Energy Fuels says it is ramping up uranium production in the United States while expanding its rare earth processing capacity, positioning itself as a key domestic supplier of critical minerals.
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Mark Chalmers, president and CEO of Energy Fuels, about production growth in the Four Corners region, long-term supply contracts with U.S. utilities and plans to significantly expand rare earth output at the company’s White Mesa Mill.
Key Takeaways
- The company produced just over one million pounds of uranium last year, with most output coming from conventional mines in the Four Corners region, and plans further production increases in 2026 and 2027.
- About 50 per cent of uranium production is under contract with six U.S. nuclear utilities, with deliveries scheduled to ramp up and peak around 2030 and 2031.
- An in-situ recovery mine in Wyoming remains on standby, providing optionality alongside three active mines and two additional conventional mines slated for rehabilitation.
- The company is processing monazite sands at its White Mesa Mill, where a phase one circuit can produce roughly 1,000 tonnes of NdPr annually.
- Rare earth processing capacity could expand to about 6,000 tonnes of NdPr per year, with feedstock expected to increasingly come from Australia, Madagascar and Brazil.
Read the full transcript below:
ANDREW: Energy Fuels is a very unusual beast. It produces uranium in the United States — in fact, the company says it is the largest U.S. uranium producer. It is also active in other critical minerals. Let’s get more from Mark Chalmers, president and CEO of Energy Fuels. Great to see you, Mark, as ever.
Let’s start off with uranium. You produced just over one million pounds last year. Remind us, where are you producing the uranium?
MARK: Yes, Andrew. Most of our uranium production is coming out of the Four Corners region of the United States. It is conventional mining, and we really started ramping up production in 2025. We are continuing to ramp that up materially in 2026.
We are the largest producer of uranium in the United States and, we believe, the lowest-cost producer as well. We are very proud to lead on that front, while also building out our rare earth business behind our uranium platform, which is catching up very quickly globally.
ANDREW: And of course, the Four Corners — a beautiful part of the world — is where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet at a single point. I was there many years ago.
You are engaged in conventional uranium mining right now. You could potentially move to in-situ recovery, like they do in Kazakhstan.
MARK: We do have an in-situ recovery, or ISR, mine in Wyoming that is currently on standby. Right now, we have three uranium mines in Arizona and Utah in production.
We also have two additional conventional mines that we are planning to rehabilitate in 2026, with production expected in 2027.
ANDREW: And where are you selling your uranium? Who are the customers?
MARK: Nuclear utilities. We have six contracts with U.S. utilities and have been filling those contracts over the last couple of years. Deliveries are set to ramp up between now and 2030 and 2031, which is when most of our contracted volumes are due.
ANDREW: So 2030 and 2031 — that is when deliveries peak?
MARK: Yes. I believe one contract runs through 2032, but generally deliveries ramp up into that 2030 to 2031 time frame. About 50 per cent of our production is under contract. The remainder provides flexibility to hold inventory or potentially sell limited volumes into the spot market.
ANDREW: And tell us what you are doing in rare earths. Are you getting rare earths out of the same deposits?
MARK: Our focus has been on monazite sands. We have acquired properties globally to supply monazite material to our White Mesa Mill for processing.
We currently have what we call a phase one recovery circuit that can produce about 1,000 tonnes of NdPr per year. We have plans to expand that capacity to about 6,000 tonnes per year, which would be comparable in scale to Lynas in Australia and would be globally significant.
Some of our current feedstock comes from Florida and Georgia, and over time we expect increasing supply from places like Australia, Madagascar and Brazil.
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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the Feb. 27, 2026 interview with Mark Chalmers are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.
