Energy Fuels Wins Conditional Approval for $126 Million in Financing

Energy Fuels Inc. received conditional approval for up to $126 million in Australian government-backed financing for the first phase of its Donald Rare Earth and Mineral Sands Project in Victoria. The proposed funding would support a project that plans to send rare-earth concentrate from Australia to a mill in Utah.

Export Finance Australia and the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation conditionally approved government facilities totaling up to $126 million. Commercial lenders are expected to fund the balance of the proposed debt package. The financing has not reached financial close. Due diligence, lender funding, final approvals and definitive financing and project documents remain necessary.

The proposed government facilities are expected to have a 10-year term starting at financial close. Their interest rate would be based on the Bank Bill Swap Bid Rate plus a margin. The term and rate would apply after the financing closes, rather than beginning with the conditional approvals.

A joint venture between Energy Fuels and Astron Limited is developing the project roughly 300 kilometers northwest of Melbourne. Phase 1 is projected to produce about 9,000 metric tons of rare-earth concentrate and 225,000 metric tons of heavy mineral concentrate each year. Those are expected annual volumes, not current production.

The planned rare-earth concentrate is expected to contain monazite and xenotime, including neodymium-praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium. Energy Fuels plans to process the concentrate at its White Mesa Mill in Utah. Astron expects to buy the heavy mineral concentrate for sale to customers.

Energy Fuels is aiming to make a final investment decision by the end of 2026. The proposed financing remains conditional, and the project’s projected output is tied to its first phase. Energy Fuels CEO Ross Bhappu said, “This financing milestone brings the Donald Project closer to an FID.”