In a recent InvestorNews interview with host Tracy Weslosky, Pat Ryan, Chairman and CEO of Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSXV: UCU | OTCQX: UURAF), shared insights into the company’s latest strategic developments, particularly focusing on the Louisiana Strategic Metals Complex (LA-SMC) discussed in Ucore’s most recent news release. Central to Ucore’s progress is the support from Louisiana Governor Jon Bel Edwards, who has played a pivotal role in advancing the LA-SMC project through the execution of a contract for exemption of ad valorem taxes. This move is part of a larger $15 million incentive package from Louisiana Economic Development and is expected to yield an estimated $8.2 million in tax savings over ten years, significantly aiding the project’s progression.

The recent visit by Ucore’s team to the Kingston, Ontario, RapidSX™ Demo Plant marks a key step in the transition process of replicating the plant’s technology in Louisiana. This initiative is part of Ucore’s broader strategy to establish a strong operational base in North America, positioning itself as a critical player in the rare earth processing industry.

Additionally, Ryan discussed the potential collaborations Ucore is exploring with both government support in the US and Canada; along with various industries, emphasizing the company’s focus on strengthening the supply chain for metal alloy making and catering to sectors such as automotive, wind energy, and national defense.

Also in the interview, there was a discussion surrounding feature coverage of Ucore in a Reuters’ article titled Insight: Western start-ups seek to break China’s grip on rare earths refining, dated December 4, 2023, Ucore Rare Metals stands out for its innovative approach in the rare earths sector. Ucore aims to revolutionize rare earths processing by mid-2025 using RapidSX technology, which is touted to be thrice as fast as the traditional solvent extraction process, without generating hazardous chemical waste, and requiring significantly less physical space. Ucore’s initiative is a part of a broader movement among Western companies to establish a non-Chinese supply chain for these critical minerals, essential for numerous electronic devices and the clean energy transition.

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About Ucore Rare Metals Inc.

Ucore is focused on rare- and critical-metal resources, extraction, beneficiation, and separation technologies with the potential for production, growth, and scalability. Ucore’s vision and plan is to become a leading advanced technology company, providing best-in-class metal separation products and services to the mining and mineral extraction industry.

Through strategic partnerships, this plan includes disrupting the People’s Republic of China’s control of the North American REE supply chain through the near-term development of a heavy and light rare-earth processing facility in the U.S. State of Louisiana, subsequent Strategic Metal Complexes in Canada and Alaska and the longer-term development of Ucore’s 100% controlled Bokan-Dotson Ridge Rare Heavy REE Project on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, USA.

Disclaimer: Ucore Rare Metals Inc. is an advertorial member of InvestorNews Inc.

This interview, which was produced by InvestorNews Inc. (“InvestorNews”), does not contain, nor does it purport to contain, a summary of all material information concerning the Company, including important disclosure and risk factors associated with the Company, its business and an investment in its securities. InvestorNews offers no representations or warranties that any of the information contained in this interview is accurate or complete.

This interview and any transcriptions or reproductions thereof (collectively, this “presentation”) does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to subscribe for or purchase any securities in the Company. The information in this presentation is provided for informational purposes only and may be subject to updating, completion or revision, and except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any information herein. This presentation may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and assumptions of the management of the Company as of the date made. They are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those that the Company does not know about now or that it currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Company’s business or any investment therein.

Any projections given are principally intended for use as objectives and are not intended, and should not be taken, as assurances that the projected results will be obtained by the Company. The assumptions used may not prove to be accurate and a potential decline in the Company’s financial condition or results of operations may negatively impact the value of its securities. This presentation should not be considered as the giving of investment advice by the Company or any of its directors, officers, agents, employees or advisors. Each person to whom this presentation is made available must make its own independent assessment of the Company after making such investigations and taking such advice as may be deemed necessary. Prospective investors are urged to review the Company’s profile on SedarPlus.ca and to carry out independent investigations in order to determine their interest in investing in the Company.

Uranium has been a winning sector in 2023 with uranium prices up 41% YoY, making it the best performing energy commodity in the past year. As the uranium price hovers near a 12 year record high (US$69/lb), today’s company is set to benefit.

25 year uranium price chart shows uranium approximately at the highest level since Jan. 2011

Source: Trading Economics

Energy Fuels Inc.

Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR) (“Energy Fuels”) is the leading producer of uranium and vanadium and a growing rare earths processor, all in the USA.

Energy Fuels holds two of America’s key uranium production centers: The White Mesa Mill in Utah and the Nichols Ranch in-situ recovery (“ISR“) Project in Wyoming. The White Mesa Mill has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of U₃O₈ per year.

Q2, 2023 financial results

As announced on August 4, 2023, Energy Fuels reported a small net loss in Q2, 2023 of US$4.89 million. The Company reported some nice revenues and profits from its uranium and rare earths sales during the quarter; however, increased expenses associated with preparing four uranium mines for production and expenses associated with developing commercial rare earth element separation capabilities dragged down the bottom line.

The key is that their existing uranium and rare earths operations are profitable with gross margins running at around 50%. Furthermore, the increased expenses are those related to project developments to bring on new uranium production and in time rare earth oxides. The plan is that these expansions should lead to much stronger revenues and potential profits down the track. An analogy could be with Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) who ran losses until they got their new EV factories into scaled production.

Energy Fuels revenues are forecast to grow rapidly in 2024 and 2025 which should thereafter potentially lead to significant profits depending upon commodity prices

Source: Market Screener (Note: Red arrows by the author)

A robust balance sheet with strong inventory

As of June 30, 2023, Energy Fuels had a robust balance sheet with US$134.36 million of working capital (versus US$116.97 million as of December 31, 2022)

As of June 30, 2023, the Company held 766,000 pounds of finished U₃O₈, 906,000 pounds of finished V₂O₅, and 37 MT of finished high-purity, partially separated mixed REE carbonate in inventory.

The strong balance sheet supports Energy Fuels expansion plans.

Energy Fuels expansion potential

Energy Fuels state they have up to 2 million lbs. of short-term, low-cost uranium production capacity, all located in the USA.

Energy Fuels owns a portfolio of uranium assets with one producing, one on standby, and two in the pre-production stage. They also have 3 large-scale projects in permitting (Sheep Mountain; Roca Honda & Bullfrog) that have potential to produce additional 4+ million lbs. per year.

Energy Fuels most advanced uranium assets

Source: Energy Fuels company presentation

Energy Fuels also has their rare earths processing capacity to produce a mixed rare earth concentrate at their White Mesa Mill in Utah, USA. The near term plan is to expand this to include rare earths separation to produce rare earth oxides. Phase 1 plans to have a capacity of 800 – 1,000 MT of NdPr oxide per year by early 2024 and Phase 2 a capacity of 1,500 – 3,000+ MT NdPr oxide per year by 2026. The Phase 3 plan is to produce separated heavy rare earths including Dy and Tb by 2027. These figures are subject to achieving sufficient monazite ore as feed.

Energy Fuels has also recently acquired the Bahia heavy mineral sand (“HMS”) Project in Brazil which contains significant quantities of monazite (rare earths containing ore), titanium (ilmenite/rutile) and zirconium (zircon).

Closing remarks

Energy Fuels continues to establish itself as a leader in the critical minerals space in the US. They are already the leading uranium, vanadium, and rare earths producer in the USA.

Currently, financial results are not yet reflecting Energy Fuels’ full potential as expenses are elevated to support the Company’s aggressive growth plans.

Energy Fuels Inc. trades on a market cap of US$1.177 billion.

For investors willing to look out just a couple of years as their capacity ramps up very quickly, Energy Fuels should be strongly on your radar.

With COP26 just past its middle mark today, the stock rallies jettison around critical materials such as rare earths, cobalt, and lithium for electric battery materials, we at InvestorIntel.com are being deluged by interest from investors due to our editor in chief Jack Lifton’s reputation as a renowned authority. Add in uranium, which is finally getting some attention it deserves with greater education in place on the value of nuclear energy as a leading cleantech solution, Obama’s speech at COP26 that astutely draws attention to the global pollutant leaders, China coming in at a strong #1, and yes, the USA — we are #2.

In this drive to clean up the planet, however, let us draw attention to a global leader as the world forges ahead to a Net Zero economy in the next 20-30 years — Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR).

North America’s only processor of rare earths, Energy Fuels provided a very robust third quarter report earlier last week. The company owns the White Mesa Mill in southeast Utah, which is also the US’s only commercial licensed processor of radioactive materials.

Energy Fuels has a strong balance sheet and ended the quarter with US$100.8 million in cash and marketable securities as well as $29.3 million of inventory, which has a current estimated value of $46.9 million, made up of 691,000 pounds of uranium and 1,672,000 pounds of high-purity vanadium, both in the form of an immediately marketable product.

Mark Chalmers, Energy Fuels’ President and CEO, said it best: “Energy Fuels continues to make rapid progress toward positioning our White Mesa Mill as America’s “Critical Minerals Hub,” by maintaining the Mill’s key uranium and vanadium production capabilities while further diversifying our portfolio to include rare earth elements production – an exciting and strategically important move both domestically and for the Company. We also continue to watch the uranium markets closely in order to best evaluate our opportunities to capitalize on recent price increases and market improvements.”

The company also has been focusing its asset base on the sale of non-core, conventional uranium projects located in the United States in late October. The sale included cash on closing, shares in the purchasing company, future potential processing revenue as well as future potential payments based on new production from these assets.

The strategic positioning of Energy Fuels should not be underestimated by anyone following this sector. The global drive to Net Zero requires a massive amount of “clean energy”. This clean energy is destined for millions of new electric motors in wind turbines, electric vehicles and the never-ending consumption of small, strong permanent magnets in personal electronic devices. The demand so far outstrips the current supply that it is an almost inconceivable problem as the Western world seeks to eliminate the Chinese supply chain for critical materials.

Energy Fuels currently has the only facility in North America that is on track to start meeting this demand. They successfully delivered rare earth carbonate to Neo Performance Materials Inc.‘s (TSX: NEO) rare earths separation facility in Estonia. The company has a supply agreement for monazite sand from a United States supplier and is receiving multiple inbound expressions of interest for rare earths processing from potential suppliers around the globe.

The indisputable fact is that the clean energy economy will cost trillions of dollars and require resources that are not even in existence. We pledge as leaders in news and information on the critical materials sector to continue regular coverage of companies in the capital markets that are making a real difference.

Note from the Publisher: Tracy Weslosky is long Energy Fuels and Neo Performance Materials.