Business
Energy Fuels Completes Acquisition of Rare Earth and Heavy Mineral Project in Brazil
Acquisition of Bahia Project expected to supply the raw materials needed by the Company's US facility for the production of advanced rare earth materials used i
About this update from Energy Fuels Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" Acquisition of Bahia Project expected to supply the raw materials needed by the Company's US facility for the production of advanced rare earth materials used in EVs, clean energy, and defense technologies. LAKEWOOD, Colo., Feb. 13, 2023 /CNW/ - Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR) (\"Energy Fuels\" or the \"Company\") is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced acquisition (the \"Closing\") of seventeen (17) mineral concessions between the towns of Prado and Caravelas in the State of Bahia, Brazil totaling 15,089.71 hectares (approximately 37,300 acres or 58.3 square miles) (the \"Bahia Project\"). The Closing followed the Brazilian Government's approval of the transfers to Energy Fuels' wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary Energy Fuels Brazil, Ltda. At the Closing, the Company paid the mineral owners the remaining $21.9 million cash. As previously reported, the Bahia Project is a well-known heavy mineral sand (\"HMS\") deposit that has the potential to supply 3,000 – 10,000 metric tons (\"MT\") of natural monazite concentrate per year for decades to Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill in Utah (the \"Mill\") for processing into high-purity rare earth element (\"REE\") oxides and other materials. As used herein, the term \"monazite concentrate\" refers to an HMS concentrate containing roughly 80% to 90% monazite. While Energy Fuels' primary interest in acquiring the Bahia Project is the REE-bearing monazite, the Bahia Project is also expected to produce large quantities of high-quality titanium (ilmenite and rutile) and zirconium (zircon) minerals that are also in high demand. REE production is highly complementary to Energy Fuels' existing US-leading uranium business, as monazite and other major REE-bearing minerals naturally contain uranium that will be recovered and other impurities that will be removed at the Mill before further processing into advanced high-purity REE materials. 3,000 – 10,000 MT of monazite concentrate contains roughly 1,500 – 5,000 MT of total REE oxides (\"TREO\"), including 300 – 1,000 MT of neodymium-praseodymium (\"NdPr\") and significant commercial quantities of dysprosium (\"Dy\") and terbium (\"Tb\"). The Company is focused on monazite at the current time, as it has superior concentrations of these four (4) critical REEs compared to other REE-bearing minerals. These ...