Energy Fuels soars on Vulcan Elements partnership

According to me-metals cited from mining.com, Under a memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday, Energy Fuels will supply high-purity “light” and “heavy” separated rare earths — key materials in the magnet production process — to Vulcan for validation, starting in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Energy Fuels is currently producing these rare earth oxides from its White Mesa mill in Utah. The facility represents the only licensed uranium mill in the US, but 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.

Upon successful validation by Vulcan, the companies plan 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 US mines, specifically mineral sand mines owned by The Chemours Company in Florida and Georgia.

“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 in a news release.

Energy Fuels’ shares soared on the partnership announcement, sending the New York-listed stock a new 52-week high of $13.34 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 US-based magnet supply chain for commercial and defense 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 21,000-square-foot 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 comes from the US or allied countries. “We either get it from recycled end-of-life magnets, or directly from miners in the US 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.

source: mining.com