Energy Fuels Inc. announced that it had completed three shipments of critical mineral products during the course of one week.
The shipments from the company’s White Mesa Mill near Blanding, UT included natural uranium concentrates (U₃O₈) to the Metropolis Works uranium conversion facility in Metropolis, IL for conversion into uranium hexafluoride which will be enriched and used as fuel for the production of clean, carbon-free nuclear energy.

Vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) to the Bear Metallurgical Company in Butler, PA for conversion to ferrovanadium (FeV) which will be sold into the steel and specialty alloys industries; and a high-purity mixed rare earth element (REE) carbonate (REE Carbonate) to Neo Performance Materials’ Silmet facility in Estonia for separation into advanced REE products. The REE Carbonate had undergone partial separation at the Mill using existing Mill facilities prior to its delivery to Silmet, which is the first commercial-scale REE separation to occur in the U.S. since at least the early-2000's (to the company's knowledge).

This is the first time Energy Fuels, the Mill – and perhaps any facility in history – has accomplished such a feat. The company believes it is clearly establishing itself as a "Clean Energy and Critical Mineral Hub" for the United States.

“I believe the week of April 4, 2022 will go down as one of the most important weeks in company history,” said Mark S. Chalmers, president and CEO of Energy Fuels. “This week, our vision of Energy Fuels as ‘America's Critical Mineral and Clean Energy Hub’ tangibly advanced, as our White Mesa Mill in Utah sent three shipments of advanced materials containing a total of 15 critical elements, including the rare earth elements cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, dysprosium, terbium, holmium, yttrium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium, along with uranium and vanadium, to downstream processing facilities. We sent a shipment of high-purity rare earth carbonate containing 32 – 34 percent NdPr to Silmet in Estonia, where it will be refined and processed into various advanced materials for use in permanent magnets used in electric vehicle (EV) motors and wind generation, batteries, electronics, defense applications, and other technologies. We sent a shipment of uranium concentrates to ConverDyn in Illinois for sale to U.S. nuclear utilities for the production of carbon-free nuclear energy, and further adding to Energy Fuels' industry-leading finished U.S.-origin uranium inventory. And, we sent another truckload of vanadium to Bear Met in Pennsylvania for conversion into ferrovanadium for use in high-strength steel and other advanced and specialty alloys.

“I could not be more proud of what our team is doing at the White Mesa Mill on rare earths. It is hard to believe, but we are currently producing commercial-scale quantities of a rare earth material that is more advanced than any other company in the U.S. We even recently began commercial-scale rare earth separation in March using existing Mill facilities, the first time the United States has produced a separated rare earth product in a couple of decades. Keep in mind that we only announced our entry into the rare earth space in April 2020. Yet barely two years later, Energy Fuels is producing commercial quantities of advanced rare earth materials. We have been able to move at 'lightning speed,' because we have existing licenses, expertise, and infrastructure, along with dedication and hard work,” said Chalmers. “We believe we are moving faster than any other company in the U.S. on restoring low-cost, domestic critical material supply chains. At Energy Fuels, we don't just talk about restoring critical domestic supply chains. We innovate, invest, and work hard to actually do it, all to the highest environmental, human health, and human rights standards in the world.”