Energy Fuels Races to Fortify US Rare Earth Supply as FORTRESS America Takes Shape

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1. Ownership and Share Structure Information

The information listed above was updated on the date this article was published and was compiled from information from the company and various other data providers.

Key Investor Takeaways

• Terbium oxide from Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill in Utah has been qualified by a major Japanese permanent magnet manufacturer, adding to earlier qualifications of its NdPr and dysprosium oxides.
• The Department of War's FORTRESS America program, established Sept. 30, names supply-chain and defense-industrial base resilience as one of its five pillars, though it does not name specific materials, companies, or funding.
• On Oct. 13, Energy Fuels amended its roughly US$1.9 billion deal for German magnet maker VAC to add a purchase price adjustment tied to a customer dispute at VAC's South Carolina plant. The deal is expected to close in early 2027.
• The completed ASM acquisition added a South Korean alloy plant being expanded to 3,600 tonnes a year, while a US$104 million White Mesa expansion targets terbium and dysprosium commissioning in Q4 2027.
• Energy Fuels reported about US$996 million in working capital as of June 30, giving it room to fund acquisitions and expansions.
• Newsletter editor Chris Temple called Energy Fuels a "solid long-term" company but expects near-term share price weakness.
• Long-term uranium contract prices hit a record US$96 a pound in August, driven in part by rising power demand from AI data centers.

Energy Fuels Lines Up as FORTRESS America Targets Supply Chains

Energy Fuels Inc. (EFR:TSX; UUUU:NYSEAMERICAN) is among the U.S. companies working to secure the critical materials the military depends on, as the Department of War launches its new FORTRESS America program, according to a release published by the Investing News Network.

The release noted that terbium oxide produced at Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill in Utah has been qualified by a major Japanese permanent magnet manufacturer, adding to earlier qualifications of its neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) and dysprosium oxides.

Washington Builds a Fortress Around Its Supply Chain

The September 30 memorandum establishes FORTRESS America as a Department of War program built around five pillars: energy independence; supply-chain and defense-industrial base resilience; a strategic defense reserve; installation hardening and cyber resilience; and resilience in space and spectrum. The document directs the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment to stand up a Program Office within 30 days. It does not name specific materials, companies, or funding.

Energy Fuels is one of several companies building domestic rare earth capacity. MP Materials Corp. (MP:NYSE) is developing a magnet campus in Northlake, Texas, with about 10,000 tonnes of annual NdFeB magnet capacity and commissioning set for 2028. USA Rare Earth Inc. (USAR:NASDAQ) completed its combination with Brazil's Serra Verde on September 3 and broke ground on a magnet plant in South Carolina on September 9.

Energy Fuels Adds a Safety Net to Its US$1.9 Billion Magnet Deal

Energy Fuels is also reworking the terms of its largest deal. On October 13, the company and German magnet maker Vacuumschmelze (VAC) signed a first amendment to their merger agreement. According to Energy Fuels' Form 8-K filing, it addresses "the potential settlement of such dispute, repayment of certain indebtedness and potential purchase price adjustments."

The dispute involves e-VAC Magnetics LLC, VAC's U.S. affiliate, and a customer under a commercial supply agreement. VAC's plant in Sumter, South Carolina, was built to support that offtake agreement, and the filing said the plant "currently has available production capacity to support the existing offtake agreement in full."

Energy Fuels' purchase price estimate assumes a reasonable settlement amount. If the dispute is resolved for less than that, "the difference will be compensated for via this price adjustment," the filing said. If the outcome is better, "the difference will accrue to VAC," which Energy Fuels will own after closing. The same filing showed VAC's revenue for the first half of 2026 at €211.5 million, up 34.8% from €156.9 million a year earlier.

Energy Fuels announced the VAC deal on June 23. Based on Energy Fuels' share price at the time, it is worth about US$1.9 billion in equity: US$718 million in cash plus 65.853 million new Energy Fuels shares. Energy Fuels will also assume about US$140 million of VAC's adjusted net debt.

VAC is headquartered in Hanau, Germany, has more than 100 years of production experience, holds more than 400 patents, and serves more than 1,000 customers. Its Sumter plant has a capacity for 2,000 tonnes of permanent magnets a year, with a pathway to 12,000 tonnes. The deal is expected to close in early 2027, subject to regulatory approvals. The Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital has made a conditional US$725 million financing commitment to support the planned acquisition.

"This is a transformational moment for Energy Fuels and the global rare earth supply chain," President and CEO Ross Bhappu said when the deal was announced.

Energy Fuels Tackles the Heavy Rare Earth Bottleneck

On August 28, Energy Fuels completed its acquisition of Australian Strategic Materials (ASM). The deal added the Korean Metals Plant in Ochang, South Korea, which can make about 1,300 tonnes a year of NdFeB alloy and is being expanded to 3,600 tonnes, with commissioning possible as early as the end of 2026. It also brought in the Dubbo critical minerals project in Australia.

On July 29, the company began construction on a US$104 million heavy rare earth expansion at White Mesa. The expansion is designed to produce up to about 20 tonnes of terbium oxide and 120 tonnes of dysprosium oxide a year, along with samarium, europium, and gadolinium oxides.

Chris Temple, editor and publisher of The National Investor, first recommended the stock on November 27, 2015, at US$9.96 and now rates it a Hold "due to my macro worries."

The terbium and dysprosium circuits are expected to be commissioned in Q4 2027. The mill can already produce up to 1,000 tonnes of NdPr oxide a year.

"Heavy rare earth production is a severe pinch point in North American and European permanent magnet supply chains," Bhappu said.

To feed White Mesa, Energy Fuels holds a 12.7% interest in the Donald Project in Australia, with an option to increase that to 49%. Donald is expected to supply 8,500 to 9,500 tonnes of monazite a year from 2028, subject to a final investment decision. The company is also developing its wholly owned Vara Mada project in Madagascar and the Bahia project in Brazil.

A planned Phase 2 expansion would let White Mesa process 60,000 tonnes of monazite a year by 2029, raising capacity to 6,294 tonnes of NdPr oxide, 288 tonnes of dysprosium oxide, and 80 tonnes of terbium oxide a year.

In its second quarter results, Energy Fuels reported working capital of about US$996 million as of June 30. That included US$58.4 million in cash and US$878.3 million in marketable securities. It posted a net loss of US$33.6 million, which it attributed mainly to transaction costs and higher operating expenses. The company produced 865,000 pounds of finished uranium oxide in the quarter at a weighted-average cost of US$23 a pound and sold 310,000 pounds.

Newsletter Editor Sees Long-Term Value, Near-Term Pain

Chris Temple, editor and publisher of The National Investor, called Energy Fuels one of his "solid long-term companies" in his October 14 issue but warned that "share prices will deteriorate more before they get better, I'm afraid." He first recommended the stock on November 27, 2015, at US$9.96 and now rates it a Hold "due to my macro worries."

Temple said rare earth and uranium stocks have joined "the bloodletting of recent months," partly on doubts about "how fast they will realistically be profiting from real/imagined new data centers."

Even so, he wrote, "Chronic supply shortages will get worse going forward," because the commitments needed to bring on new supply "STILL ARE NOT THERE IN SUFFICIENT MEASURE."

He advised subscribers holding about 1% of their portfolio in Energy Fuels to "do nothing." "If you have 3-4% or more, especially, though, lighten up," he wrote.

Other Newsletter Writers See Opportunity in the Selloff

Shad Marquitz of Excelsior Prosperity called Energy Fuels "a very unique hybrid company" in an October 12 post, noting it mines, produces, and processes both uranium and rare earths. "There really isn't another company positioned quite like Energy Fuels; in the rare earths, critical minerals, and uranium production and processing space," wrote Marquitz, who lists the stock among his key portfolio positions.

Marquitz said the stock's slide since May, to a weekly close of US$9.96, is at odds with the company's improving fundamentals, and that the market "has been totally asleep" to the VAC and ASM acquisitions. The selloff "is a true market disconnect; one that can be exploited by savvy investors that are paying attention," he wrote.

Chen Lin, who writes What Is Chen Buying? What Is Chen Selling?, did just that. "UUUU dropped below 10! I used the opportunity to add more here," Lin wrote on Oct. 12. "If you want to play safe, you can sell some upside calls as we did before." He added that the company is "aiming at 1 billion in cash flow by 2030."

Gary Tanashian of Notes from the Rabbit Hole was more cautious in an October 15 post. He called Energy Fuels a "Uranium/REE combo" that produces uranium and vanadium and processes rare earths at operations in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona.

"I like the 'combo' aspect and the fact that UUUU is taking growth initiatives," Tanashian wrote. He noted the stock was trading at US$9.27, down about 67% from its 2026 high of US$27.90, adding, "But at this time I am just watching and waiting."

Uranium Contract Prices Hit Records as Power Demand Climbs

Long-term uranium contract prices reached a record US$96 a pound in August, topping the previous cycle high from nearly two decades ago, according to Sprott Asset Management's Jacob White, the Investing News Network reported. Spot uranium ended the third quarter at US$89.50, up 4.17%.

AI is a big driver. The International Energy Agency projected that data center power use will more than double to about 945 terawatt-hours by 2030. Tech companies want steady, carbon-free supply: Alphabet Inc. Class A's (GOOGL:NASDAQ) Google signed a 20-year power deal with Constellation Energy Corp. (CEG:NASDAQ) tied to a US$4.3 billion upgrade of 11 nuclear units.

The World Nuclear Association expects reactor demand for uranium to rise 28% by 2030 and more than double by 2040, warning that "shortfalls could occur after 2030." New uranium projects typically take 15 to 20 years to develop, according to the 2026 Red Book.

Policy adds pressure. A U.S. ban on Russian uranium, which supplied about 26% of U.S. needs in 2025, takes full effect Jan. 1, 2028, leaving domestic producers such as Energy Fuels well positioned.

Ownership and Share Structure¹

About 1.29% of the company is owned by insiders and management, and about 75.67% by institutions. The rest is retail.

Its market cap is US$2.98 billion with 264.73 million shares outstanding. It trades in a 52-week range of US$7.81 and US$27.90.

Common Questions from Investors

What is the FORTRESS America program, and how does it relate to rare earths?

The September 30, 2026, memorandum created FORTRESS America as a Department of War program built around five pillars, including supply-chain and defense-industrial base resilience. It does not name specific materials, companies, or funding, but it puts a spotlight on domestic sources of critical materials such as rare earths.

Why did Energy Fuels amend its VAC acquisition?

The Oct. 13 amendment addresses a dispute between VAC's U.S. affiliate and a customer under a supply agreement for its Sumter, South Carolina, plant. If the dispute settles for less than Energy Fuels assumed, the purchase price will be adjusted to compensate; if the outcome is better, the gain accrues to VAC.

How does Energy Fuels compare to peers like MP Materials? 

Energy Fuels is building an integrated chain, from oxide separation at White Mesa to alloy production in South Korea and, once the VAC deal closes, magnet manufacturing. MP Materials is developing a Texas magnet campus with about 10,000 tonnes of annual capacity, set for commissioning in 2028.

What recent milestones has Energy Fuels achieved in rare earths? 

The company began construction on a US$104 million heavy rare earth expansion at White Mesa on July 29, completed the ASM acquisition on Aug. 28, and reported qualification of its terbium oxide by a Japanese magnet maker on Aug. 19.

What does Chris Temple think of Energy Fuels? 

Temple rates the stock a Hold, calling it a solid long-term company but warning that share prices may weaken further. He advised subscribers holding 3% to 4% or more of their portfolio in the stock to lighten up.

What is driving demand for uranium? 

Rising electricity demand from AI data centers, tech companies' power deals with nuclear operators, and a U.S. ban on Russian uranium that takes full effect in 2028. The World Nuclear Association expects reactor demand to rise 28% by 2030.

What are the next catalysts for Energy Fuels?

Key items include the Donald Project's final investment decision, closing of the VAC acquisition in early 2027, possible commissioning of the expanded Korean Metals Plant by the end of 2026, and terbium and dysprosium commissioning at White Mesa in Q4 2027.