The Madagascar government has lifted the suspension on the Toliara critical minerals project. The suspension, imposed in November 2019, was lifted following US-based group Energy Fuels’ acquisition of Base Resources last month.

Energy Fuels will now be able to resume development activities on the Toliara project, which hosts significant deposits of rare earth elements (REE), titanium, and zirconium.

President and CEO Mark Chalmers says Energy Fuels will now re-establish community and social programmes, advance technical activities such as mine planning and engineering, and expand the critical mineral resource base.

The company is targeting a financial investment decision (FID) in early 2026.

“Having closely evaluated countless mining projects around the world during my 45-year career, I believe the Toliara project is truly a 'generational' mining project, having the potential to provide the US and the rest of the world with large quantities of critical minerals for many decades, including REEs which we plan to process at our existing facility in the US,” comments Chalmers.

The Toliara project currently holds a mining permit that allows production of titanium and zirconium minerals, including ilmenite, rutile and zircon. In 2019, development activities were suspended, pending negotiation of fiscal and other terms applicable to the project.

While the project is progressing towards an FID, the company will continue working with the government of Madagascar to formalise the fiscal, stability and other terms applicable to the project, including the addition of REE production to the existing mining permit, through a memorandum of understanding, an investment agreement, amendments to existing laws and other mechanisms as appropriate.

Over its 38-year mine life, the Toliara operation is expected to produce an average of 960 000 t/y of ilmenite, 66 000 t/y of zircon and a further 8 000 t/y of rutile. An initial capital investment of $520-million is required for the Stage 1 project to establish a 13-million-tonne-a-year processing operation. The Stage 2 operation will require a further investment of $137-million to increase capacity to 25-million tonnes a year.