Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR), a prominent U.S. producer of uranium, rare earths, and vanadium, has just announced a definitive acquisition of Base Resources Limited (ASX: BSE | AIM: BSE). This transformative deal, valued at approximately A$375 million (roughly USD$240.9M), involves the purchase of 100% of Base Resources’ issued shares, marking a significant expansion into the global critical minerals market and reshaping Energy Fuels’ strategic capabilities across several key mineral sectors.

This acquisition integrates the Toliara heavy mineral sands project in Madagascar into Energy Fuels’ portfolio. Toliara is renowned for its extensive deposits of heavy mineral sands, particularly monazite, which is a byproduct of titanium and zirconium production. This site is one of the world’s most advanced and cost-effective sources for monazite, expected to play a pivotal role in Energy Fuels’ expansion into low-cost, high-value rare earth oxide production. The monazite from Toliara is slated for processing at Energy Fuels’ fully owned White Mesa Mill in Utah, positioning the company as a first-tier producer of separated rare earth element oxides in a U.S.-centered operation.

The strategic significance of this acquisition extends beyond resource expansion; it encompasses the incorporation of Base Resources’ seasoned mine development and operations team. This team has a proven track record in designing, constructing, and operating world-class heavy mineral sand operations in Africa, which will be invaluable in maximizing the operational efficiencies and productivity of the Toliara project.

Financially, the transaction involves an exchange of 0.0260 Energy Fuels common shares plus A$0.065 in cash per Base Resources share, representing a robust valuation that underscores the anticipated synergistic benefits. The deal, structured as a scheme of arrangement under Australia’s Corporations Act, highlights the strategic foresight of Energy Fuels’ management in securing a diversified supply of critical minerals essential for modern technologies such as electric vehicles and renewable energy systems.

Energy Fuels is also engaged in high-level discussions with various U.S. government agencies and offices, seeking support for this and other critical mineral projects both domestically and internationally. This engagement underscores the strategic importance of the Toliara project not just to Energy Fuels but to the broader U.S. supply chain for critical materials.

Jack Lifton, Co-Chair of the Critical Minerals Institute (CMI), underscored the global significance of this acquisition, stating, “This acquisition by Energy Fuels puts them into the world-class rare earth space. This is arguably the biggest rare earth announcement in the last 10 or 15 years in the United States, as it represents not just the reopening of old mines but the introduction of a new, large-scale source of critical materials from Africa, Brazil, and Australia.”

The acquisition is expected to be highly accretive to Energy Fuels’ shareholders, significantly enhancing the company’s asset value per share and unlocking substantial potential upside through increased production capacities and cost efficiencies. Notably, the Toliara project is set to provide a sustainable, low-cost source of uranium, complementing Energy Fuels’ already leading position in the U.S. uranium sector.

In summary, this acquisition not only secures a world-class mineral project at an attractive price but also strategically positions Energy Fuels at the forefront of the global critical minerals industry, ready to meet increasing demand with a robust and diversified production base. The integration of Toliara’s resources and expertise from Base Resources promises to enhance Energy Fuels’ capabilities across the board, ensuring long-term growth and profitability in the evolving energy and technology landscapes.

In a recent conversation with InvestorNews host Tracy Weslosky, Jean-Francois Meilleur, President, and CEO of Xcite Resources Inc. (CSE: XRI), provided an insightful overview of the uranium market and the strategic positioning of Xcite’s uranium assets in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. Meilleur shared his enthusiasm for the sector, stating, “Certainly, a lot of the analysts that I’m following are calling a much longer-term cycle than we experienced in the late 2006-2008,” highlighting expectations of a sustained period of strong demand for uranium. He further emphasized the unique appeal of Saskatchewan, noting, “Saskatchewan, Athabasca Basin specifically produces 20% of the world’s uranium… it’s the best place, the best address to explore and find new discoveries.”

With the recent acquisition of six projects in the Athabasca Basin, including three past producers, Meilleur underlined the basin’s untapped potential for significant uranium discoveries. He articulated the strategic advantage of their locations, saying, “The best place to own a project or to make a significant discovery is in the shadow of a headframe, and we have three of those projects in the most prolific basin in the world.” This expansion underscores Xcite’s commitment to exploring high-potential sites within a well-established mining environment, emphasizing the Athabasca Basin’s global importance and Saskatchewan’s favorable ranking for mining investments by the Fraser Institute.

Meilleur’s decision to step in as CEO was driven by the compelling quality of the assets uncovered during the negotiation and due diligence phases. “As you’re running and you’re finding more and more interesting stuff…it looks better and better and better,” Meilleur remarked, highlighting surface sampling results up to 36% uranium and the presence of graphite conductors, indicative of the potential for significant discoveries. Owning a substantial share of the company, Meilleur’s personal investment and leadership underscore his belief in Xcite’s potential to develop and monetize its assets for shareholders.

At PDAC 2024, Xcite’s objective was clear: to introduce the company’s promising projects and underscore its undervalued market cap compared to its peers. With historic production and very high-grade surface results, Meilleur is focused on raising awareness about Xcite’s value proposition, stating, “We’re prediscovery, historic production, very high-grade results at surface…we need to tell the story.”

Jean-Francois Meilleur’s leadership and strategic acquisitions position Xcite Resources Inc. as an emerging player in the uranium sector, with the Athabasca Basin serving as a cornerstone for the company’s exploration efforts. His insights into the uranium market and the strategic importance of their assets in Saskatchewan reflect a deep understanding of the industry’s dynamics and the potential for significant discoveries in one of the world’s most prolific uranium-producing regions.

To access the complete interview, click here

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About Xcite Resources Inc.

Xcite Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on its Turgeon Lake Property, located in the Province of Québec.

Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR), a prominent player in the uranium and rare earth industries, unveiled its financial results for the quarter ending September 30, 2023. With exponential growth and remarkable achievements, join me on their webcast at 4PM EST (today, 11-06-2023) to secure the full update.

Q3-2023 Financial Highlights

• The quarter boasted a stellar balance sheet with $162.50 million in working capital, a marked improvement from the $116.97 million as of December 31, 2022. The company’s position is reinforced with zero debt and significant assets in cash, marketable securities, and inventory.
• The net income for the quarter stood at $10.47 million or $0.07 per share. This includes the impressive sale of 180,000 pounds of uranium (U₃O₈) to a leading U.S. nuclear utility, garnering a gross profit margin of 50%.
• While uranium remains a significant part of their portfolio, Energy Fuels is also actively diversifying. Efforts towards developing commercial rare earth separation capabilities are ongoing, and results thus far are promising.

Uranium: The Backbone of Energy Fuels

Uranium sales have seen a consistent upswing in 2023. Notably, the company sold 180,000 pounds of U₃O₈ at a commendable gross margin of 50% this quarter.

Furthermore, the proactive approach towards preparing four of their conventional uranium mines for production signifies Energy Fuels’ commitment to bolstering their uranium segment. The company aims to commence production in these mines by early 2024.

Rare Earths: The Road Ahead

Energy Fuels is making strides in the rare earth sector. Their ambitious “Phase 1” is set to be completed by early 2024, positioning them as a dominant producer of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide outside China. This venture alone could cater to up to 1 million electric vehicles annually.

With “Phase 2” and “Phase 3” on the horizon, Energy Fuels is strategically positioning itself to meet the growing demand for rare earth elements, essential for various industries.

A Glance at Vanadium

Though the company did not sell any vanadium this quarter, their strategy seems to be geared towards leveraging market strength, as evident from their Q1-2023 sales.

CEO’s Perspective

Mark S. Chalmers, President and CEO of Energy Fuels, lauds the company’s progress. In his statement, he emphasized the company’s vision to establish a U.S. critical mineral hub. He highlighted the successful uranium sales and their vision for the rare earths supply chain.

Chalmers aptly said, “Energy Fuels’ business strategy and execution sits at an intersection of rapidly growing commodity markets, critical to the clean energy transition.”

Closing Thoughts and What’s Next

Today, we will be on the conference call scheduled for 4PM EST, eager to understand more about Energy Fuels’ future plans and the way forward.

With its strategic focus on both uranium and rare earths, Energy Fuels is well down the path to becoming the American Critical Mineral Powerhouse.

Author’s Note: To access the detailed Q3-2023 report, please visit the official SEC or SEDAR websites, or [Energy Fuels’ website].

There’s no doubt that uranium stocks have caught a bid of late. The godfather of North American uranium names, Cameco Corp. (TSX: CCO | NYSE: CCJ), is trading at its highest levels since the unfortunate disaster at Fukushima in 2011, which decimated virtually all uranium and uranium related equities. It was a long road back, to say the least, but the push for zero-emission energy, combined with the uncertainty of supply due to Russia (Rosatom) owning just under half of the world’s uranium enrichment capacity (most of the commercial nuclear power reactors operating in the world today require enriched uranium) has led us to where we are today.

I haven’t seen any recent news that could have sparked the latest rally, unless uncertainty surrounding the government in Niger, supplier of roughly 4% of total global uranium production, or maybe the Oppenheimer movie, has reignited investors’ desire to own uranium. But whatever the case, uranium stocks are surging and I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with AI.

One uranium stock looking to revisit all-time highs is F3 Uranium Corp. (TSXV: FUU | OTCQB: FUUFF), a uranium project generator and exploration company, focusing on projects in the Athabasca Basin, home to some of the world’s largest high-grade uranium discoveries. F3 Uranium currently has 18 projects in the Athabasca Basin, several of which are near large uranium discoveries including Triple R, Arrow, and Hurricane. The Company’s award-winning management and technical team have a track record of acquiring highly prospective uranium properties, and successfully exploring and developing them for potential sale.

The Company’s flagship property is the 4,078-hectare 100% owned Patterson Lake North property (PLN), located just within the south-western edge of the Athabasca Basin in proximity to Fission Uranium Corp.‘s (TSX: FCU | OTCQX: FCUUF) Triple R and NexGen Energy Ltd.‘s (TSX: NXE | NYSE: NXE | ASX: NXG) Arrow high-grade world-class uranium deposits. Within the PLN property, the JR Zone was discovered by F3 Uranium during a fall 2022 drilling program with drill hole PLN22-035, which assayed at 6.97% U3O8 over 15.0m, including 5.5m of 18.6% U3O8 and 1.0 m @ 59.2% U3O8. A 21-hole follow-up drill program was completed in winter 2023 including drill hole PLN23-060 which intersected one continuous 14.5m interval averaging 9.4% U3O8 including an ultra-high-grade 5.0m interval averaging 26.7% U3O8, which further includes a 2.5m interval which assayed 45.6% U3O8.

Source: F3 Uranium Website

A 30 hole follow-up program was started June 8th, 2023, and has since further expanded the JR zone along strike and up-dip toward the Athabasca unconformity. Initial results from this latest exploration program, reported last week, include assay results for PLN23-068 which returned 18.0m of 8.8% U3O8, including a high grade 11.5m interval averaging 13.7% U3O8, further including an ultra-high grade core of 4.5m of 30.1% U3O8. This is the best grade thickness intercept at the JR Zone to date. PLN23-079 stepped out along strike of this hole and intersected significant mineralization over a 17.0m interval, including 3.0m off-scale radioactivity between 235.50m -239.00m.

Drillhole PLN23-078 targeted a new geophysical feature, the A1B EM conductor, which was tested and showed similarities to the A1 main shear zone, suggesting potential for future exploration. JR Zone drilling and exploration are ongoing with increased drilling capacity planned for the summer, due to cost savings. These savings are significant enough to add additional drilling to the summer program and the Company now projects to drill up to 40 holes totaling 16,000m.

Expect the news to keep coming from F3 Uranium. The Company reported cash of C$9.8 million at the end of March, 2023 and have subsequently raised C$14.3 million through private placements and the exercise of warrants and options with a further C$17.5 million private placement set to close on or around September 12, 2023. This leaves the Company well positioned to continue drilling the PLN property as well as various exploration activities at its many other projects.

F3 Uranium Corp. trades at a market cap of C$149 million.

As I noted earlier in the week, in light of certain global political issues the United States may want to be looking for some better places to source commodities. As the largest consumer of uranium in the world, it behooves American consumers to secure supplies of this commodity from slightly more friendly allies. Especially given, according to the EIA, in 2020, the U.S. purchased 22% of its uranium from Kazakhstan and 16% from Russia. Not exactly the kind of leverage you want to be giving Mr. Putin when going into negotiations regarding Ukraine or anything else that may come up.

In fact, the estimated 2021 uranium requirement in the United States to power nuclear reactors was 17,600 tonnes (38.7 million pounds). Meanwhile, the EIA reported domestic production of uranium concentrate (U₃O₈) in the fourth quarter of 2021 totaled 9,978 pounds. And this minuscule amount of fourth quarter 2021 production is 88% higher than the third quarter total but is 98% lower than the 2015-2019 five-year range for the fourth quarter. Needless to say, the U.S. is not even close to being self-sufficient when it comes to supplying its domestic uranium requirements. Put into perspective, 20% of U.S. electricity is generated by nuclear power. It’s enough to make a person wonder if anyone in Washington, D.C. has put all this information together in a clear, concise summary for the President or any of his advisors.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

To me, it seems pretty obvious that someone might want to suggest that this becomes a bit more of a priority for this and future administrations. Granted in December 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Pub. L. 116-260) that makes $75 million available to the Department of Energy for the establishment of the Uranium Reserve Program. However, without being an expert at navigating the status of congressional acts, it appears this has only just concluded the request for information period and that not much has been done (but please correct me if this is inaccurate). In the meantime, I would suggest that there needs to be more domestic uranium production to prevent 20% of the electrical grid from potentially being at risk.

Enter Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSE American: URG | TSX: URE), and its uranium mining, recovery and processing operations, as well as the exploration and development of uranium mineral properties all within the friendly confines of the United States of America. The Company boasts a cash position as of October 27, 2021, of $40.9 million plus nearly 285,000 pounds of finished, U.S. produced U₃O₈ inventory, worth just over $12 million at recent spot prices. At its flagship Lost Creek in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium facility in south-central Wyoming, the Company announced at the beginning of November the commencement of a development program that will advance the facility from reduced operations to full production-ready status.

Initiated in October, the development program will see the next header house in Mine Unit 2 completed in Q1/22 and ready for immediate production when warranted. After completing the new header house, Ur-Energy will proceed with a delineation drill program in H1/22, which will enable the development and construction of the next four header houses in Mine Unit 2. The estimated cost of these development programs is $2.2 million. In 2021, the Wyoming Uranium Recovery Program approved the amendment to the Lost Creek source material license which grants the Company access to six planned mine units in addition to the already licensed three mine units at Lost Creek. The Lost Creek facility has the constructed and licensed capacity to process up to 2.2 million pounds of U₃O₈ per year and sufficient mineral resources to feed the processing plant for several years.

The Company’s second uranium ISR project, Shirley Basin, stands ready for development and construction. Having received all remaining major approvals in 2021, Ur-Energy has effectively doubled it’s licensed and permitted production capacity. Estimates for Mine Development ($12.3 million) and CapEx ($18.3 million) are $30.6 million which should enable the Company to reach approximately a 1 million pound run rate in 15-18 months. By comparison, Lost Creek operations can increase to full production rates in as little as nine months with development expenses during the full period of ramp-up estimated to be approximately $14 million.

Very well positioned to be a major supplier of much-needed domestic uranium, Ur-Energy is well funded and can ramp up production quickly.