Astron and Energy Fuels signed an MoU agreement to develop the Donald heavy mineral sand project in Victoria, Australia. 

Astron Corp. and Energy Fuels Inc. signed a non-binding MoU to jointly develop the Donald heavy mineral sand project in Victorica, Australia. The MOU describes indicative commercial terms and provides Energy Fuels with a binding exclusivity period to end on March 1, 2024, during which Energy Fuels will be entitled to conduct due diligence and the parties will negotiate definitive agreements. 

The Donald project is targeting the extraction and recovery of 7ktpy to 14ktpy monazite-xenotime mineral concentrates, which Energy Fuel will process to produce rare earth compounds at its facility in Utah, USA. Mineral reserves at the Donald project are reported to total 309Mt containing 4.4% heavy minerals, of which monazite and xenotime form 2.46%. The MoU with Astron builds on Energy Fuel’s existing offtake agreement with Chemours in the USA to source monazite mineral concentrates for processing at the White Messa plant in Utah, USA, and also Energy Fuels acquisition of the Bahia heavy mineral sand project in Brazil in February 2023, which is scheduled to begin production in early 2024.   

Heavy mineral sand operations are forecast to increase their share of total rare earth mine production over the coming decade as a result of the large volumes of existing production targeting titanium and zircon mineral concentrates, the attractive Nd-Pr and Tb-Dy content of monazite and the growing market for monazite concentrate in China and North America. The concentration and transportation of monazite concentrates remains a challenge for some operations, as some monazite concentrates exceed the ‘Class 7’ (10Bq/g) limit and require more costly transportation. Energy Fuels' experience in the uranium industry has allowed certain synergies to be transferred to their REE operations with regard to transportation and storage of naturally occurring radioactive materials, however.