Energy Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, recovery, recycling, exploration, operation, development, permitting, evaluation, and sale of uranium mineral properties in the United States.
The company's final uranium product, uranium oxide concentrate (U3O8 or uranium concentrate), also known as yellowcake, is sold to customers for further processing into fuel for nuclear reactors. The company also produces vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) as a co-product of uranium at...
Energy Fuels Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, recovery, recycling, exploration, operation, development, permitting, evaluation, and sale of uranium mineral properties in the United States.
The company's final uranium product, uranium oxide concentrate (U3O8 or uranium concentrate), also known as yellowcake, is sold to customers for further processing into fuel for nuclear reactors. The company also produces vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) as a co-product of uranium at the White Mesa Mill (the White Mesa Mill or the Mill), from certain of its Colorado Plateau properties and at times from solutions in its Mill tailings impoundment system, each as market conditions warrant. The Mill has produced rare earth elements (REE) carbonate (RE Carbonate) from various uranium- and REE-bearing materials acquired from third parties since 2021 and completed modifications and enhancements to its existing infrastructure for the production of separated REE products, producing separated neodymium/praseodymium (NdPr) in 2024.
The company owns the Bahia Project in Brazil, which is an exploration/permitting stage property for the potential production of heavy mineral sands (HMS) that would be sold into the commercial HMS market while the associated monazite would be used as a feedstock ore for production of REEs and uranium at the Mill.
On October 2, 2024, the company acquired Base Resources Limited increasing its portfolio of other HMS/monazite/REE projects around the world.
The company responsibly produce several of the raw materials needed for clean energy and advanced technologies, including uranium, vanadium, HMS and REE. The company owns conventional uranium, uranium/vanadium and HMS properties and projects in various stages of operation, development, exploration and permitting, as well as fully permitted uranium and uranium/vanadium projects on standby.
The Mill is working to establish itself as a critical minerals hub in the U.S. with its uranium, vanadium, REE and potential radioisotope production. Uranium is the fuel for carbon-free, emission-free baseload nuclear power, and one of the cleanest forms of energy in the world. The REEs the company is now producing are used to manufacture permanent magnets for electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid EVs, wind turbines, advanced robotics, defense technologies and other technologies. The radioisotopes the company is evaluating recovering from its REE and uranium processing streams have the potential to provide materials needed for emerging TAT cancer-fighting therapeutics.
In addition, Energy Fuels recovers uranium from other uranium-bearing materials not derived from natural or native ores, referred to as Alternate Feed Materials, at its Mill, thereby recycling materials back into the market that would otherwise be lost to direct disposal.
The company is acquiring monazite from a third-party miner in Florida and Georgia, which it processes into RE Carbonate and separated REEs.
The company has also secured its own sources of uranium- and REE-bearing monazite sands in furtherance of a fully integrated U.S.-based REE supply chain, which include:
The Toliara Project in Madagascar acquired through the company's 100% acquisition of Base Resources on October 2, 2024.
The Donald Project in Australia through the company's Donald Project JV, which was created on June 3, 2024, when the company executed JV Agreements with Astron to jointly develop and operate the Donald Project JV.
The Bahia Project in Brazil acquired in February 2023.
Segments
The company operates in three segments: uranium, HMS and REE.
The uranium segment engages in conventional and ISR uranium extraction, recovery and sales of uranium from mineral properties and the recycling of uranium-bearing materials generated by third parties along with the exploration, permitting and evaluation of uranium properties in the United States. As part of these activities, the company also acquires, explores, evaluates and, if warranted, permits uranium properties. The company's final uranium product is natural uranium concentrate, or U3O8, which is sold to customers for further processing into fuel for nuclear reactors. The company also produces vanadium pentoxide, V2O5, as a co-product of uranium at the Mill within the uranium segment. In addition, within the uranium segment, the company is exploring opportunities to separate radium-226 and radium-228 as a byproduct of uranium and thorium process streams in its existing mines for potential use in the production of medical isotopes for emerging targeted alpha therapy (TAT) cancer treatments.
The HMS segment engages in the exploration, development and recovery of HMS at the Kwale Project (now in reclamation), Bahia Project, Toliara Project and the company's equity method investment in the Donald Project JV. The company has recovered HMS, with its stand-alone ilmenite, rutile and zircon to provide sources of titanium (TiO2) and zirconium (ZrO2) from the now-winding-down Kwale Project and plans to recovery HMS, TiO2, ZrO2 and monazite from its Bahia Project, Toliara Project and interest in the Donald Project, once all permitting and approvals are received and development is completed at those projects.
The REE segment is engaged in the company's initiatives to progress towards full REE separation capabilities at the Mill to produce both light and (in the future) heavy separated REE oxides. The company has been producing a mixed RE Carbonate from third-party sourced monazite sands at the Mill since 2021. During the year ended December 31, 2024, Energy Fuels completed the modifications and enhancements of its infrastructure at the Mill (Phase 1) to install the capacity to produce up to 800 - 1,000 metric tons (tonnes) of separated NdPr per year from monazite, from which the company produced 38 tonnes of separated NdPr during 2024. Now that the company has developed and commissioned its Phase 1 REE separation circuit, the company's focus will be on the production of separated REE products rather than the continued production of mixed RE Carbonate. The company expects to procure monazite through company-owned mines like the Toliara Project and Bahia Project, as well as its joint venture interest in the Donald Project and other potential joint ventures or other collaborations, in each case upon successful development of the projects and open market purchases.
Uranium segment
The company's primary product is U3O8 (also known as natural uranium concentrate), which, when further processed, becomes the fuel for the generation of clean nuclear energy. According to the most recent data from the Nuclear Energy Institute, nuclear energy provides 18% of the total electricity and 46% of the clean, carbon-free electricity generated in the U.S. The company generates uranium revenues from extracting and processing materials for the recovery of uranium (and vanadium) for its own account, as well as from purchasing and toll processing materials for others.
Energy Fuels is engaged in conventional and ISR uranium extraction and recovery, along with the exploration, permitting and evaluation of uranium properties in the U.S. The company also extracts and recovers vanadium from certain of its uranium projects (and the projects of others), as market conditions warrant. The company also continues to evaluate the potential to recover radioisotopes from its existing process streams needed for emerging TAT cancer therapeutics. The company's Mill is the only conventional uranium mill, and the only uranium, vanadium and REE recovery facility operating in the U.S., and has a licensed capacity to produce over 8 million pounds of U3O8 per year.
In 2022, the company entered into three long-term uranium contracts with major U.S. utilities, and in 2024, it entered into a fourth long-term contract with a major U.S. utility. During 2025, the company expects to sell 200,000 to 300,000 pounds of uranium under these contracts during Q2- and Q3-2025, ramping up to 630,000 to 880,000 pounds of U3O8 sales in 2026. To deliver under these contracts, the company commenced ore production at three (3) of its conventional uranium mines in late-2023, Pinyon Plain, La Sal and Pandora, located in Arizona and Utah. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the company mined ore containing 350,000 pounds of U3O8 from these three mines.
Conventional Operations
The company conducts its conventional uranium, vanadium and potential medical radioisotope extraction (along with REE activities discussed below) and recovery activities through the Mill, which is the only operating conventional uranium mill, and the only uranium and vanadium processing facility in the United States. The Mill, located near Blanding, San Juan County, Utah, is centrally located such that it can conveniently and cost-effectively be fed by a number of the company's uranium and uranium/vanadium projects in Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, as well as by ore purchases or toll milling arrangements with third parties in the region, as market conditions warrant.
The Mill is licensed to process 2,000 tons of ore per day and produce over 8 million pounds of U3O8 per year. It is primarily a uranium recovery facility but can also recover REEs and vanadium from various uranium ores. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the company recovered 158,000 pounds of uranium at the Mill including 2,000 pounds of uranium from its monazite processing. An additional 4,000 pounds of uranium from its monazite processing is expected to remain in circuit and not be packaged until 2025 or later. The Mill can recycle other uranium-bearing materials not derived from natural or native ores, known as Alternate Feed Materials, for the recovery of uranium, alone or in combination with other metals. In addition, the Mill is also evaluating the potential to recover certain radioisotopes from its existing process streams that can be used for TAT medical purposes.
The Mill has historically operated on a campaign basis, whereby mineral processing occurs as mill feed, contract requirements and/or as market conditions warrant. Over the years, company-owned and third-party owned conventional uranium properties in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico have been both active and on standby in response to changing market conditions.
Once production is fully ramped up at the three mines, which is planned for 2025, the company expects to be producing uranium at a run-rate of approximately 1.1 to 1.4 million pounds per year. Ore mined from the three mines during 2025 will be stockpiled at the Mill and be available for processing that may start as early as 2025 but may be deferred to later years, depending on market conditions, contract requirements and the Mill's schedule. The company is also preparing one conventional mine (the Whirlwind mine) to commence uranium production within one year from a go decision, which would increase Energy Fuels' uranium production to a run-rate of over two million pounds of U3O8 per year.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the company continued to produce uranium from its alternate feed recycling program, which totaled approximately 158,000 pounds of finished U3O8.
Additionally, the company is preparing one additional conventional mine in Colorado (Whirlwind) for expected production within one year from a go decision and is advancing several other large-scale U.S. mine projects in order to increase uranium production in the coming years in response to potentially strong uranium market conditions. With strong market conditions, the Whirlwind and Nichols Ranch mines could potentially increase Energy Fuels' uranium production to a run-rate of over two million pounds of U3O8 per year as early as 2026. In 2025, the company plans to continue to advance permitting and development on the Roca Honda and Bullfrog projects, which together with the company's Sheep Mountain Project, could expand the company's uranium production to a run-rate of up to five million pounds of U3O8 per year in the coming years, as market conditions warrant. The company also expects to commence an ore buying program from third-party conventional miners in 2025, which is expected to further increase the company's uranium production profile. As the company is ramping up its uranium production, it can rely on its uranium inventories and potential purchases of U.S. origin uranium on the spot market to supplement its uranium production if necessary to fulfill its contract requirements.
The company will continue to selectively sell its vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) inventory (approximately 905,000 pounds as of December 31, 2024) on the spot market as markets warrant, but will otherwise continue to maintain it in inventory.
The company has approximately 393,000 pounds of finished U3O8 inventory held at the Mill and at conversion facilities owned by ConverDyn and Cameco, along with approximately another 725,000 pounds of U3O8 contained in stockpiled Alternate Feed Materials, mineralized material inventory and work in process that is expected to be processed for recovery in the future. In addition, there remains an estimated 1.0 to 3.0 million pounds of solubilized recoverable V2O5 remaining in the Mill's tailings facility awaiting future recovery, as market conditions may warrant.
The company also owns the Sheep Mountain Project (the Sheep Mountain Project), which is a conventional uranium extraction project located in Wyoming. Due to its distance from the Mill, the Sheep Mountain Project is not expected to be a source of feed material for the Mill. The Sheep Mountain Project consists of permitted open pit and underground extraction components (the Sheep Mountain Extraction Operation) and a planned processing facility to process extracted mineralized material (the Sheep Mountain Processing Operation), which has not yet been permitted.
The company's principal conventional properties include the following:
the Mill, which is an operating 2,000 ton-per-day uranium, vanadium and REE processing facility located in Utah and held through the company's subsidiary EFR White Mesa LLC.
the Pinyon Plain Project, which is a fully permitted and operating uranium project with all surface facilities and a shaft in place.
the La Sal Complex of uranium and uranium/vanadium projects (the La Sal Project) and the Whirlwind uranium/vanadium project (the Whirlwind Project), both of which are located near the Colorado/Utah border (the Colorado Plateau) and, in addition to nearby exploration properties, are held by the company's subsidiary EFR Colorado Plateau LLC.
the Roca Honda Uranium Project (the Roca Honda Project), which is located near the town of Grants, New Mexico, held by the company's subsidiaries Strathmore Resources (US), Ltd. and Roca Honda Resources LLC.
the Sheep Mountain Project, which is a uranium project located near Jeffrey City, Wyoming, including permitted open pit and underground components held by the company's subsidiary Energy Fuels Wyoming Inc.
the Bullfrog Project (the Bullfrog Project), which is located in south central Utah near the town of Ticaboo, and which is held by the company's subsidiary EFR Henry Mountains LLC.
the Wate project (the Wate Project), which is a uranium deposit in the permitting stage; the Arizona 1 Project, which is a fully permitted uranium project on standby; and the EZ properties, which are uranium deposits in the exploration and evaluation stage. All of the company's Arizona Strip properties are held by the company's subsidiary EFR Arizona Strip LLC, with the exception of the Wate Project, which is held by the company's subsidiary Wate Mining Company LLC.
a number of non-core uranium properties, which are held in various of the company's subsidiaries.
ISR Operations
The company conducts its ISR activities through its Nichols Ranch Project in northeast Wyoming, which it acquired in June 2015 through its acquisition of Uranerz Energy Corporation (Uranerz).
Mineral Exploration
Energy Fuels holds a number of exploration properties in the Colorado Plateau, Arizona Strip, and Powder River Basin Districts. Energy Fuels conducted intermittent exploration drilling on numerous projects in the period from February 2007 through December 2013. Several of those projects have been abandoned or sold. No further exploration drilling has been performed at these properties since 2013.
In 2024, the company conducted delineation drilling at the Nichols Ranch Project to plan out future wellfields to be ready for potential recommencement of production in late 2025 or 2026. In addition, in 2025, the company is conducting additional infill drilling on land associated with the Jane Dough portion of the Nichols Ranch Project held by the Arkose JV.
Following the completion of delineation drilling of the Juniper Zone at the company's Pinyon Plain Project in 2025, the company plans to update the Mineral Resource associated with the Juniper Zone and declare a Mineral Reserve on the Juniper Zone if mining of the Juniper Zone indicates positive economics.
Recovering Medical Isotopes for Advanced Cancer Therapies
On August 16, 2024, the company acquired RadTran, to further the company's plans for development and production of medical isotopes used in cancer treatments. RadTran's expertise includes separation of Ra-226 and Ra-228 from uranium process streams. This strategic acquisition is expected to significantly enhance Energy Fuels' planned capabilities to address the global shortage of these essential isotopes used in emerging TAT for cancer treatment.
Heavy Mineral Sands segment
Heavy mineral sands (HMS) are typically old beach or dunal sands that contain concentrations of important titanium minerals (including rutile and ilmenite), zircon and monazite. These minerals are physically heavy and are also called 'heavy minerals'.
The titanium and zircon minerals can be used for a variety of industrial purposes and are found in a range of everyday consumer goods,such as pigment for paint, paper and plastics, as well as toothpaste, sun cream and homewares, such as ceramics. Monazite is a rich source of rare earth elements prized for their use in permanent magnets, mostly for electric vehicle traction motors, advanced robotics, defense technologies, and direct drive wind turbines.
As part of its strategy to procure monazite, the company has acquired the Toliara Project in Madagascar through its acquisition of Base Resources, the Bahia Project in Brazil and a joint venture interest in the Donald Project in Australia, each of which the company holds significant quantities of HMS, including monazite. As part of the Base Resources acquisition, the company also acquired the Kwale Project in Kenya, which has ceased production at the end of 2024 and is currently in reclamation.
The Toliara Project
The Toliara Project is an HMS and REE project located in southwestern Madagascar that is in the permitting and development phase. The Ranobe deposit, which forms the basis of the Toliara Project, is located some 18 km inland and 45 km north of the regional port town of Toliara, approximately 640 km southwest of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. The company is working with the Government of Madagascar to formalize fiscal and other terms applicable to the Toliara Project through an investment agreement, amendments to existing laws or other mechanisms as appropriate, which includes adding monazite to the exploitation permit. The company is also progressing towards a final investment decision (FID).
The Donald Project
The Donald Project is an HMS and REE project in the permitting and development phase, located in the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia. It is located approximately 300 km northwest of Melbourne. The company has the right to earn up to a 49% interest in a joint venture on the project. As of December 31, 2024, the company had earned a 4.49% interest in the joint venture.
The Bahia Project
The Bahia Project is an HMS and REE project comprises 19 heavy minerals concessions covering 41,951 acres or 65.5 square miles located in Brazil, that is in the exploration/permitting phase. The company plans to restart is drilling program in 2025 once the appropriate permits and surface access arrangements are in place. In addition to the company-owned sonic drill rig, the company plans to employ a contract drill rig to increase the overall pace of drilling at the Project with the goal of getting enough information to declare a S-K 1300 compliant initial assessment and NI 43-101 compliant technical report in late 2025 or early 2026. The company is also advancing its permitting efforts at the Bahia Project to include baseline studies and other necessary studies to move the Bahia Project forward.
The Kwale Project
The company also acquired the Kwale Project in Kenya as part of its acquisition of Base Resources. Mining at the Kwale Project commenced in 2013 and recently concluded at the end of December 2024, following depletion of the remaining ore reserves. Between October 2, 2024 and December 31, 2024, the company sold 48,302 tonnes, 17,529 tonnes, and 2,477 of ilmenite, rutile, and zircon, respectively, from the Kwale Project, generating $39.87 million in revenues. Processing activities concluded in early January 2025. The sale of all remaining product stockpiles is underway and expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2025. Reclamation has been ongoing throughout the life of the Kwale Project and will continue until all the mining areas are fully reclaimed, scheduled for completion in 2025 with monitoring for a further 2 years prior to final site handover to the Government of Kenya. Reclamation of the tailings storage facility on site has commenced and is expected to be completed in 2027, with ongoing post-closure monitoring continuing through 2037.
Rare Earth Elements segment
REEs are a group of 17 chemical elements (the 15 elements in the lanthanum series, plus yttrium and scandium) that have a variety of industrial, energy, and defense uses, including advanced permanent magnets for EVs and wind turbines, communications technology, clean energy production, consumer electronics, defense systems, lasers and numerous other applications.
The company continues to advance its REE program at the Mill, along with the Mill's uranium production, to fully capitalize on the Mill's unique and valuable capabilities. To further its REE initiatives, the company constructed enhancements and modifications to existing circuits at the Mill for commercial separation of NdPr, while at the same time producing a heavies (Sm+) RE Carbonate. The company completed construction of Phase 1 in late Q1-2024, fully commissioned its project in Q2-2024 and completed its initial run in Q3-2024.
REE Separation Circuits at the Mill
The company continues to make progress toward full REE separation capabilities at the Mill to produce both light and heavy separated REE oxides in the coming years. The company produced a mixed RE Carbonate from monazite sands at the Mill between 2021 and 2024. In 2024, Energy Fuels completed the modification and enhancement of its infrastructure at the Mill (Phase 1), described in more detail below, which is capable of producing up to 850 - 1,000 tonnes of separated NdPr. The company is also planning further enhancements to expand its NdPr production capability and to produce separated dysprosium (Dy), terbium (Tb) and potentially other REE materials in the future (Phase 2), described in more detail below, from monazite concentrates.
During Phase 2, Energy Fuels expects to expand its NdPr separation capabilities at the Mill, with an expected capacity to process approximately 40,000 to 60,000 tonnes of monazite per year, containing approximately 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of TREO, containing approximately 4,000 to 6,000 tonnes of NdPr per year, or sufficient NdPr for 2.0 to 6.0 million EVs/hybrid EVs per year. Phase 2 is also expected to add a dedicated monazite crack-and-leach circuit to the Mill's existing leach circuits, which may be developed as the first stage of Phase 2, prior to construction of the expanded NdPr separation capabilities.
During Phase 2, Energy Fuels also expects to add heavy REE separation capabilities at the Mill, including the production of Dy, Tb, and potentially other separated REE's and advanced materials. The company will also evaluate the potential to produce lanthanum (La) and cerium (Ce) products, along with potentially other REE products. Monazite naturally contains higher concentrations of heavy REEs, including Dy and Tb, versus many other REE-bearing ores, mainly due to the presence of xenotime, which is another REE-bearing phosphate mineral that is often found with monazite. Phase 2 is expected to enable Energy Fuels to produce separated Dy, Tb, and potentially other light and heavy products. Prior to the construction of Phase 2, the heavy Sm+ RE carbonate produced during Phase 1 will either be sold on the market or stockpiled at the Mill as feed for separation into Dy and Tb and potentially other separated REE's and advanced materials at the Mill once the Phase 2 separation circuit is available. The company expects to complete Phase 2 in 2028, subject to licensing, financing, and receipt of sufficient feed.
The acquisitions of the Toliara Project, Bahia Project and the company's joint venture interest in the Donald Project are part of the company's efforts to build a large and diverse book of monazite supply for its rapidly advancing REE processing business. The company expects to procure monazite through these company owned mines, joint ventures or other collaborations, and open market purchases, like the company's current arrangement with The Chemours company.
San Juan County Clean Energy Foundation
On September 16, 2021, the company announced its establishment of the San Juan County Clean Energy Foundation (the Foundation), a fund specifically designed to contribute to the communities surrounding the Mill in southeastern Utah. Energy Fuels deposited an initial $1 million into the Foundation at the time of formation and now provides ongoing funding equal to 1% of the Mill's revenues, thereby providing an ongoing source of funding to support local priorities.
Joint Venture with Astron on the Donald Project
On June 3, 2024, the company executed JV Agreements with Astron Corporation Limited (Astron), creating the Donald Project JV to jointly develop and operate the Donald Project in Australia, which is a well-known HMS and REE deposit that the company could provide it with another near-term, low-cost, and large-scale source of monazite sand that, upon development, would be transported to the Mill for the recovery of separated REE products. The Donald Project has most licenses and permits in place (or at an advanced stage of completion) for ilmenite, rutile and zircon production and is in the process of updating those licenses to also include the production of monazite.
Acquisition of RadTran LLC (RadTran)
On August 16, 2024, the company acquired RadTran, a private company specializing in the separation of critical radioisotopes, to further the company's plans for development and production of medical isotopes used in cancer treatments. RadTran's expertise includes separation of radium-226 (Ra-226) and radium-228 (Ra-228) from uranium and thorium process streams. This strategic acquisition is expected to significantly enhance Energy Fuels' planned capabilities to address the global shortage of these essential isotopes used in emerging TAT for cancer treatment.
Uranium Production
In late-2023, the company commenced uranium production at its Pinyon Plain Project and its La Sal and Pandora mines (the La Sal and Pandora mines each comprise a portion of the La Sal Project). During the year ended December 31, 2024, the company mined 350,000 pounds of U3O8 from these mines, which is contained in uranium ore inventory stockpiles at the mines and Mill. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2024, the company continued to produce uranium from its alternate feed recycling program, which totaled approximately 158,000 pounds of finished U3O8.
Government Regulation
In the U.S., the company is subject to a number of such laws and regulations including, without limitation: the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act; the Atomic Energy Act; the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act; the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act; the Endangered Species Act; the Federal Land Policy and Management Act; the National Environmental Policy Act; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; and related state laws. The company is subject to similar laws in other jurisdictions in which it operates.
The company has an R&D license for the recovery of R&D quantities of Ra-226 at the Mill, issued by DWMRC in 2023. It is expected that the potential recovery and concentration of R&D quantities of Th-232, Ra-228 and/or Th-228 will also require similar R&D licenses or amendments to the existing Ra-226 R&D license and that the potential recovery and concentration of commercial quantities of Th-232, Ra-228, Th-228 and/or Ra-226 will require additional licensing by DWMRC at the Mill.
History
The company was founded in 2006. The company was incorporated in 1987. The company was formerly known as Volcanic Metals Exploration Inc. and changed its name to Energy Fuels Inc. in 2006.
