US uranium producer Energy Fuels plans to start producing neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide in Utah by 2024, with plans to ramp up separation and production in the subsequent years.
The company plans to hit 3,000 metric tonnes (t)/yr of neodymium-praseodymium oxide capacity at its White Mesa uranium mill in Utah by 2026 and to further separate dysprosium and terbium among other rare earths from monazite ores in its rare earth process by 2027, the company said this week.
Early in 2023, Energy Fuels began modifying its existing solvent extraction circuits to produce separated rare earth oxides. Components for the project are expected to be delivered to the mill in the third quarter with commissioning in late 2023 or early 2024, targeting a capacity of 800-1,000t/yr of neodymium-praseodymium oxide.
The company had shipped a mixed rare earth carbonate to Canadian Neo Performance Materials from the White Mesa mill as far back as July 2021.
Capital costs of the project's first phase are expected to be $25mn, with the company estimating the 1,000t/yr capacity could produce enough rare earth permanent magnets to service 1mn electric vehicles.
This is subject to securing sufficient monazite ore feed, Energy Fuels said. In tandem with its rare earth push, the company acquired in mid-February the Brazilian heavy mineral sands Bahia Project for $21.9mn, which could supply 3,000-10,000t/yr of monazite sand for decades.
Production at Bahia was forecast to commence in late 2025 or early 2026, according to the company.
Energy Fuels is also in discussions with suppliers of monazite to increase feed supply.
Although there is one other miner that produces rare earths in the US — MP Materials — the US is heavily reliant for its supply on imports of rare earth oxides from Malaysia, home to producer Lynas, and China. Conditions are similar for imports of finished rare earth permanent magnets, with over 87pc of total US imports of sintered neodymium-ferro-boron and samarium-cobalt magnets originating in China, according to customs data
