US-based Energy Fuels on Monday announced the sale of its Alta Mesa in-situ recovery (ISR) project, in Texas, to enCore Energy for $120-million, boosting its coffers to fully fund its other higher priority uranium and rare earth element (REE) projects over the next two to three years.

“This is a unique transaction for Energy Fuels. Not only does it allow us to monetise our Alta Mesa project for $120-million, it also allows our company to focus and accelerate our higher priority uranium and rare earth projects without dilution to our shareholders,” said president and CEO Mark Chalmers.

The cash would help to facilitate plans to install rare earth separation infrastructure at the White Mesa mill, in Utah, including the expected capacity to produce about 500 t/y to 1 000 t/y of separated ‘light’ rare earth oxides by the end of 2023 or 2024.

The funds would also go towards helping to finance purchases of monazite and to fund the Bahia project, in Brazil.

For enCore, the transaction also represented an important step forward.

“Alta Mesa is a fully permitted and developed US uranium project, and enCore’s president and CEO, Paul Goranson, knows it well, having constructed and operated it himself about ten years ago,” said Chalmers.

In a separate statement, Goranson, who was previous VP of Metsena Uranium, which owned and operated the Alta Mesa projects, said the mine had generated substantial cash flow during the last cycle of elevated uranium prices.

“Combined with our South Texas operations that are anchored around our Rosita project, this acquisition puts us in an exceptionally strong position to advance towards being a long-term sustainable source of uranium production to fuel clean nuclear energy that will benefit our local communities, the state of Texas and the United States,” said Goranson.

Alta Mesa historically produced nearly five-million pounds of uranium oxide between 2005 and 2013, when full production was curtailed as a result of low uranium prices at the time.

enCore would immediately pursue the resumption of operations following completion of the transaction.

Energy Fuels bought Alta Mesa in 2016 for $13.6-million of shares and currently carries the project on its balance sheet at $8.2-million.