Acquisition of Bahia Project expected to
supply the raw materials needed by the Company's US facility for
the production of advanced rare earth materials used in EVs, clean
energy, and defense technologies.
LAKEWOOD, Colo., Feb. 13,
2023 /CNW/ - Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU)
(TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the "Company") is pleased to
announce that it has completed its previously announced acquisition
(the "Closing") of seventeen (17) mineral concessions
between the towns of Prado and Caravelas in the State of Bahia,
Brazil totaling 15,089.71 hectares
(approximately 37,300 acres or 58.3 square miles) (the
"Bahia Project"). The Closing followed the Brazilian
Government's approval of the transfers to Energy Fuels' wholly
owned Brazilian subsidiary Energy Fuels Brazil, Ltda. At the
Closing, the Company paid the mineral owners the remaining
$21.9 million cash.
As previously reported, the Bahia Project is a well-known heavy
mineral sand ("HMS") deposit that has the potential to
supply 3,000 – 10,000 metric tons ("MT") of natural monazite
concentrate per year for decades to Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill
in Utah (the "Mill") for
processing into high-purity rare earth element ("REE")
oxides and other materials. As used herein, the term "monazite
concentrate" refers to an HMS concentrate containing roughly 80% to
90% monazite. While Energy Fuels' primary interest in acquiring the
Bahia Project is the REE-bearing monazite, the Bahia Project is
also expected to produce large quantities of high-quality titanium
(ilmenite and rutile) and zirconium (zircon) minerals that are also
in high demand. REE production is highly complementary to Energy
Fuels' existing US-leading uranium business, as monazite and other
major REE-bearing minerals naturally contain uranium that will be
recovered and other impurities that will be removed at the Mill
before further processing into advanced high-purity REE
materials.
3,000 – 10,000 MT of monazite
concentrate contains roughly 1,500 – 5,000
MT of total REE oxides ("TREO"), including 300 –
1,000 MT of neodymium-praseodymium
("NdPr") and significant commercial quantities of dysprosium
("Dy") and terbium ("Tb"). The Company is focused on
monazite at the current time, as it has superior concentrations of
these four (4) critical REEs compared to other REE-bearing
minerals. These REE's are used in the powerful neodymium-iron-boron
("NdFeB") magnets that power the most efficient electric
vehicles ("EV"), along with uses in other clean energy and
defense technologies. For reference, a typical EV utilizes roughly
one (1) to two (2) kilograms of NdPr oxide in its drivetrain. Based
on this assumption, monazite concentrate from the Bahia project
alone is expected to supply enough NdPr oxide to power 150,000 to 1
million EVs per year. The uranium contained in the monazite, which
is expected to be comparable to typical Colorado Plateau uranium
deposits, will also be recovered at the Mill.
Update on Growing Monazite Supply Portfolio:
The acquisition of the Bahia Project is a part of the Company's
efforts to build a large and diverse book of monazite concentrate
supply for its rapidly advancing REE processing business. The
Company expects to procure monazite concentrates through
Company-owned mines like the Bahia Project, joint ventures or other
collaborations, and open market purchases, like the Company's
current arrangement with The Chemours Company ("Chemours").
The Company is currently in advanced discussions with several
additional current and future monazite producers around the world
to supply Energy Fuels' initiative.
Energy Fuels, through its White Mesa Mill in Utah, is currently the only U.S. company
extracting REE's and producing commercial quantities of
partially-separated mixed REE carbonate ("RE Carbonate"),
which it extracts as a coproduct, along with its uranium production
from monazite. This is the most advanced REE material being
produced in the US today at scale, since it is a high-purity
product ready for REE separation without further processing,
refining or purification. The Company is currently selling all its
RE Carbonate to a separation facility in Europe for further processing into advanced
REE products further down the supply chain, including metals,
alloys, and magnets. Though as discussed below, the Company is
currently modifying and enhancing its existing circuits and
facilities at the Mill with the expected ability to produce
separated REE oxides (or oxalates) from these process streams
starting as soon as later this year. The Company is also recovering
the uranium that naturally occurs in monazite for use in
carbon-free nuclear energy.
Update on Ongoing Sonic Drilling Program at the Bahia
Project:
Prior to Closing on the Bahia Project, the Company commenced a
sonic drilling program on the property to further define and
quantify the HMS resource, particularly at depth. Under the
previous owners, 3,300 vertical exploration auger holes were
drilled on the property indicating significant concentrations of
titanium (ilmenite and rutile), zirconium (zircon), and rare earth
elements (monazite) at and near the surface. However, due to
inherent limitations, historic augur drilling averaged only 5.7
meters in depth.
Utilization of a sonic drill allows for relatively undisturbed
collection of sediments both above and below the water table. The
limited sonic drilling completed by Energy Fuels over the past few
months is confirming that the mineral bearing sands are expected to
continue at depth. The Company expects to finalize Phase 1 sonic
drilling at the Bahia Project this month totaling 2,250 meters.
Following drilling, the Company will begin sampling and sending the
material to labs for testing, including metal assay, mineralogic
characterization, and process testing. The Company plans to
announce Phase 1 drilling results this year and start Phase 2
drilling in Q3-2023. Once data from both drill programs are
available, the Company plans to engage industry leaders to
calculate an initial mineral resource estimate for use in an S-K
1300 (US) compliant Initial Assessment and an NI 43-101
(Canada) compliant Technical
Report.
Update on Production of Separated NdPr Products at the White
Mesa Mill & Plans for Future REE Separation:
The Company is currently separating lanthanum ("La") and
cerium ("Ce") from its commercial RE Carbonate stream
utilizing existing Mill infrastructure to produce an RE Carbonate
product with higher concentrations of NdPr and "heavy" REEs. Energy
Fuels is also proceeding with the modification and enhancement of
its infrastructure at the Mill ("Phase 1") to expand its
"light" REE separation facilities to be capable of producing
commercial quantities of separated NdPr oxide (or oxalate) by later
this year or early 2024, followed by planned further enhancements
to expand NdPr production capability ("Phase 2") and to
produce separated Dy, Tb and potentially other REE materials in the
future ("Phase 3") from monazite and potentially other
REE-bearing process streams.
Earlier this year, the Company began construction on its "Phase
1" REE separation facilities, which includes modifications and
enhancements to the solvent extraction ("SX") circuits at
the Mill. "Phase 1" is expected to have the capacity to process
approximately 8,000 to 10,000 MT of
monazite concentrates per year from the Mill's process streams,
producing roughly 4,000 to 5,000 MT
TREO, containing roughly 800 to 1,000
MT of recoverable separated NdPr oxide (or oxalate) per
year. Because Energy Fuels is utilizing existing infrastructure at
the Mill, "Phase 1" capital is expected to total only about
$25 million. "Phase 1" is expected to
be operational later this year or early 2024, subject to receipt of
sufficient monazite supply and successful construction and
commissioning. If these milestones are achieved, Energy Fuels
believes it will be the 'first to the market' among US companies
with commercial quantities of separated NdPr available to EV,
renewable energy, and other companies for offtake.
During "Phase 2", Energy Fuels expects to expand its NdPr
separation capabilities, with an expected capacity to process
roughly 15,000 to 30,000 MT of
monazite concentrates per year and expected recovery of roughly
7,500 to 15,000 MT of TREO,
containing roughly 1,500 to 3,000 MT
of NdPr oxide per year, or sufficient NdPr for 750,000 to 3.0
million EVs per year. "Phase 2" is also expected to add a dedicated
monazite "crack-and-leach" circuit to the Mill's existing leach
circuits. Currently, the Mill is utilizing its main uranium
processing circuits to process monazite and extract the REEs and
uranium. A dedicated leach circuit will allow the Mill to
simultaneously process monazite in the new dedicated circuit and to
process other mined uranium and uranium/vanadium ores in the main
circuit. The Company expects to complete "Phase 2" in 2026, subject
to licensing, financing, and receipt of sufficient monazite
feed.
During "Phase 3", Energy Fuels expects to add "heavy" REE
separation capabilities, including the production of Dy, Tb, and
potentially other REE oxides and advanced materials. The Company
will also evaluate the potential to produce La and Ce
products. Monazite concentrates naturally contain higher
concentrations of "heavy" REEs, including Dy and Tb, versus other
REE-bearing ores, like bastnaesite, mainly due to the presence of
another REE-bearing phosphate mineral called "xenotime." "Phase 3"
is expected to enable Energy Fuels to produce separated Dy, Tb, and
potentially other "light" and "heavy" products. The Company also
expects to have additional "heavy" REE feedstock stockpiled from
"Phase 1" and "Phase 2." During these earlier phases, the Company
expects to produce NdPr oxide (or oxalate) and a samarium-plus
("Sm+") "heavy" REE concentrate, which the Company will
either sell or stockpile as feed for "Phase 3" REE separation. For
reference, the monazite concentrates the Company has analyzed to
date contain roughly 1% to 3% Dy and Tb, so 10,000 MT of monazite concentrate contains roughly
100 to 300 MT of Dy and Tb. The
Company expects to complete "Phase 3" in 2027, subject to
licensing, financing, and receipt of sufficient feed.
Mark S. Chalmers, President and
CEO of Energy Fuels stated: "Energy Fuels has achieved yet another
important milestone for our expanding rare earth business through
our acquisition of the Bahia Project. We look forward to further
defining the heavy mineral sand resource through our sonic drilling
program and moving forward toward mining in the most prospective
areas of the project. Using conservative development and market
assumptions, we expect to receive monazite concentrates from the
Bahia Project at a very low cost within the next few years. By
receiving monazite feeds from a variety of sources, including
mineral projects that we own, like the Bahia Project, and open
market purchases, like from Chemours and others, we expect to be a
low-cost US producer of advanced REE materials.
"As we continue to build our book of monazite supply through
acquisitions of projects like Bahia and other transactions, we are
also moving faster down the rare earth supply chain than any other
U.S. company to produce more advanced rare earth materials at our
White Mesa Mill in Utah. We are
currently expanding our SX separation circuit at the Mill that is
expected to enable us to commercially produce NdPr oxide or oxalate
by later in 2023 or early 2024. NdPr is a key ingredient in
permanent rare earth magnets used in EVs, wind energy, and defense
technologies. Later in 2026 and 2027, we expect to increase the
scale of our NdPr production and add 'heavy' REE separation
capabilities, including the ability to produce Dy, Tb and
potentially other products, subject to securing additional monazite
supplies.
"Of course, uranium production remains our core business, where
we continue to make excellent progress on resuming production at
our mines. As the largest US producer of uranium, Energy Fuels
recently sold 300,000 pounds of uranium into the newly established
strategic US uranium reserve where we earned total gross proceeds
of $18.5 million, and we have nuclear
utility contract deliveries beginning this year. We look forward to
providing markets with further updates on both our REE and uranium
business segments.
"With our leading position as a uranium producer in the US, our
US-leading vanadium production capability, our rapidly advancing
US-leading REE production capability, and our evaluation of
radioisotopes for use in emerging cancer treatment therapeutics,
Energy Fuels is truly becoming a leading producer of critical
minerals in the United
States."
ABOUT ENERGY FUELS
Energy Fuels is a leading US-based critical minerals company.
The Company mines uranium and produces natural uranium concentrates
that are sold to major nuclear utilities for the production of
carbon-free nuclear energy. Energy Fuels recently began production
of advanced rare earth element ("REE") materials, including
mixed REE carbonate, and plans to produce commercial quantities of
separated REE oxides in the future. Energy Fuels also produces
vanadium from certain of its projects, as market conditions
warrant, and is evaluating the recovery of radionuclides needed for
emerging cancer treatments. Its corporate offices are
in Lakewood, Colorado,
near Denver, and substantially all its assets and employees
are in the United States.
Energy Fuels holds two of America's key uranium production centers:
the White Mesa Mill in Utah and the Nichols Ranch in-situ
recovery ("ISR") Project in Wyoming. The White Mesa
Mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the US
today, has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of
U3O8 per year, has the ability to produce
vanadium when market conditions warrant, as well as REE products,
from various uranium-bearing ores. The Nichols Ranch ISR Project is
on standby and has a licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of
U3O8 per year. The Company recently
acquired the Bahia Project in Brazil, which is believed to have significant
quantities of titanium (ilmenite and rutile), zirconium (zircon)
and REE (monazite) minerals. In addition to the above production
facilities, Energy Fuels also has one of the largest NI 43-101
compliant uranium resource portfolios in the US and several uranium
and uranium/vanadium mining projects on standby and in various
stages of permitting and development. The primary trading market
for Energy Fuels' common shares is the NYSE American under the
trading symbol "UUUU," and the Company's common shares are also
listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol
"EFR." Energy Fuels' website is www.energyfuels.com.
Daniel Kapostasy, P.G.,
Director of Technical Services for Energy Fuels, is a
Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101
and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in
this news release, including sampling, analytical, and test data
underlying such disclosure.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS REGARDING
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains "forward-looking information"
within the meaning of applicable securities laws in the United States and Canada. Forward-looking information may relate
to future events or future performance of Energy Fuels. All
statements in this release, other than statements of historical
facts, with respect to Energy Fuels' objectives and goals, as well
as statements with respect to its beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates, and intentions, are
forward-looking information. Specific forward-looking statements in
this discussion include, but are not limited to, the
following: any expectation as to the
concentrations or quantities of uranium and heavy
minerals, including monazite, NdPr, Dy and Tb
contained in the Bahia Project; any expectation as to the
potential annual supply of monazite sands from the Bahia Project to
the Mill, the contained MT of TREO per year, or
the number of years or decades of such potential supply; any
expectation as to the number of EVs that can be powered by
NdPr oxide produced from the Bahia Project; any expectation
that drilling results at the Bahia Project
will confirm that the mineral bearing sands
continue at depth; any expectation as to the timing
and results of the Company's drilling program at
the Bahia Project and the timing of any announcements
relating to drilling results; any expectation that the Company will
complete an S-K 1300 compliant Initial Assessment and an NI 43-101
compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment
relating to the Bahia Project and the timing of any such
assessments; any expectation as to the timing of mining
at the Bahia Project; any expectation as to the costs
to the Company of monazite concentrates from the
Bahia Project and the timing of receipt of any such
concentrates; any expectation as to the Company's ability to
build a large and diverse book of monazite
concentrate supply; any expectation as to the
Company's ability to rapidly advance its REE
processing business; any expectation that the Company will produce
separated REE oxides (or oxalates) from its Mill process streams
starting as early as next year; any expectation that the
Company will be a low-cost US producer of advanced REE
material; any expectation that the Company will complete its Phase
1, Phase 2 and/or Phase 3 separation facilities on the time frames
indicated, if at all; any expectation as to the expected throughput
rates, production capability, REEs to be produced and capital and
operating costs of such facilities; any expectation that the
Company will be the first to the market among US companies
with commercial quantities of separated NdPr available to EV,
renewable energy and other companies for offtake; any expectation
that monazite concentrates will naturally contain higher
concentrations of "heavy" REEs, including Dy and Tb versus other
REE-bearing ores, like bastnaesite; any expectation as to the
Company's ability to produce radioisotopes needed for emerging
cancer treatments on a commercial basis or at all; and any
expectation that the Company will continue to be a leading US based
uranium mining company and a leading producer of
critical minerals in the United
States. Often, but not always, forward-looking
information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans",
"expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates",
"continues", "forecasts", "projects", "predicts", "intends",
"anticipates" or "believes", or variations of, or the negatives of,
such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or
results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will" be
taken, occur or be achieved. This information involves known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results or events to differ materially from those
anticipated in such forward-looking information. Factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks
associated with: technical difficulties; mining or processing
difficulties and upsets; licensing, permitting and
regulatory delays; litigation risks; competition from others;
political actions or instability in foreign countries; and market
factors, including future demand for and prices realized from the
sale of uranium, vanadium and REEs. Forward-looking statements
contained herein are made as of the date of this news release, and
Energy Fuels 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. Energy Fuels assumes no
obligation to update the information in this communication, except
as otherwise required by law.
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SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.