- U.S. miners — and mining industry — will help drive country’s post-pandemic recovery
- Biden sees the “importance of bringing home critical supply chains so that we aren’t dependent on other countries in future crises”
- UUUU committed to play key role in that plan on critical minerals
The new Joe Biden White House agenda “rests on a foundation provided by the nation’s nearly 600,000 miners — miners and a mining industry ready to do their parts to help drive America’s post-pandemic recovery,” according to recent NWITimes article (https://ibn.fm/cSMsr). That agenda is welcomed by U.S. mining companies, including Energy Fuels (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR), the country’s largest producer of uranium, who also expects to become a producer of an intermediate rare earth element (“REE”) product in early 2021.
According to the article, Biden’s website states: “We’ve seen the importance of bringing home critical supply chains so that we aren’t dependent on other countries in future crises.” The article goes on to point out that “reinvigorating domestic mining and bringing home critical mineral supply chains should be top priorities of that effort. Mobilizing American manufacturing and innovation to ensure that the future is made in America must begin with mobilizing the nation’s miners. The innovative products of tomorrow — be they 5G smartphones, robotics or electric vehicles (‘EVs’) — all rely on a massive number of minerals and metals that stretch the full breadth of the periodic table. Just as the world remains firmly in an era of energy addition where global energy demand is expected to jump 50% by mid-century, we are now in the most mineral and metal intensive era in human history.”
Energy Fuels is committed to playing a key role in that era. In 2018, the U.S. government identified 35 minerals as being critical to the country’s national security and economy, including rare earths, uranium and vanadium which the company produces. “For 31 of these 35 minerals, the U.S. imports more than half of our requirements,” observed Energy Fuels president and CEO Mark S. Chalmers (https://ibn.fm/MR2Ud). “And, for 14 of these 35 minerals, the U.S. is effectively 100% dependent on imports. These minerals are needed for aerospace, computers, cell phones, electrical generation and transmission, renewable energy systems and batteries, and advanced electronics. This is an unacceptable situation for a superpower like the United States.
“Energy Fuels stands ready to do our part in bringing uranium, vanadium and rare earth element processing and production back to the United States,” Chalmers continued. “We have led uranium industry efforts in Washington DC over the past three years to bring the issue of mineral supply chain security to the forefront.”
In 2018, Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy Inc. together submitted a petition for relief under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 from Imports of Uranium Products that Threaten National Security (https://ibn.fm/9klO7). The petition pointed out that, despite uranium’s critical role in supporting carbon-free electricity and national defense, imports of cheap, foreign state-subsidized uranium have swelled in recent years to the point that domestic suppliers currently provide less than 1% of the nation’s demand. This effort culminated in December 2020, with a spending bill passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president, allocating $75 million to create a strategic national uranium reserve to be supplied with uranium mined in the U.S. by companies such as Energy Fuels.
Energy Fuels is the leading U.S.-based uranium mining company, supplying U3O8 to major nuclear utilities. The company also produces vanadium from certain of its projects, and it was the nation’s largest producer of this critical minertal in 2019. Importantly, Energy Fuels expects to begin production of a mixed rare earth carbonate in early 2021, meaning the company will be producing commercial quantities of a rare earth produce at a stage more advanced than any other U.S. company. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the company holds three of America’s key uranium production centers: the White Mesa Mill in Utah, the Nichols Ranch in-situ recovery (“ISR”) Project in Wyoming, and the Alta Mesa ISR Project in Texas.
The White Mesa Mill is truly a one-of-a-kind U.S. facility. It is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the country today, and it has a licensed capacity of more than 8 million pounds of U3O8 per year. The mill also produces vanadium, and it is about to produce rare earths. The mill also recycles uranium and vanadium, saving the world’s resources and avoiding carbon emissions. During its history, the mill has recycled enough uranium that, if converted into nuclear fuel, would provide the same amount of electricity as the coal contained in a train that stretched from Los Angeles to New York City and back again. The mill has also recycled the amount of vanadium that would be contained in the steel required to build four and a half Golden Gate Bridges.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.EnergyFuels.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to UUUU are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/UUUU
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