will maintain its
position as a leading U.S.-based uranium and critical minerals
company or as the leading producer of uranium in the U.S.; any
expectation that the Toliara, Bahia and Donald Projects will be
successfully developed; any expectation as to production levels or
timing or duration of production from the Toliara Project or any of
the Company's other mines or projects; any expectations as to costs
of production at the Toliara Project, the Mill or any of the
Company's mines or other projects; any expectations as to
future cash flows; any expectation that any production at the
Toliara Project or Mill will be world or globally competitive; any
expectation that the acquisition may position Energy Fuels to
become a globally significant producer of titanium and zirconium
minerals; any expectation that the Company will be successful
in acquiring any additional sources of Monazite; any expectation
that Energy Fuels will be successful in designing and licensing the
expansion of REE separation capabilities at the Mill; any
expectation that Energy Fuels will be successful in agreeing to
acceptable fiscal terms with the Government
of Madagascar or in achieving and maintaining sufficient
fiscal and legal stability; any expectation that the current
suspension relating to the Toliara Project will be lifted in the
near future or at all; any expectation that the Company will
successfully continue to operate to the highest global standards
for the protection of human health, human rights and the
environment; and any expectation that the Toliara Project will
become a world-class heavy mineral sands project. Generally, these
forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects," "does not
expect," "is expected," "is likely," "budgets," "scheduled,"
"estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "anticipates," "does not
anticipate," or "believes," or variations of such words and
phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may,"
"could," "would," "might" or "will be taken," "occur," "be
achieved" or "have the potential to." All statements, other than
statements of historical fact, herein are considered to be
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may
cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the
Company to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements express or implied by the
forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those anticipated in these
forward-looking statements include risks associated with: commodity
prices and price fluctuations; engineering, construction,
processing and mining difficulties, upsets and delays; permitting
and licensing requirements and delays; changes to regulatory
requirements; legal challenges; competition from other producers;
public opinion; government and political actions; the failure of
the Government of Madagascar to agree fiscal terms or
provide the approvals necessary to achieve sufficient fiscal and
legal stability on acceptable terms and conditions or at all; the
failure of the current suspension affecting the Toliara Project to
be lifted on a timely basis or at all; the failure of the Company
to provide or obtain the necessary financing required to develop
any or all of its Projects; market factors, including future demand
for rare earth elements; the ability of the Mill to be able to
separate radium or other radioisotopes at reasonable costs or at
all; and the other factors described under the caption "Risk
Factors" in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form
10-K, which is available for review on EDGAR
at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com,
and on the Company's website at www.energyfuels.com.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date
of this news release, and the Company disclaims, other than as
required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, results, future
events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions
should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the
information in this communication, except as otherwise required by
law.
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SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.