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Energy Fuels buys Brazil heavy mineral sands project

23rd May 2022

By: Creamer Media Reporter

     

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NYSE American- and TSX-listed Energy Fuels has entered into an agreement to acquire 17 mineral concessions, which hav significant quantities of heavy minerals, including monazite, in Brazil.

The company states that the Bahia project is a well-known heavy mineral sands (HMS) deposit with more than 3 300 vertical historic exploration auger holes drilled to date, indicating significant concentrations of titanium (ilmenite and rutile), zirconium (zircon), and rare earth elements (monazite).

Energy Fuels' primary interest is in the monazite, which contains both rare earth elements (REEs) and uranium. Preliminary assay data indicates the monazite sand contained in the HMS concentrate ranges between 0.62% and 12.82%, and the uranium contained in the monazite is expected to be comparable to typical Colorado Plateau uranium deposits.

Based on preliminary, historical resource estimates, Energy Fuels believes the Bahia project has the potential to supply about 3 000 t/y to 10 000 t/y of monazite sand concentrate to the White Mesa mill, in Utah, containing about 1 500 t/y to 5 000 t/y of total rare earth oxides.

The company plans to complete a preliminary economic assessment next year.

CEO Mark Chalmers says the acquisition is a significant step in Energy Fuels' development as a major global REE producer based in the US.

“We are aggressively seeking to expand our monazite sand feeds. With guidance from our HMS experts, the company has been evaluating the acquisition of monazite-bearing projects. The Bahia deposit is well-known throughout the HMS industry as having excellent potential to produce high-quality ilmenite, rutile and zircon products, in addition to monazite. We are very pleased to have secured this project, as it has the potential to provide Energy Fuels with our own low-cost source of monazite feed that we fully control.

“The company expects to supplement its monazite supply in the future with open market purchases, arrangements with existing monazite producers, and/or additional acquisitions. Energy Fuels is in advanced discussions with other current and future monazite producers around the world to provide creative options on how to best build upon our momentum and add further scale,” says Chalmers.

Energy Fuels processes natural monazite sand concentrate into a high purity mixed rare earth carbonate, containing about 32% to 34% neodymium/praseodymium.

“Our clear current priorities are to continue to build our book of monazite feed to a world scale and to leverage our existing solvent extraction experience and infrastructure at the mill to produce both separated 'light' and 'heavy' rare earth oxides, and other products, by adding commercial separation capabilities to the mill. To achieve these ambitious goals, we have assembled a team of rare earth heavyweights, including Neo Performance Materials, Carester, and other HMS and rare earth experts, that we believe is unmatched anywhere in the world.

"In my view, this acquisition will provide significant credibility to investors, other monazite suppliers, and clean energy manufacturers, as we will clearly demonstrate that Energy Fuels is well on its way to becoming a large-scale producer of advanced rare earth materials in the US. We have already proven our processing capabilities. Now, we are proving that upon successful completion of this acquisition, we will own and control 'the elements' to supply EV, renewable energy and other technology manufacturers."

Under the Transaction, Energy Fuels has entered into purchase agreements with private mineral rights holders in Brazil to acquire 17 heavy mineral sand concessions comprising the Bahia project, subject to a 90-day due diligence period. The total consideration for this acquisition is $27.5-million in cash.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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