Energy Fuels soars on Vulcan Elements partnership

Energy Fuels (NYSE-A: UUUU; TSX: EFR) and U.S. permanent magnet producer Vulcan Elements have teamed up to create what would be “a resilient domestic supply chain” for rare earth magnets independent of China.

Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on Tuesday, Energy Fuels will supply high-purity “light” and “heavy” separated rare earths — key materials in the magnet production process — from its White Mesa mill in Utah to Vulcan for validation, starting in the fourth quarter of 2025.

“We see today’s MoU with Vulcan Elements…as further validation of Energy Fuels’ growing role in the evolving U.S. rare earths supply chain,” SCP Resource Finance analyst Justin Chan said in a note on Tuesday. “Vulcan’s position as a Pentagon-backed magnet manufacturer creates a clear opportunity for EFR to plug directly into the defense supply chain, particularly following White Mesa’s recent pilot-scale success in producing 99.9% pure dysprosium oxide.”

RE-capable mill

Energy Fuels’ White Mesa mill in Utah is the only licensed conventional uranium mill in the U.S., and also has the capacity to produce rare earths by processing monazite concentrates. It first began commercial production of light rare earths neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr) in June 2024, and is now piloting the production of heavy rare earths, beginning with dysprosium (Dy). First production of Dy was achieved last week.

“Energy Fuels and Vulcan Elements are innovative companies with similar visions of creating a secure Western rare earth magnet supply chain. We have both proven our capacity to deliver rare earth products that meet commercial specifications at scale from American-based facilities,” Energy Fuels CEO Mark Chalmers said.

Upon successful validation by Vulcan, the companies intend to negotiate additional long-term supply agreements for the NdPr and Dy oxides produced at White Mesa. According to Energy Fuels, the oxides that it will provide to Vulcan will be sourced exclusively from U.S. mines, specifically mineral sand mines owned by The Chemours Company in Florida and Georgia.

Energy Fuels’ shares soared on the partnership announcement, sending the New York-listed stock a new 52-week high of $13.34 (C$18.45)  apiece, and its highest since 2012. The Colorado-based company has a market capitalization of nearly $3 billion.

Onshoring magnet supply

“Together, Vulcan Elements and Energy Fuels are onshoring one of the most important supply chains for America’s future economy and security,” John Maslin, CEO of Vulcan Elements, added. “We have both proven our capacity to deliver rare earth products that meet commercial specifications at scale from American-based facilities.”

The North Carolina-based startup’s mission is to establish a U.S.-based magnet supply chain for commercial and defence applications — from hard disk drives and AI infrastructure to semiconductor fabrication equipment, robotics, drones and automotive applications.

Manufacturing of these magnets is currently taking place at its facility in Durham. The 1,950-sq.-metre facility was launched in March of this year to pilot the production of permanent sintered neodymium iron boron magnets.

The magnet production process, as the company highlights, is entirely decoupled from China. In a recent interview with MINING.COM, Maslin pointed out that all of its material is sourced in the U.S. or allied countries. “We either get it from recycled end-of-life magnets, or directly from miners in the U.S. and Canada and Australia, parts of Africa, parts of South America. Nothing from an entity of concern.”

As part of ongoing efforts to scale up its production at the Durham facility, Vulcan recently raised $65 million in Series A funding. The funding is led by Altimeter Capital and includes significant participation from One Investment Management, founded by Rajeev Misra, the former CEO of SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund.