Energy Fuels Inc., a Lakewood producer of uranium and rare earth elements, has reached a milestone in commercial-producing “on-spec” separated neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), a rare earth element crucial to magnet production, at its White Mesa Mill in Utah. The NdPr meets the product specifications required by rare earth metal-makers, who require these materials for developing alloys used in battery-powered electric vehicles and dual power hybrids. Energy Fuels believes this is the first time in decades a U.S. company has produced on-spec separated rare earths from monazite on a large scale. The company expects to have commercial quantities of NdPr ready for shipment by the end of June.
The company began pioneering rare earth separations in 2021, with initial separations occurring in 2022 and 2023. The accumulated data allowed the design and construction of its new Phase 1 REE separation circuit at the Mill. Notably, the circuit has reached its full design capacity without the usual complications associated with launching new equipment and processes.
The Phase 1 REE Separation Circuit was completed in the first quarter of 2024, under budget at a cost of $16 million, a significant reduction from the original estimate of $25 million. The addition of this rare earth element separation process has not interfered with the production of uranium at the facility. Planning is underway to initiate a uranium ore processing campaign in the third quarter of 2024.
Concurrent with its rare earth endeavors, Energy Fuels will concentrate on an aggressive campaign of uranium production during the second half of 2024 into 2025. “We have achieved a significant milestone for Energy Fuels, for Utah, and for the United States: the commercial production of separated rare earths that meet applicable product specifications, while simultaneously ramping up domestic uranium production aggressively,” said Mark S. Chalmers, President and CEO of Energy Fuels.
As part of its development, the company has also acquired several heavy mineral sand projects, including the Bahia Project in Brazil and the Donald Project in Australia, to secure competitive sources of monazite for future rare earth separation at the Mill.
Energy Fuels is a U.S-based uranium and critical minerals company. Besides the production of uranium, rare earth elements, and vanadium, the company is also evaluating the recovery of radionuclides needed for emerging treatments in cancer therapy. They hold two of America’s critical uranium production centers, the White Mesa Mill in Utah, and the Nichols Ranch in-situ recovery Project in Wyoming.