U.S.-Based Energy Fuels Poised to Produce Six of the Seven Rare Earth Oxides Now Subject to Chinese Export Controls at Scale Energy Fuels has successfully developed the technical ability it believes is required to commercially produce samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium, terbium, lutetium, yttrium, and
U.S.-Based Energy Fuels Poised to Produce Six of the Seven Rare Earth Oxides Now Subject to Chinese
Export Controls at Scale
Energy Fuels has successfully developed the technical ability it believes is required to
commercially produce samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium, terbium, lutetium, yttrium, and other
oxides, at scale through expansion of its existing REE production capability in Utah, at the same
time President Trump commences Section 232 investigation on imports of processed critical
minerals, including the rare earth, uranium, and vanadium oxides produced by Energy Fuels.
DENVER, April 17, 2025 — Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR) (“Energy Fuels” or the
“Company”), a leading U.S. producer of uranium, rare earth elements and other critical minerals, today
announced that it has successfully developed the technology it believes is required to produce six (6) of
the seven (7) rare earth oxides , at scale, that are now subject to newly enacted Chinese export controls,
amid increasing trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Energy Fuels’ White Mesa Mill in Utah
currently has the commercial capacity to process monazite ore concentrates into separated neodymium-
praseodymium ( “NdPr”) oxide. Through its ongoing testwork at the White Mesa Mill , t he Company
believes it now has the technical knowhow to design, construct, and commission the expansion of its
existing infrastructure to produce these six (6) rare earth oxides 1 from monazite relatively quickly with
appropriate U.S. government support and/or market conditions.
In a related development, on April 15, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order, entitled Ensuring
National Security and Economic Resilience Through Section 232 Actions on Processed Critical Minerals and
Derivative Products , directing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to initiate an investigation under
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion act of 1962 to evaluate the effects on national security of imports of
processed critical minerals and their derivative products , including the import of the same rare earth,
uranium and vanadium oxides that are produced by Energy Fuels in the U.S. The Company believes this
action by the President has the strong potential to strengthen domestic supply chains for critical minerals
and enable increased domestic production with well-designed trade remedies and price support.
Mark S. Chalmers, President and CEO of Energy Fuels stated: “Energy Fuels is uniquely positioned to
quickly help fill many of the gaps President Trump identifies in his Critical Mineral Executive Order. We
have a long history of producing uranium and vanadium oxides at our White Mesa Mill in Utah , and last
year we successfully launched commercial rare earth processing capacity at the Mill, showing the world
that our technology and infrastructure works at scale. We now have the data, knowledge and much of the
infrastructure in place to produce ‘light’, ‘mid’ and ‘heavy’ rare earth oxides at scale at the White Mesa
Mill. We encourage the U.S. government to showcase its commitment to American rare earth
1 Monazite does not have significant quantities of scandium (Sc), which is another metal subject to Chinese export
controls that is often considered a “rare earth.” Therefore, due to a lack of Sc in monazite, Energy Fuels has not
advanced its ability to produce Sc oxide at this time.
manufacturing with focused support to proven companies like Energy Fuels that have made significant
investments in the critical mineral space and demonstrated their ability to commercially produce the
critical minerals our country needs.”
Since 2020, Energy Fuels has developed “light”, “mid”, and “heavy” REE production capabilities at its White
Mesa Mill in Utah, in addition to maintaining its uranium and vanadium production capacity. Therefore,
Energy Fuels believes it is one of the only U.S. companies capable of delivering on President Trump’s
executive order in the relative short-term on these critical elements.
Existing commercial-scale solvent extraction (“SX") circuit and other REE infrastructure at the White Mesa Mill (Utah).
Since Energy Fuels began performing lab - and pilot -scale REE separations in 2021 and commissioned
commercial-scale NdPr separation in 2024 (up to 1,000 tonnes per year NdPr capacity), the Company has
developed significant real -time data , experience, and knowhow applicable to separating REE oxides ,
including the “mid” and “heavy” oxides subject to the Chinese export controls. Based on this work, Energy
Fuels believes it is now technically capable of designing, constructing, and operating the solvent extraction
(“SX”) circuits, and performing all of the hydrometallurgical steps , necessary to perform the REE
separations to applicable specifications, at scale, at the White Mesa Mill in Utah, including the production
of samarium (“Sm”), gadolinium (“Gd”), dysprosium (“Dy”), terbium (“Tb”), lutetium (“Lu”) and yttrium
(“Y”) oxides, within as early as a twelve-month period, given appropriate government support.
One (1) tonne ‘supersacks’ of finished NdPr oxide produced at Energy Fuels’ White Mesa Mill in Utah.
Energy Fuels focuses on “monazite,” which is a mineral the Company believes has a superior REE content
and other benefits. First, monazite has excellent distributions of “light” , “mid” and “heavy” REE oxides
versus other REE minerals . Monazite also has advantages over other REE minerals, as it is currently
produced as a low-cost byproduct of heavy mineral sands (“ HMS”) mines located in the U.S. and allied
nations. In addition, typical monazite concentrates from HMS mines can be very high-grade with ~55%
total REE oxides (“ TREO”), including 14% concentrations of the “heavy” (Sm+) REE oxides (on a %TREO
basis). Since 2021, Energy Fuels has purchased monazite concentrates from HMS mines owned by The
Chemours Company in Florida and Georgia. During 2023 and 2024, Energy Fuels secured its own low-cost,
future supply of monazite by acquiring three (3) large-scale HMS mines in the Southern Hemisphere that
the Company believes are capable of supplying large quantities of monazite concen trates to the White
Mesa Mill for processing into REE oxides for decades . Additional monazite concentrates are potentially
available from mines in allied nations.
Energy Fuels has the current commercial capacity to process up to 10,000 tonnes of monazite concentrate
and produce up to 1,000 tonnes of NdPr oxide per year, along with a “heavy”, Sm+ concentrate, at the
White Mesa Mill in Utah. Energy Fuels expects to increase its capacity to be able to process 60,000 tonnes
of monazite per year in the coming years. The Company is in the process of updating its 2024 prefeasibility
study (“PFS”) to a feasibility study (“FS”) on the planned expansion of REE processing at the White Mesa
Mill. The table below shows the estimated quantities of REE oxides Energy Fuels could produce under the
10,000 tonne and 60,000 tonne per year monazite scenarios:
Sm2O3, 3.23%
Eu2O3, 0.18%
Gd2O3, 3.12%
Tb4O7, 0.36%Dy2O3, 1.26%
Ho2O3, 0.17%
Er2O3, 0.46%,
Tm2O3, 0.04%
Yb2O3, 0.28%
Lu2O3, 0.03%
Y2O3, 4.99%
Distribution of Samarium - Yttrium ("Mid"- "Heavy")
REE Oxides in Monazite
(Typical U.S. Monazite Concentrate; %TREO basis)
Estimated REE Oxide Production Capability
(Tonnes per annum upon receipt of typical monazite concentrates at below quantities)
Rare Earth Oxide
Current Monazite Processing
Capacity (10,000 tpa)
Future Monazite Processing
Capacity (60,000 tpa)
Lanthanum (La2O3) 905 5,427
Cerium (CeO2) 1,933 11,599
Praseodymium (Pr6O11) 222 1,334
Neodymium (Nd2O3) 826 4,957
Samarium (Sm2O3) 138 829
Europium (Eu2O3) 8 46
Gadolinium (Gd2O3) 134 801
Terbium (Tb4O7) 14 81
Dysprosium (Dy2O3) 48 286
Holmium (Ho2O3) 5 32
Erbium (Er2O3) 14 83
Thulium (Tm2O3) 1 7
Ytterbium (Yb2O3) 8 50
Lutetium (Lu2O3) 1 6
Yttrium (Y2O3) 126 753
While the Company has secured what it believes to be world-class HMS projects that will be able to supply
monazite to the White Mesa Mill for decades, those properties are in various stages of exploration,
permitting and development, with production expected in the 2028 time frame, subject to the receipt of
all permits, government approvals, financing and development. There can be no assurance that these
properties will ultimately be put into production. At this time, processing at the White Mesa Mill prior to
2028 will require purchases of monazite from third parties, which cannot be guaranteed.
###
About Energy Fuels
Energy Fuels is a leading US -based critical minerals company, focused on uranium, rare earth elements ,
heavy mineral sands, vanadium and medical isotopes. Energy Fuels, which owns and operates several
conventional and in-situ recovery uranium projects in the western United States, has been the leading U.S.
producer of natural uranium concentrate for the past several years, which is sold to nuclear utilities that
process it further for the production of carbon-free nuclear energy. Energy Fuels also owns the White Mesa
Mill in Utah, which is the only fully licensed and operating conventional uranium processing facility
in the United States. At the Mill, Energy Fuels also produces advanced rare earth element products,
vanadium oxide (when market conditions warrant), and is evaluating the potential recovery of certain
medical isotopes from existing uranium process streams needed for emerging Targeted Alpha Therapy
cancer treatments. Energy Fuels is also developing three (3) additional heavy mineral sands projects: the
Toliara Project in Madagascar; the Bahia Project in Brazil; and the Donald Project in Australia in which
Energy Fuels has the right to earn up to a 49% interest in a joint venture with Astron Corporation Limited.
Energy Fuels is based in Lakewood, Colorado, near Denver, with its heavy mineral sands operations
managed from Perth, Australia. The primary trading market for Energy Fuels' common shares is the NYSE
American under the trading symbol "UUUU," and its common shares are also listed on the Toronto Stoc k
Exchange under the trading symbol "EFR." For more information on all Energy Fuels does , please
visit http://www.energyfuels.com
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain "Forward Looking Information" and "Forward Looking Statements" within the
meaning of applicable United States and Canadian securities legislation, which may include, but are not limited to,
statements with respect to: any expectation that the Company has successfully developed the technical ability
required to commercially produce samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium, terbium, lutetium, yttrium, and other oxides
at scale through expansion of its existing REE production capability in Utah; any expectation that any Section 232
action by the President has the po tential to strengthen domestic supply chains of critical minerals and enable
increased domestic production; any expectation that any such Section 232 action will result in any trade remedies or
price support; any expectation that the Company will be able to produce any rare earth oxides relatively quickly with
appropriate U.S. government support and/or market conditions, or otherwise; any expectation that the Company
may receive U.S. government support or that market conditions may support rare earth production; any expectation
that Energy Fuels is uniquely positioned to quickly help fill many of the gaps President Trump identifies in his Critical
Mineral Executive Order; any expectation that monazite can be produced as a low-cost byproduct of HMS mines; any
expectation that additional monazite concentrates are potentially available from mines in allied nations; any
expectation as to the Company’s production capacity or expected timelines to production; any expectation as to
estimated recoverable rare earth oxides; any expectation that the Company will receive all necessary permits,
government approvals, financing and development required for its HMS projects to go into production; and any
expectation that the Company will be able to purchase monazite from third parties. Generally, these forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects," "does not expect,"
"is expected," "is likely," "budgets," "scheduled," "estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "anticipates," "does not
anticipate," or "believes," or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results
"may," "could," "would," "might" or "will be taken," "occur," "be achieved" or "have the potential to." All statements,
other than statements of historical fact herein are considered to be forward -looking statements. Forward -looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements
express or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks associated with: commodity prices and price
fluctuations; engineering, construction, processing and mining difficulties, upsets and delays; permitting and
licensing requirements and delays; changes to regulatory requirements; legal challenges; competition from other
producers; government and political actions or inactions; market factors, including future demand for rare earth
elements, titanium and zirconium; and the other factors described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's
most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is available for review on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml,
on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on the Company's website at www.energyfuels.com. Forward-looking statements
contained herein are made as of the date of this news release, and Energy Fuels disclaims, other than as required by
law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future
events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no
assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance
on forward-looking statements. Energy Fuels assumes no obligation to update the information in this communication,
except as otherwise required by law.
For further information: Investor & Press Inquiries:
Energy Fuels Inc., Kim Ronkin Casey, Investor Relations Manager, 303 -389-4165 or Toll free: (888) 864-
2125, [email protected]