Colorado-based Energy Fuels Inc., which is preparing to ramp up production from its Nichols Ranch uranium mine near Kaycee, Wyoming, by 2025, has agreed to co-develop a rare earth mining project in Australia.
Energy Fuels and Australia-based Astron Corp. Ltd. agreed to jointly develop the Donald rare earth and mineral sands project in Australia in a cash and stock deal that could cost Energy Fuels up to $140 million.
There is already a strong link with Australia on rare earths and the development of these critical minerals in Wyoming.
Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart has taken minority positions in several rare earth companies around the world in recent months. Local experts in the field are not ruling out the possibility of Rinehart moving to Wyoming.
Don Swartz, CEO of American Rare Earths, whose parent company is based in Australia, is developing what could become the world’s richest rare earth deposits with approximately 2.34 billion tons of rare earth minerals in Wheatland, Wyoming.
In late April, American Rare Earths, with operations in Laramie, rejected a $400 million takeover offer from a group of investors in California. Swartz later said in an interview last month that Rinehart is a “very sophisticated mining investor” and his intentions in Wyoming or elsewhere should not be underestimated.
A handful of companies are developing rare earth mines and processing in Wyoming and have licenses to mine the strategic mineral in each of their respective territories in the state.
This summer, Colorado-based Rare Element Resources Ltd. is looking to complete a rare earth mineral demonstration plant in Upton, Wyoming, while Kentucky-based Ramaco Resources Inc. boasts a massive deposit of rare earths in a 16,000-acre coal mine. near Sheridan, Wyoming.
The rare earth minerals bonanza is a result of consumers being hungry for magnetic metals essential for the ecological transition to electric vehicles, wind turbines, consumer goods, military robots and drones, missiles and chips needed for sophisticated computing power. .
Digging Wyoming
Energy Fuels, which has other uranium mines located throughout the Cowboy State and elsewhere, could produce up to 2 million pounds of uranium per year. It is one of the few uranium companies operating in Wyoming that has a business strategy that encompasses both uranium and rare earths.
In a recent conference call with Wall Street analysts about the first quarter of 2024, Energy Fuels CEO Mark Chalmers said his company is building a combined uranium and rare earth minerals company that is exploring acquisition opportunities.
The agreement with Astron reflects Energy Fuels’ moves in this direction.
The company has also benefited from a federal government-led effort to produce uranium for a $75 million strategic reserve in case it needs to be tapped in an emergency.
The Donald project has the potential to annually supply between 7,000 and 14,000 tons of monazite sand in a rare earth element concentrate to Energy Fuels’ White Mesa factory in Utah for processing beginning in 2026.
Under the joint venture with Astron, Energy Fuels has the right to invest $122 million in cash in the Australian project and issue up to $17.5 million in shares.
Energy Fuels will begin diving into the project this year with an investment of $10.6 million in the project and issuing up to $3.5 million in shares.
Under the terms of the agreement, Energy Fuels can acquire up to a 49% interest in the Donald project.
Energy Fuels has several uranium projects in various stages of development spread across the Powder River Basin. If all were in production, the company said it could produce up to 5 million pounds a year, including a Sheep Mountain project in south central Wyoming, about 20 miles south of Jeffrey City.
The Sheep Mountain project has more than 30 million pounds of uranium resources, the company said.
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.
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