NYSE American- and TSX-listed Energy Fuels has cleared a major hurdle in its acquisition of Base Resources, as the latter’s shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the buyout during a special meeting held in Perth, Australia, on Thursday.

At the meeting, 99.88% of the votes cast by Base shareholders were in favour of the transaction.

With all required regulatory approvals already in place, the transaction is set to close early next month.

The last day of trading for Base on the ASX will be September 13.

Energy Fuels in April made a move for Base, offering shareholders 0.026 a share plus a dividend of A$0.065 for each share held, for a total consideration of about A$0.302 a share.

The transaction will establish a global leader in the critical minerals sector with a focus on rare earth elements (REE), uranium and heavy mineral sands production.

The deal will also create a platform for the funding and development of Base’s Toliara project in Madagascar, with future monazite production from the project to be processed at Energy Fuels’ operating White Mesa mill in Utah, US.

“We believe that the combined company will clearly emerge as a world-leader in producing several of the critical minerals and materials needed for the clean energy transition,” remarked Energy Fuels president and CEO Mark Chalmers on Thursday.

He highlighted the potential of the Toliara, Bahia, in Brazil, and Donald,  in Australia, projects, which are expected to become large-scale, world-class, and low-cost heavy mineral sand operations producing titanium, zirconium, and rare earth minerals in the coming years.

“Energy Fuels is uniquely placed in the world to unlock the value of the rare earth minerals (monazite and xenotime) at our White Mesa Mill, and we have proven our ability to recover and produce advanced separated rare earth materials in the US,” said Chalmers.

He further expressed delight over the recent improvement in REE prices, with the price of NdPR increasing to $60.21/kg.

Meanwhile, having successfully commissioned an REE separation circuit at its White Mesa mill during the second and third quarters, Energy Fuels’ focus for the remainder of the year will shift to uranium production.

During 2024, the company expects to produce 150 000 lb to 500 000 lb of uranium oxide from stockpiled alternate feed materials and conventional ore. In addition, ore production and underground development at its Pinyon Plain and La Sal mines continues on schedule and on budget.