Can Energy Fuels Lead America's Drive for Rare Earth Independence?

Energy Fuels Inc. UUUU and other rare earth stocks have been gaining attention amid escalating tensions between the United States and China. In a move described as an effort to “safeguard national security,” Beijing recently tightened export controls on rare earths. In response, President Donald Trump threatened to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods.

Demand for rare earth oxides is expected to grow, given their use in a variety of energy, advanced and defense technologies. Considering that China currently accounts for around 70% of global rare earth mining and 90% of processing capacity, efforts have intensified to build independent supply chains.

Energy Fuels, the leading U.S producer of uranium, is leveraging its White Mesa Mill in Utah to build its presence in rare earths. The company had been producing a mixed RE carbonate from third-party-sourced monazite sands at the mill since 2021. 

Monazite has superior concentrations of rare earths and is a low-cost feedstock that can be processed to separate REE products. Also, the White Mesa Mill, being the only U.S. facility able to process monazite and produce high-purity REE oxides, gives UUUU an edge. 

Over the past few years, the company has been securing its sources of monazite to deliver on its goal of building a fully integrated, U.S.-based REE supply chain. To this end, it acquired the Toliara Project in Madagascar (through acquisition of Base Resources), the Bahia Project in Brazil and a joint venture interest in the Donald Project in Australia.

In 2024, Energy Fuels completed Phase 1 of its infrastructure upgrades at the mill, which boosted its separated neodymium praseodymium (NdPr) production capacity to 850-1,000 metric tons. UUUU produced 38 tons of separated NdPr in 2024 and its high-purity NdPr oxide has been cleared for use in EV vehicles.

In August 2025, Energy Fuels produced its first kilogram of dysprosium (Dy) oxide at 99.9% purity, surpassing commercial benchmarks, a major leap toward securing a U.S. supply of 'heavy' rare earth oxides. It is targeting to deliver the first samples of high-purity terbium (Tb) oxide in the fourth quarter of 2025. With modifications to the Mill's existing Phase 1 separations circuit, the company can start commercial production of Dy, Tb and samarium in the fourth quarter of 2026. 

During Phase 2, Energy Fuels plans to expand its NdPr separation capabilities to process up to 60,000 tons of monazite per year, containing approximately 4,000-6,000 tons of NdPr annually. It is expected to be completed in 2028.

Energy Fuels' HREE production will represent the only commercial-scale heavy REE production in the United States from an economically viable feedstock. The company will be at an advantageous position to supply U.S.-based manufacturers with the heavy rare earth oxides required to make rare earth metals, alloys and permanent magnets.

Other Established Rare Earth Stocks in Focus

MP Materials MP is the largest producer of rare earth materials in the Western Hemisphere. Headquartered in Las Vegas, NV, MP Materials owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility, the only rare earth mining and processing site of scale in North America. MP Materials is also developing a rare earth metal, alloy and magnet manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, TX (known as the “Independence Facility”), where it produces magnetic precursor products and anticipates manufacturing neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets by the end of 2025.

MP Materials produced record NdPr oxide production of 1,294 MT in 2024. So far in 2025, its NdPr oxide production is at 1,160 MT. 

Lynas Rare Earths Limited LYSDY is engaged in the exploration, development, mining, extraction and processing of rare earth minerals in Australia and Malaysia. Lynas produced 6,558 tons of NdPr in fiscal 2025, a 16% year-over-year increase year over year. Increased production volumes of NdPr reflect Lynas’s optimized production strategy.

The production of separated heavy rare earth oxides at Lynas Malaysia marked a milestone for Lynas. The company is currently the only commercial producer of separated heavy rare earth elements outside of China.

UUUU’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Energy Fuels shares have skyrocketed 411.3% so far this year compared with the industry’s 29.6% growth.

UUUU is trading at a forward 12-month price/sales multiple of 53.08X, a significant premium to the industry’s 3.74X.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Energy Fuels’ 2025 loss is pegged at 33 cents per share. The bottom-line estimate for 2026 is pegged at earnings of 7 cents per share. The EPS estimates for 2025 have been unchanged over the past 60 days, while the same for 2026 have moved up, as shown in the chart below.

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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