American uranium and Vanadium Mining Company will enter the rare Earth Commercial sector in the first quarter of 2021

(Energy Fuels), a U.S.-based uranium and vanadium mining company, will become a rare earth producer in the first quarter of 2021. The company announced on December 14th that it had reached a supply agreement to process monazite at its White Mesa smelter in (White Mesa Mill), Utah.

The company signed a three-year supply agreement with Como (Chemours Company) to obtain 2500 tons per year of natural monazite placer, one of the highest-grade rare earth minerals in the world.

The uranium-vanadium mining company will process monazite at the White Mesa smelter, recover the uranium and produce saleable mixed rare earth carbonates. This marks an important step in the reconstruction of the rare earth supply chain in the United States. At present, the United States imports almost all of its demand for rare earths, uranium and vanadium.

"our agreement with Como could be a truly successful start, not only for uranium and vanadium mining companies, but also for local communities, Native American residents, environmental groups, Utah and the United States as a whole," President and CEO Mark Chalmers (Mark Chalmers) commented in a statement.

The company estimates that the content of rare earths in monazite ore to be obtained under the agreement will be close to 10% of the current total demand for rare earths in the United States.

The uranium and Vanadium Mining Company is also in talks with other entities to obtain more monazite raw materials and is working with the U.S. Department of Energy (US Department of Energy) to assess the potential of processing other types of rare earths and uranium-bearing ores from coal resources at the White Mesa plant.

The company aims to process 15000 tons of monazite and other resources each year to recover rare earths and uranium. The average licensed ore processing capacity at the WhiteMesa plant is designed to be 2000 tons per day, or 720000 tons per year. Therefore, 2500 tons / year of solitary stone placer means less than 0.4% of the annual production capacity of the processing plant, and 15000 tons / year represents only about 2% of the annual production capacity.

Uranium and vanadium mining companies say mixed rare earth carbonates produced by ore supplies of 15000 tonnes a year will meet 50 per cent of US demand for rare earths.

Monazite ore to be shipped from Como's Overman Mine in (Offerman), Georgia to the White Mesa smelter will begin shipping in the first quarter of 2021.

The uranium-vanadium mining company said the project could then become one of the lowest-cost rare earth production projects in the western world.

The use of existing facilities can save time and cost in applying for permits and building new facilities. In addition, since the monazite placer is currently being separated from other ores in Georgia and elsewhere, the company only has to bear the cost of acquiring monazite, thus avoiding mining costs and associated risks.

The solitary placer that has historically been supplied to the WhiteMesa processing plant comes from the southeastern United States and contains an average of 55 per cent of the rare earth oxide (TREO) and 0.20 per cent of uranium, which is typical of the current grade of uranium. Among 55% of rare earth oxides, neodymium and praseodymium oxides (NdPrO) account for 22% of rare earth oxides. Neodymium and praseodymium are the most valuable rare earth elements and key additives for the manufacture of high-performance permanent magnets. Permanent magnets can reduce the weight of engines and enhance performance, which is essential for the manufacture of electric vehicles and permanent magnet wind turbines for renewable energy generation, as well as a series of modern technologies such as mobile devices and defense applications.

Rare earths are the cornerstone of all kinds of clean energy and advanced technologies.