Energy Fuels in 2025: A Critical Year for Uranium, Rare Earths & More

• Energy Fuels is set to significantly grow its leading US uranium, rare earth elements (REE), and heavy mineral sands businesses in 2025
• Increasing uranium production to 2 million lbs/year near-term; emerging as top US REE producer with plans to expand NdPr output to 4-6k tonnes by 2027-28
• Acquisition of Base Resources adds world-class mineral sands assets like Toliara project in Madagascar, creates multi-commodity critical minerals company
• Engaging US government to establish domestic critical mineral supply chains; CEO believes Energy Fuels key to solving US shortages
• Well-positioned to deliver shareholder value as it executes growth plans, despite market valuation not fully reflecting potential yet

Energy Fuels (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR), a leading US-based producer of uranium and rare earth elements (REE), is entering a pivotal year in 2025 as it looks to significantly grow and diversify its critical mineral production. Despite some relative softness in its current share price, Energy Fuels remains exceptionally well positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for domestically sourced critical minerals essential for clean energy and national security.

CEO Mark Chalmers laid out an ambitious agenda for Energy Fuels in the coming year across its uranium, rare earths, and newly acquired heavy mineral sands projects. He emphasized that while the current valuation may not fully reflect it yet, Energy Fuels offers investors a unique opportunity to gain exposure to the clean energy transition through a diverse set of low-cost, domestic critical mineral assets poised for growth.

Uranium: Ramping Up Production

Energy Fuels is currently the leading US uranium producer, having supplied about two-thirds of all US uranium production since 2017. The company is now in the process of significantly expanding low-cost production from a portfolio of US mines and its flagship White Mesa Mill processing facility in Utah. In 2024, Energy Fuels produced around 1 million pounds of uranium, generating between $70-80 million in revenue. However, this is just the beginning, as Chalmers explains:

"We're ramping that up, pointing that towards 2 million pounds. It's still going to take us some time to get there, but we're pushing that way. And we're also doing the permitting of a number of other development projects as well that can take us up in due course to around five, six million pounds per year."

This increased production will be anchored by the high-grade Pinyon Plain Mine in Arizona, which is the highest grade uranium mine in the US and is expected to start shipping ore in February 2025. Energy Fuels also recently reached a landmark agreement with the Navajo Nation, allowing it to continue shipping ore across Navajo land while assisting in the cleanup of legacy Cold War era uranium mines on Navajo territory. Chalmers characterized this agreement as a "win-win" for both sides.

In addition to uranium production, Energy Fuels also has a unique and diverse set of "alternate feed" materials that it can process for uranium at its White Mesa Mill. This includes ore purchasing agreements, toll milling contracts, and recycling of uranium-bearing materials. This provides Energy Fuels with a differentiated low-cost source of production that is not directly tied to conventional mining. As Chalmers notes:

"Because White Mesa is the only mill that's operable in the region, fully staffed and operating right now...We are looking at some select purchases of ore that will also feed into the mill. And we do have a toll milling agreement with IsoEnergy."

Rare Earths: Emerging as a Major US-Based Producer

While Energy Fuels remains a uranium-first company, it is also rapidly emerging as the leading US-based producer of separated rare earth oxides. Rare earths are a key input for the powerful magnets used in electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines, and other clean energy technologies. Energy Fuels is currently the only company producing commercial quantities of separated rare earth oxides in the US.

In early 2024, Energy Fuels successfully commissioned a new rare earth separation circuit at its White Mesa Mill in Utah. This "Phase 1" circuit has the capacity to produce up to 1,000 tonnes per year of separated neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, which is enough to support the production of about 1 million EVs annually. Chalmers emphasized how quickly and efficiently Energy Fuels was able to bring this new circuit online:

"We commissioned that plant at the beginning of 2024, I mean, it exceeded everybody's expectations, even our own, and surprised a lot of people in the world that we were able to get that up and running. Material that came out of that plan, like seven, eight, nine days after we started it up, was meeting specification for some of these potential off-takers. So we're really excited about that."

Energy Fuels is now looking to rapidly build upon this initial success with a larger "Phase 2" circuit, also planned for White Mesa. This expansion would increase NdPr production capacity to between 4,000-6,000 tonnes per year, or enough to support up to 6 million EVs annually. The company is currently completing a Definitive Feasibility Study for this Phase 2 circuit and expects to have it operational by 2027-2028.

Heavy Mineral Sands: A "Generational" Expansion in Critical Minerals

Energy Fuels completed a transformational acquisition of Base Resources, an Australian-based mineral sands company. This brought with it a portfolio of high-quality heavy mineral sands assets in Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania. The crown jewel is the massive Toliara Sands Project in Madagascar, which is considered one of the best undeveloped mineral sands projects in the world.

Mineral sands contain several critical minerals like rare earths (monazite), titanium (ilmenite, rutile), and zirconium. Monazite, in particular, is exciting as it contains both rare earths and uranium - a perfect fit for Energy Fuels' existing business.

According to Chalmers, the Base Resources acquisition represents a step-change for Energy Fuels. The deal closed in October 2024, and Energy Fuels has already made significant progress in a short period of time. This includes having a previous suspension on the Toliara project lifted, signing an MOU with the Madagascar government on fiscal terms, and advancing amendments to mining laws. These actions are helping to quickly put the Toliara project back on track for development.

The Toliara Project alone has the potential to produce over 800,000 tonnes of ilmenite, 60,000 tonnes of zircon, and over 8,000 tonnes of rare earth oxides annually over a +30 year mine life. Energy Fuels expects to make a Final Investment Decision on Toliara within about 14 months. In the meantime, it is restarting development activities that had been on hold due to a previous government suspension. If approved, Toliara would create tremendous synergies with Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill, which would process monazite from Toliara to produce rare earth elements.

Engaging the U.S. Government

With the rapid growth of its uranium and rare earth businesses, combined with its newly acquired mineral sands assets, Energy Fuels believes it is extremely well positioned to support the US government's efforts to establish secure, domestic critical mineral supply chains. The company has been actively engaging with the Biden Administration to offer its capabilities. As Chalmers states:

"We are telling the new administration that Energy Fuels can do more to fix the United States' critical mineral shortage in their term, working together. And that is a powerful statement. When you look at the 10 plus critical elements that we can currently produce or will be producing, with the assets that we've secured, we are in an outstanding position to solve a lot of the country's critical minerals issues with our company."

More to Come for Investors

Despite the scale of its recent announcements and strength of its underlying assets, Energy Fuels believes its current share price does not fully reflect the value and growth potential of its business. However, Chalmers is confident this will change as the company executes on its plans and its fundamental strengths become more apparent. He emphasized the opportunity:

"Number one, we're producing uranium. We've got the Navajo agreement signed. We acquired Base Resources, October 2nd. We had the suspension lifted that had been in place for five years. We have an MOU with commercial terms with the Madagascar government, and we're working on the binding agreements...We're doing an FID at Donald in Australia. We've launched the FID on Toliara in Madagascar. We're doing the definitive feasibility study for the phase two 'Lynas-scale' plant at white Mesa and we're producing uranium. I don't know how more exciting it can get. And we're still valued as a uranium company and we've got billion plus of other stuff that's coming down the pike. It's all unfolding the way we've planned it to unfold. And right now the timing couldn't be better with the change of administration."

Chalmers' commentary highlights the significant embedded value within Energy Fuels' asset base that has yet to be fully recognized by the market. As the company delivers on key milestones in its uranium, rare earths, and mineral sands businesses, there is potential for this value gap to close.

2025 A Breakout Year

2025 is shaping up to be a transformational year for Energy Fuels as it capitalizes on the investments and strategic positioning it has built over the past several years. The company enters the year as a leading, low-cost US uranium producer with a plan to significantly grow production in the coming years. At the same time, Energy Fuels has established itself as the only major US-based producer of separated rare earth oxides, with a clear plan to scale this business in phases.

The recent acquisition of Base Resources and its world-class Toliara Sands Project adds a whole new dimension to Energy Fuels, creating a true multi-commodity critical mineral company leveraging assets in stable US and allied jurisdictions. With several major catalysts on the horizon across its uranium, rare earth and mineral sands businesses, Energy Fuels is extremely well positioned to create value for shareholders in 2025 and beyond as it helps power the clean energy transition.