UUUU's Donald Project Gains EFA Support: Will It Fast-Track Financing?

Energy Fuels Inc. UUUU and Astron Limited have received a non-binding and conditional letter of support from Export Finance Australia (“EFA”), Australia’s export credit rating agency. This pertains to up to A$80 million ($52 million) in senior debt project financing for developing the Donald Project in Australia. 
The project is a fully permitted, “shovel-ready” world-scale HMS (Heavy Mineral Sands) project with an exceptional concentration of "mid" and "heavy" rare earth element (REE) oxides. The total funding requirement for the development of the project is currently estimated at A$520 million (around $338 million). 

The EFA letter of support marks a major step toward Astron's and Energy Fuels' broader funding initiatives. The United States and Australia have signed an agreement to boost supplies of rare earths and other critical minerals to reduce China's dominance. This development could help expedite sources of financing for the Donald Project.

A positive final investment decision for the project is expected in December 2025, with production expected to start in the second half of 2027, once financing is secured.

During Phase 1, the project is expected to produce 7.2 thousand tons of Rare Earth Element Concentrate (REECs) annually, containing both light and highly strategic heavy rare earths. This includes up to 1,000t of Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr) oxides, 92t of Dysprosium (Dy) oxide and 16t of Terbium (Tb) oxides per year. The REECs produced will be shipped to Energy Fuels’ White Mesa Mill in Utah for the production of advanced REE materials and zircon-rich heavy mineral concentrates for global supply chains. 

The heavy rare earths to be produced from Donald Phase 1 are expected to meet approximately one-third of U.S. demand for Dy and a quarter of demand for Tb. Notably, these elements are critical to the clean energy, defense and advanced manufacturing industries.

Focus has intensified lately on building production capabilities of REEs that are independent of China. MP Materials MP, the largest producer of rare earth materials in the Western Hemisphere, is positioned to ride on this wave. 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.
In July, MP Materials secured a landmark deal with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to fast-track the development of a fully integrated domestic rare earth magnet supply chain. 

USA Rare Earth Inc. USAR is developing a rare earth sintered neo magnet manufacturing plant in Stillwater, OK. USA Rare Earth recently inked a deal to acquire LCM, a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of specialized rare earth metals and both cast and strip cast alloys.  LCM holds a unique position as the only proven ex-China producer of both light and heavy rare earth permanent magnet metals and alloys at scale at its 67,000 square foot production facility in Cheshire, UK. It also has an established supply of raw materials outside of China. The acquisition will significantly accelerate USA Rare Earth’s mine-to-magnet strategy, establishing an end-to-end rare earth supply chain.

UUUU’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Energy Fuels shares have skyrocketed 202.3% in the past year compared with the industry’s 4.5% growth.

UUUU is trading at a forward 12-month price/sales multiple of 45.09X, a significant premium to the industry’s 3.63X.

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 seven cents per share. The EPS estimates for 2025 have been unchanged over the past 60 days, while those 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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