TSX-listed Energy Fuels and ASX-listed Astron have received an endorsement for their A$520-million Donald rare earth and mineral sands project in Victoria, with Australia’s export credit agency, Export Finance Australia (EFA), issuing a nonbinding letter of support for up to A$80-million in senior debt financing.

The conditional support from EFA marks a milestone in the project’s financing process as the joint venture (JV) moves closer to a final investment decision (FID) on one of Australia’s most advanced rare earth and mineral sands developments.

Located in Victoria’s Murray basin, the Donald project is targeting production of light and heavy rare earth elements (REEs) and zircon-rich heavy mineral concentrates, with first production planned as early as the second half of 2027.

Once operational, all the project’s rare earth concentrate will be supplied under a life-of-mine offtake agreement to Energy Fuels’ White Mesa mill in Utah, where the material will be processed into high-purity REE oxides.

“The conditional and nonbinding letter of support from EFA is a strong vote of confidence for the Donald project and its role in supporting global critical minerals supply chains. This is a key additional step in our financing pathway and reflects our on-going progress toward delivering one of Australia’s most important rare earth projects, including valuable neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), and exceptional concentrations of dysprosium, terbium and other ‘heavy’ rare earth oxides, which upon project development will be processed and separated into high-purity products at our White Mesa Mill in Utah," commented Energy Fuels CEO Mark Chalmers.

The Donald project’s first phase is expected to produce an average of 7 200 t/y of rare earth concentrate, containing up to 1 000 t of NdPr oxides, 92 t of dysprosium oxide and 16 t of terbium oxide. According to the partners, this output would meet roughly one-third of US demand for dysprosium and a quarter of its terbium demand.

Energy Fuels’ White Mesa Mill, the only facility of its kind in North America, has existing capacity to process all Phase 1 production and produce separated NdPr oxide, with commissioning of dysprosium and terbium separation circuits expected by late 2026.

The EFA letter of support complements the companies’ financing strategy, which targets a 50:50 debt-to-equity ratio. In addition to the EFA’s potential A$80-million contribution, the JV is engaging with other export credit agencies and commercial lenders to complete a project financing syndicate.

Energy Fuels plans to invest up to A$183-million in equity, split between A$45-million pre-FID and A$138-million post-FID, while additional post-FID contributions of A$122-million will be shared pro-rata between the partners.

Astron is being advised by ICA Partners on debt funding arrangements.