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US uranium producer Energy Fuels produced 99.9% dysprosium oxide (Dy2O3) at its White Mesa facility in Utah in December while shortages of heavy rare earth materials outside China continue to hamper efforts to develop a diversified rare earth permanent magnet industry.
“The dysprosium oxide produced by Energy Fuels passed all initial purity and quality assurance and control benchmarks for a large South Korean automotive manufacturer for neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) rare earth magnet production,” chief executive officer Mark Chalmers said in a statement on December 19.
The company announced on September 9 that light rare earth neodymium-praseodymium oxide produced at White Mesa had qualified for NdFeB production.
Dysprosium and terbium are added in trace amounts to NdFeB magnets to maintain performance at high temperatures.
“We believe Energy Fuels is the first US company to have both its light and heavy rare earth elements qualified for use in permanent magnet applications, marking a major milestone in rebuilding the US rare earth supply chain,” Chalmers said.
All rare earth materials produced by Energy Fuels are extracted from monazite, a relatively plentiful and rich source of rare earths that most of the world’s producers cannot access because of its high uranium and thorium content.
Energy Fuels entered the rare earth industry five years ago following a collaboration with Canadian rare earth producer and magnet maker Neo Performance Materials.
“This is a really poignant moment; Energy Fuels is a late entrant to the race and they are already producing materials while others have been talking for a long time and are still not producing anything,” Christopher Ecclestone, principal at mining consultancy Halgarten, told Fastmarkets.
“The qualification of Energy Fuels’ initial pilot production of Dy2O3 is an important step in validating their process. But moving from a few kilograms to thousands of kilograms output while meeting both quality and economic goals is the next challenge,” John Ormerod, principal at magnetics consultancy JOC, told Fastmarkets.
Magnet projects with a combined total of more than 30,000 tonnes per year have been announced in the US. Even if only a fraction of these advance significantly in the next few years, it still raises significant questions about where the dysprosium and terbium needed for high-performance NdFeB magnets will be sourced, market observers have warned.
Following the introduction of export controls on April 4, 2025, China has severely restricted supply of all products containing dysprosium, terbium, gadolinium, samarium, lutetium, yttrium and scandium, including high-temperature NdFeB magnets and samarium cobalt magnets. Magnet shortages have hit industries ranging from automotive and healthcare to defense and semiconductor manufacturing.
Shortages of export-controlled rare earth oxides, chemicals and metal are also affecting electronics, pharma and power generation along with other sectors.
Energy Fuels plans to produce kilogram-scale samples of terbium oxide for qualification in early 2026, followed by pilot production of high-purity gadolinium oxide and samarium oxide.
Interested in finding out more about the rare earths market? Fastmarkets offers price data and market analysis on key rare earths. Speak to one of our experts to find out more.