Name of the Project
Vara Mada (formerly Toliara) rare earth and heavy mineral sands (HMS) project.

Location
Madagascar.

Project Owner/s
Global critical mineral company Energy Fuels Inc.

Project Description
Vara Mada is a large-scale mineral sands project producing heavy mineral sands products, including ilmenite, zircon and rutile, with monazite recovered as a by-product for downstream rare earth processing. The scale of Vara Mada is underpinned by the project’s Ranobe deposit, which contains significant mineral reserves and mineral resources.

The project’s mineral reserves are estimated at point of feed to the dry mining unit (DMU) at 904-million tonnes of proven and probable mineral reserves with an average heavy mineral grade of 6.1%. The proven and probable heavy mineral assemblage includes 73% ilmenite, 1% rutile, 1% leucoxene, 5.9% zircon and 1.9% monazite, supporting an initially modelled mine life of 38 years.  

In January 2026, an updated feasibility study confirmed the project’s exceptional economics and its world-class quantities of high-quality rare earths, titanium and zircon.

Expected production is estimated at 959 000 t of ilmenite (sulphate, slag and chloride), 66 000 t of zircon, 8 000 t of rutile and 24 000 t of monazite. The produced monazite is planned to be processed at Energy Fuels’ White Mesa mill, in the US, into separated rare-earth oxides.

The mill’s current Phase 1 capability can process up to 10 000 t/y monazite concentrate into up to 1 000 t/y of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide. Energy Fuels plans to expand this capability to also produce up to 48 t/y of dysprosium (Dy) and 14 t/y of terbium (Tb) oxides. Energy Fuels is also permitting its Phase 2 expansion at the mill.

Upon completion, the expansion is expected to increase the mill’s processing capability to up to 60 000 t/y of monazite concentrate into an estimated 6 000 t/y of NdPr, 275 t/y of Dy, 80 t/y of Tb and potentially other rare earth element oxides.

Phase 2 is designed to be sufficient to accommodate all the monazite produced from Vara Mada at full capacity, along with the monazite concentrate produced from all planned phases of Energy Fuels’ Donald project joint venture, in Australia; its Bahia project, in Brazil; and third-party suppliers.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The updated feasibility study has highlighted an after-tax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $1.8-billion and an internal rate of return of 24.9%.

Capital Expenditure
Pre-final investment decision (FID) capital costs are estimated at $121-million. After the FID, Stage 1 capital expenditure (capex) to establish a 13-million-tonne-a-year mineral processing operation is expected to total $769-million. Stage 2 capex adds $142-million to nearly double the operation’s capacity to a 25-million tonnes a year.

Planned Start/End Date
Phase 1 could be operational as soon as the fourth quarter of 2026. The Phase 2 expansion could be commissioned as early as the fourth quarter of 2028.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Not disclosed.

Contact Details for Project Information
Energy Fuels Inc, tel +1 303 974 2140 or email info@energyfuels.com.