Shares of Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) climbed sharply Thursday after the U.S. Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) revealed a conditional loan commitment worth $725 million to back the build-out of a new rare earth separation and metallization plant in the United States.
The financing is designed to help Energy Fuels broaden its operations beyond its established uranium business and to scale up midstream processing capabilities for rare earths. Company assets already include a uranium processing operation and a rare earth oxide separation unit at the White Mesa Mill in Utah. The proposed facility would add separation and metallization capacity that sits between raw extraction and final permanent magnet production, with the stated goal of supporting permanent magnet manufacturers across the U.S. industrial base.
OSC framed the commitment as part of its broader mission to support domestic processing of critical minerals and rare earths. David A. Lorch, Director of the Office of Strategic Capital, said the expansion represents a solution to a domestic bottleneck that the agency sees as needing rapid attention.
The commitment is conditional. Energy Fuels must complete a range of requirements - including financial, legal, technical and other due diligence - before the loan can reach financial close. The announcement makes clear the capital is meant to be combined with additional private funding to complete the project.
OSC’s activity this fiscal year also provides context for the single-transaction announcement: in fiscal 2026 the Office of Strategic Capital has committed in excess of $5 billion in debt financing and has helped mobilize more than $11 billion in total capital to bolster the American industrial base.
Implications and scope
The commitment signals federal support for developing an onshore rare earth processing chain that extends beyond oxide separation to include metallization, an intermediate step before manufacturing permanent magnets. If completed, the new plant would expand Energy Fuels’ scope of operations and aim to provide supply to U.S. manufacturers that use rare earth-based permanent magnets in defense and industrial applications.
What remains uncertain
The loan is not finalized. Energy Fuels must satisfy a series of due diligence and closing conditions before funds are disbursed. The announcement notes the need for additional private capital to bring the project to fruition.
Company note
Energy Fuels currently operates processing facilities at White Mesa Mill in Utah. The new construction would aim to bridge a processing gap between upstream raw material extraction and downstream permanent magnet production.