Australia OKs Energy Fuels’ Donald rare earth project

Energy Fuels (NYSE-A: UUUU; TSX: EFR) has received final regulatory clearance to develop the Donald rare earth elements (REE) and mineral sand project in southeast Australia.

The government of Victoria has approved the project’s planned construction and operation, the Colorado-based uranium-critical minerals developer said on Wednesday. 

“The work plan approval for the Donald project is significant as it moves us one step closer to creating an important link between the United States and Australia on rare earths and critical minerals,” Energy Fuels CEO Mark Chalmers said.

Donald, in the Wimmera region, is part of a joint venture with Australia-based mineral sands miner Astron, under which Energy Fuels has the right to earn a 49% interest in the project by investing a total of A$183 million ($119 million) and issuing $17.5 million worth of shares.

The work plan approval now clears the way for the JV partners to make a final investment decision, which, according to Energy Fuels, could be made as early as this year.

Shares of Energy Fuels rose 4.7% to close at $8.05 apiece in Toronto for a market capitalization of C$1.73 billion.

Near-term REE source

Energy Fuels regards the Donald project to be one of the world’s “best near-term sources” of rare earth minerals, which it plans to process into light, mid and heavy rare earth oxides at its White Mesa mill in Utah.

The Donald orebody is estimated to hold 37 million tonnes of heavy minerals, including approximately 724,000 tonnes of rare earths. The deposit has an estimated mine life of 58 years.

White Mesa, one of the largest REE processing facilities outside China, achieved commercial production a year ago, beginning with “on-spec” neodymium-praseodymium — a light rare earth used in magnets. Currently in its first phase, the facility has the capacity to produce 850 to 1,000 tonnes of NdPr per year.

The Energy Fuels team is also piloting the production of heavy rare earths dysprosium and terbium.

2026 production

According to Energy Fuels, the Donald project would feed the White Mesa mill with approximately 7,000 to 8,000 tonnes of rare earth concentrates per year in its initial stage, starting as early as next year.

By company estimates, 8,000 tonnes of concentrates from the Donald project would contain about 4,700 tonnes of total rare earth oxides, including roughly 990 tonnes of separated NdPr, 84 tonnes of dysprosium oxide, and 14 tonnes of terbium oxide.

The White Mesa mill is expected to process the Donald feed into separated NdPr, along with a samarium-plus concentrate that would be stockpiled at the mill for future processing into separated mid and heavy REE oxides, Energy Fuels said. 

Once the Donald project begins stage one commercial production, the JV partners are expected to evaluate a stage two expansion, which would be expected to increase its REE concentrate production to around 13,000 to 14,000 tonnes annually.

At the White Mesa mill, Energy Fuels is contemplating a stage two expansion that would increase its processing capacity to 60,000 tonnes, outputting roughly 6,000 tonnes of separated NdPr, along with significant quantities of terbium, dysprosium and potentially samarium and other REE oxides.

The increased production at Donald, it says, would provide the White Mesa mill with “a consistent and significant source of REE feedstock” for decades to come.