HOUSTON, May 7th (Argus) - The Vera Mada rare earth project of US rare earth producer Energy Fuels in Madagascar may face delays after the change of the country's government.
Energy Fuels said on its earnings call on Thursday that the company is seeking to reach a government stability agreement, also known as an investment agreement, but the management changes have slowed down the progress.
CEO Ross Bapu said: "The government change that occurred from September to October last year really slowed down this process. We were very close to signing an investment agreement at that time, but this change slowed down the progress."
The company initially planned to complete the financial investment decision by the end of 2029, including the development and commissioning of the project, with a first-stage capacity of 20,000 tons per year of monazite.
Energy Fuels also faces challenges in advancing the Australian Donald project, which is a joint venture with Astron and produces 14,000 tons of monazite per year. The company needs to finalize the purchase agreements for over four types of heavy mineral concentrates of this project and coordinate these transactions with the financiers and joint venture partners - the company describes this process as "quite complex and time-consuming".
"Unfortunately, it has delayed our ability to make faster financial investment decisions," the company said.
Nevertheless, after producing the first batch of terbium, Energy Fuels has received "extensive interest" from buyers. The company produces approximately 1 kilogram of terbium per week and plans to increase the production of other heavy rare earths such as dysprosium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, etc., and possibly yttrium as well.
Bapu said: "The demand for yttrium in the aerospace industry has exceeded expectations."
Energy Fuels' revenue in the first quarter was $36 million, with a narrower loss of $11 million compared to $26 million in the same period in 2025.
