Energy Fuels Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:UUUU) (TSE:EFR) (FRA:VO51) said Tuesday that the first shipments of natural monazite ore arrived at the company's White Mesa Mill in Blanding, Utah this past weekend.
The company said the material had been separated by The Chemours Company at its Offerman Mineral Sand Plant in Georgia and transported by truck to White Mesa Mill.
In the coming weeks, Energy Fuels said it expects to gradually ramp-up production of an intermediate rare earth element (REE) product called "mixed REE carbonate." This product will then advance to REE separation, which is the next stage in the REE value chain.
READ: Energy Fuels signs deal with Neo Performance Materials to launch rare earths production program in US and Europe
Energy Fuels said it also expects to recover the uranium in the ore, which will be used as fuel for the generation of clean, carbon-free nuclear energy.
Upon successful ramp-up, the company plans to commercially produce an REE product at a stage more advanced than any other US company.
Energy Fuels plans to sell its mixed REE carbonate to Neo Performance Materials Inc (TSE:NEO) (OTCMKTS:NOPMF) (FRA:N14), which will process the material at its facility in Europe and manufacture separated rare earth products available to US and European markets. Energy Fuels is also continuing to evaluate developing additional value-added US rare earth separation and other capabilities in Utah in the future.
"Over the past few months, Energy Fuels, Neo and Chemours have quietly worked to create something very significant: a new, fully-integrated, U.S.-Europe rare earth supply chain,” said Energy Fuels CEO Mark Chalmers in a statement.
“This weekend's shipments of monazite ore from Chemours to Energy Fuels marks the beginning of operations for what we believe will become a burgeoning supply chain. There is a lot of excitement building for rare earths, because they make many clean energy and advanced technologies possible, including electric vehicles, wind generation, batteries and advanced electronics. Today's announcement is a key milestone as our companies create, refine, and grow a sustainable rare earth supply chain capable of supplying growing demand for clean technologies in the U.S. and Europe.”
Chalmers added: "We believe Energy Fuels has done more to restore U.S. rare earth production in one year than others have achieved in many years. Less than one year ago, Energy Fuels announced that we were entering the U.S. rare earth space. Now, we are receiving shipments of rare earth bearing ore and are in the process of ramping up for commercial production of an intermediate rare earth product at a stage more advanced than any other U.S. company. We intend to optimize our production of a mixed rare earth carbonate and then move on to developing our own ability to manufacture separated rare earth products at our plant in Utah. Our ultimate goal is to stand-up a fully-integrated U.S. rare earth supply chain that is globally competitive, quicker than any other U.S. company."
Energy Fuels noted that monazite is one of the highest-value REE-bearing minerals in the world, containing between 50% and 60% REEs, along with significant quantities of recoverable natural uranium. Monazite also contains 22%-24% NdPr (%TREO Basis), which are two of the key REEs and which are needed for many permanent REE magnet technologies used in electric vehicles (EVs) and other advanced technologies.
Monazite also contains excellent distributions of 'heavy' rare earths, which are needed for many advanced technologies. It is currently mined in the US, Australia, Africa, and elsewhere as a by-product of heavy mineral sand operations whose main products are zircon and titanium.
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