Colorado-based Energy Fuels Inc., which is preparing to ramp up its Nichols Ranch uranium mine near Kaycee, Wyoming, for production by 2025, is nearing an acquisition in Australia that will bring shipments of critical rare earth minerals to Utah for processing, the company announced Thursday.
Terms of the deal to buy Base Resources Ltd. in Perth, Australia, were not disclosed.
Shareholders with Base Resources approved the merger Thursday, with the deal expected to close Oct. 2, a spokeswoman with Energy Fuels told Cowboy State Daily.
The merger transforms the combined company into a leading rare earth, titanium and zirconium producer, while maintaining a position in as a uranium producer with major deposits in Wyoming and elsewhere.
Energy Fuels is becoming known as an acquisitive company in the strategic minerals space and niches in related fields.
It is one of the few companies that is pursuing a diversified strategy beyond mining for the single commodity of uranium.
Last week, Energy Fuels expanded into development and production of medical isotopes used in cancer treatments with the acquisition of RadTran LLC, based in Centennial, Colorado.
That purchase is a further step toward addressing the global industry need for medical radioisotopes in emerging cancer treatments.
In April, Energy Fuels and Australian-based Astron Corp. Ltd. agreed to jointly develop the Donald rare earth and mineral sands project in Australia in a cash and stock deal that could cost Energy Fuels up to $140 million.
Diversification Moves
In Thursday’s announcement, Energy Fuels highlighted its diversification efforts with the acquisition of the rare earths company in Australia.
Besides Astron and Base Resources’ Toliara mineral sand project in Madagascar, an island country off the east coast of Africa, Energy Fuels also owns the Bahia mineral sand project in Brazil.
A spokeswoman with Energy Fuels told Cowboy State Daily that the company plans to ship critical rare earth minerals from these projects to its mill in Utah for processing.
The rare earth minerals bonanza is the result of consumers starved for magnet metals integral to the green transition to electric vehicles, wind turbines, consumer goods, robots and military drones, missiles and chips needed for sophisticated computing power.
Energy Fuels also has benefited from an effort led by the federal government to produce uranium for a $75 million strategic reserve in case it needs to be tapped in an emergency.
In May, Energy Fuels announced plans to begin preparing for ramping up its Nichols Ranch uranium mine near Kaycee for production by 2025.
Beginning next year, the Nichols Ranch and other uranium mines located in the Cowboy State and elsewhere could produce up to 2 million pounds of uranium per year, with the Wyoming mine representing “significant expansion potential,” said Energy Fuels CEO Mark Chalmers in previous reports with Cowboy State Daily.
Earlier this year, Chalmers said that his company was building a combined uranium and rare earths mineral company that was exploring possible acquisition opportunities.
Energy Fuels has several uranium projects in various stages of development scattered throughout the Powder River Basin, as well as the White Mesa Mill in Utah.
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.
