Energy Fuels Inc. (EFR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon. My name is Anas, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Energy Fuels Q4 and Year-End 2020 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Thank you. Mr. Chalmers, you may begin your conference.

Thank you, Anas. Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining the Q4 2020 conference call and webcast today. We're very excited to talk about our achievements in 2020 as well as the significant achievements we've made thus far in 2021. For those of you that cannot join the call today, there will be replays of this presentation. It will be available on our website for 2 weeks starting either later today or tomorrow. We continue to make phenomenal progress on many fronts, and we believe Energy Fuels has emerged as the clear leader of U.S. critical mineral production. I'm sure many of you have been following our story over the course of a number of years and you know that our core business is uranium, and we remain the #1 uranium producer in the United States in 2020. We have more uranium production capacity, production facilities, resources and experience than any other U.S. uranium producer. However, in 2020, we announced our entry into the rare earth space, which is a significant complement to our core uranium business. And we've made incredible progress in just a single year. Actually, it hasn't even been a full year. It's been just a little over 11 months. Next week, we plan to start feeding about 300 tons of monazite sands into the White Mesa Mill and produce a mixed rare earth carbonate. Assuming we're successful, no other U.S. company will be producing a rare earth product this far down the rare earth supply chain, and we're very, very proud of that. And hopefully, our shareholders are as well. We will continue to build on our relationship with groups like Chemours, Neo and other leaders in the rare earth space. Energy Fuels is initially working with each group to build full integration, both in the U.S. and Europe of the rare earth supply chain, and we think we've done that very, very strategically and effectively. However, in the coming years, we plan to develop full integration in the U.S. at the White Mesa Mill in Utah, providing low cost, both CapEx and OpEx, which we believe will be very attractive for responsibly sourced rare earth production to U.S. users, including those in other parts of the world, including Europe. In addition, uranium and vanadium prices continue to inch up, increasing the value of our significant U.S.-produced inventories. And I'd like to emphasize, U.S.-produced at our facilities. And finally, we believe people are finally recognizing the value and the importance of our industry-leading recycling programs, which further adds to our environmental and corporate responsibility story. Before I begin, I just want to remind everyone that you are controlling the slides through the presentation today from your device. And I'll try to remember to tell you when to advance to the next slide. At the end of the presentation, we'll open it up for questions on the presentation. And both Dave Frydenlund, our CFO and General Counsel; and Curtis Moore, our VP of Marketing and Corporate Development, will join me with the answers. So let's just jump in. And I'd like to start off by saying next slide, assuming my slides will advance. Okay. I may be making some forward-looking statements. So those are included at the back of the presentation. Now I just want to cover the business case and the key highlights of Energy Fuels' core business strategy. As I mentioned before, first and foremost, our core business is uranium. And I talked about that we have more assets and resources to respond quicker, faster to provide carbon-free energy for nuclear power. The rare earth element that we entered just a little over a year or close to a year ago, we announced in March that we had launched a fully integrated rare earth supply chain for both U.S. and Europe supply in 2021 with Neo. And we're very excited about that, and the market responded to that very well. Vanadium, we were the largest producer of vanadium in 2019. We still have a vanadium circuit at the White Mesa Mill. And vanadium is used for high-strength alloys and is getting increasing interest in grid-scale batteries, particularly with renewable battery systems. And the recycling, which I mentioned, which we're very proud of, of the world-class, industry-leading recycling of both uranium and vanadium that we've done for a number of decades. And then lastly, we're always proud of our financial strength and the fact that we have 0 debt. We have a very strong cash, securities and inventory position, valued currently of around $80 million with a significant portion of that being uranium and vanadium. We're proud of what we do. We're proud of what we produce, particularly with the numerous clean energy and advanced technologies that can be advanced with the elements that we produce. And the uranium, certainly for clean baseload energy, which provides about 55% of U.S. electricity. The rare earths which is emerging extremely quickly around the world and the interest on EVs and wind power and the advanced technologies that rare earths supply for advanced technologies. They're talking about multiple-fold increases in demand over the coming years. And we think we're in an excellent position in that area. Vanadium used for steel and alloys. And we have a long history of producing vanadium. There's increasing interest. It's also a critical material. And the price of vanadium is increasing. So that's also a very exciting space on its own. And then the recycling, which we responsibly do, that Earth only has a finite amount of resources, and we can do that and reduce carbon emissions. And then lastly, we're very excited about the release of our sustainability report, which demonstrates the significant commitment to health, safety, environment, environmental responsibility and the great things that we have done. And we are very excited about the positive contributions that we make to the environment and also with the ability to do the recycling and potentially eventually cleaning up some of the Cold War legacies of uranium mining that were on the Navajo Nation, perhaps elsewhere. So we're very excited about our sustainability story. 2020 highlights. As I mentioned earlier, we remain the #1 U.S. miner and producer of uranium. We successfully entered the rare earth business. We created this U.S./Europe rare earth supply chain that I mentioned with Neo just a month ago or so. We expect to be producing rare earth products in the next week and at a stage more advanced than other companies. We have been a leader in the industry charge on government initiatives on uranium with the appropriations of the U.S. uranium reserve and the extension of the Russian Suspension Agreement. We're maintaining our vanadium option with nearly 1.7 million pounds of finished vanadium in inventory at the White Mesa Mill with the ability to respond quickly with additional vanadium production, recycling it out of our tailings facility. And the price of vanadium has increased by approximately 60% in 2021 alone. And I mentioned the publishing of our sustainability report, which I would recommend to all of our shareholders and all those interested in Energy Fuels to read that report because it shows the immense positive impact that we can make with what we do as a business, both in recycling and with the products that we make these critical materials. So we believe, again, as I said earlier, that we have emerged as a key source of critical minerals in the United States. Also, financial highlights. At the end of the year 2020, we had about $50 million in cash, marketable securities or inventory. That included around $22 million of cash and marketable securities and about $27 million in uranium and vanadium inventory. Total working capital of about $40 million, and we had an operating loss of around $25 million. Since that, oh, excuse me, I've been forgetting to say next slide. So anyways, we're on Slide #6. So in addition, since the end of the year, we were able to raise $30 million in cash on our ATM at a price of about $5.53 per share. And that leaves us with cash and marketable securities at this time of around $80 million. And then if you look at additional rises in commodity prices, our current inventories are valued at around $35 million. That's an increase of about $7 million greater than what's on the balance sheet. So if you add all that up, the company is well positioned with well north of $80 million of cash, marketable securities or inventory. And as I said earlier also, the debt is paid off. So we have the financial strength to execute our business plan. Next slide. So we should be on Slide #7 or you should be on Slide #7. I apologize for forgetting to say next slide. So again, just highlighting the financial strength and flexibility, both the cash, securities and inventory, nearly 700,000 pounds of uranium inventory and nearly 1.7 million pounds of vanadium. Our 2021 guidance is between 30,000 to 60,000 pounds of uranium production. And we hope to have somewhere in the order of 720,000 and 750,000 pounds of uranium inventory at year-end. And we also plan to produce around 2,000 to 3,000 tons of mixed rare earth carbonate containing between 1,000 and 1,600 tons of REO. If you look over to the right in the other table, you can see where the value of our uranium on the books versus the current prices has gone up about 28%. And the vanadium has gone up from $5.37 to $8.33, nearly 55% or greater. And our current market cap with 140 million shares on issue is at the share price as of a couple of days ago was around $900 million. And as I said, 0 debt. Next slide. So again, this slide, many of you have seen before, Slide #8. It is our main production facilities because we do have 3 production facilities. The 2 ISR facilities are on standby, Nichols Ranch in Wyoming, Alta Mesa in Texas on standby. The White Mesa Mill in Utah, which is really our flagship. It's the only conventional uranium, vanadium mill in the United States remaining. It is also where we plan to produce the rare earths. And it has a long history of production of uranium and vanadium and soon to be rare earths. And then in the lower right-hand corner is the Pinyon Plain mine in Arizona, which is also on standby. That is a significant high-grade momentum mine that we can restart. And it's probably the lowest cost going forward production cost in the United States. Next slide. Now this is a slide that really says it all when it comes to uranium production in the United States. It shows over the course of approximately 15 years the uranium production and the companies that had produced the uranium. And if you look at in the upper in there, where it's sort of the gray or the light blue, at 25 million, that is the production from Cameco's U.S. assets over that period of time. The blue is the Energy Fuels assets which is 16.2 million. If you include uranium production of the Cameco and the Energy Fuels' assets, it totals about 85% of the total uranium production over 15 years from just 2 companies. If you add Ur-Energy, which didn't produce 15 years ago, but definitely was a fairly significant producer in the middle of that time period, 2.7 million, and Uranium One in the red. Between 4 companies, it was like 97% of the uranium production in the United States came from 4 companies. So we believe we're in a very excellent position with a proven history to be producing when the prices justify and/or when the uranium reserve gets fully funded. U.S. government support, now next slide, this is Slide #10, U.S. government support for uranium miners. The Biden administration supports nuclear energy and critical minerals. The uranium reserve has been appropriated in a bipartisan way in Congress for $75 million for 2021. We expect the U.S. Department of Energy to manage that process. And we expect that the companies that should be able to benefit from that are those with proven assets and proven history of production. So that graph I showed just before, very important, we believe, on who has proven their ability to produce uranium. Also, in October of this last year, 2020, the Russian Suspension Agreement was extended for another 20 years. That was important to reduce imports of Russian uranium into the United States, putting cap on certain uranium products that could be delivered into the United States and also reduce circumvention. So anyways, what I always tell people is, when you look at a turning market, whether it be rare earths, uranium or vanadium, normally, they pivot on a number of things and small things. And getting the uranium reserve appropriated and the Russian Suspension Agreement extended are 2 of those things that are moving in the right direction. Okay. I'll talk a bit more about next slide, this is Slide #11, launching the rare earth supply chain that we announced with Neo and our production of rare earth carbonates in 2021. Our short-term business plan for this year, and it started with the purchase of monazite ore, which contains uranium that we can recover from The Chemours Company that is mined in Georgia and Florida. And we're also out currently sourcing the possible purchases of additional monazite to build up the supply of monazite to the White Mesa Mill. And we will soon, as I said, next week, start producing a mixed rare earth carbonate at the White Mesa Mill, this initial 300 tons. The initial material that we have, the minimal agreement for 3 years of 2,500 tons minimum monazite material per year equates to about 10% of U.S. requirements currently. So we hope to build that up to something in the neighborhood of 50% or greater in time. And so we have big plans and we're very excited about the role White Mesa will have in this area, particularly in processing of rare earths. So we then will on-sell the mixed rare earth carbonate to an existing separation facility at Neo in Estonia, the Silmet facility. And so really, that short-term business plan is well underway for 2021. The long-term business plan, looking to 2023, '24, it really is focused on larger scale and full integration in the United States and getting there quicker, faster at lower cost than any of our peers. We believe that our plans can be world competitive given enough feed as we move towards full integration. Next slide. So again, Slide #12, this just shows graphically what I just said. And we've already achieved those 3 milestones for 2021. We look to expand those milestones and increase them during the course of the year. So watch this space, it's going to be very exciting for everyone. And then, as I said earlier, moving to 2023, '24, we're looking for full integration of the rare earth supply chain in the United States of America and into Europe with our relationship with Neo. Next slide, Slide #13, let's talk about vanadium. Certainly, vanadium was an area that had significant interest in that 2018/'19 period when the price of vanadium went up to about $30 a pound. I mentioned it's mainly used for high-strength alloys, but it is getting increasing attention for grid-scale battery technologies for mainly renewables. It is a critical mineral, as I mentioned, in the U.S. and Canada. And we were the largest producer of vanadium in 2019. We produce a very high-purity vanadium. We still have substantial inventories valued currently around $14 million at $8.33 current prices. And we also have the ability to produce another 1.5 million to 3 million pounds of vanadium from our tailings quite quickly if the market supports going back into production. And as I said, the price of vanadium has gone up substantially this year alone. There's also a vanadium Section 232 that could give us some substantial relief potentially in the vanadium space as well. Next slide, so Slide #14, the uranium recycling, the vanadium recycling that would otherwise be lost to disposal. Energy Fuels being the only operable mill that can do this kind of work. And we have a long history of doing that. That over the course of a couple decades, we've recovered somewhere in the order or the assets have recovered somewhere in the order of about 6 million pounds of uranium. To put that into context, that would produce the same amount of electricity of a coal train going from L.A. to New York and almost all the way back to L.A. So that is a substantial recycling effort, which has reduced a substantial amount of carbon emissions because of what we could do and how we could do it at the White Mesa Mill. In addition, the vanadium we recover from our tailings facilities would be enough to build about 4.5 Golden Gate Bridges. So no other company can tout the recycling that we do on uranium and vanadium. And again, we're very proud of that. Next slide. So this is the last slide and really just sums up that really, we're a leading U.S. producer of critical minerals. We have unmatched ability to scale up uranium production from proven assets that are fully paid for. We have more capacity, more experience. We're moving at lightning speed with our mixed rare earth carbonate production. We're at an advanced stage beyond any other company when it comes to processing in the United States. And as I said also earlier, this initial material from The Chemours Company that we're securing is around 10% of U.S. rare earth demand. The uranium reserve is progressing. The U.S. government supports critical minerals. I think that the public and the world supports the need for having adequate access to critical materials. We have this recycling program. We can participate in the cleanup of the Navajo Nation, which is something very dear to my heart that I'd like to participate to clean up those legacy mines that were mined in the '50s and '60s, no relationship to Energy Fuels, but we can help contribute to clean up those mines now. We're well positioned financially. We have 0 debt. And we have the vanadium inventory and production option to go back in a vanadium production potentially fairly quickly if vanadium prices continue to increase. So we're in a really excellent spot. Thank you for your interest in Energy Fuels. And we'll now open it to questions if there are questions from anybody who's listening into the call.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Joseph Reagor with ROTH Capital.

Congrats on all you guys have accomplished in such a short time.

Thank you, Joe.

So first on the uranium side. Can you give us any additional color, and I understand if you can't, on the uranium reserve and the timing you think that we might see that $75 million actually get spent? What the process is like as far as getting your inventories approved to even make a bid for this? And how you see those dynamics working out?

Look, it's still not completely certain on what the timing is and exactly how the mechanics will work when it comes to uranium reserve. We're certainly pushing for that to be laid out. And when you look at our company and Uranium Producers of America are working with the government and particularly the DOE to try to help them come up with workable solutions. So I don't have a lot of information at this time. Curtis, do you want to add anything to that?

Yes. I mean it's, there is the $75 million that's been allocated for this year. The Department of Energy is the agency that's going to be leading the charge on this. We would expect them to issue an RFI, a request for information, that will ask industry stakeholders such as ourselves how they think or how we think that the reserve should be stood up. We are urging them to make sure that they get this program stood up this year and start buying uranium this year. The purpose is to support the established uranium producers like Energy Fuels. And yes, we're excited to see that happen. And we're also going to be arguing that they should be able to buy U.S. origin inventories from producers like us because it would put some capital in our pockets to allow us to ramp up production at some of our sites.

Okay. And then on the rare earth side, are you guys seeing any other opportunities? You have this one source right now. But have you guys talked to a number of other companies? How fast can you scale this? Any numbers you can give us or ballparks on time frame to make this a real sustainable business like long term?

Yes. We're talking to a number of parties on all steps of the supply chain here, including feed to the White Mesa Mill. So Joe, I don't know exactly how it unfolds. But I can tell you, there's very keen interest that there now is another option outside of China in the United States with White Mesa making significant strides very quickly and very purposely. So as I said, it's our goal to go from that, sort of this initial, say, 10% of U.S. demand up to 50%. And I would hope that we could do that in a few years. And a few years, I'm not talking a decade, I'm talking a few years. We still need to be in a position to build out the full integration because that gives us the best economics to do that, Joe. But again, I think you're aware that when you look at the demand for rare earths, the forecasted demand for rare earths, I think there's going to be a real need for both the White Mesa Mill to be contributing in a big way here. And I think there'll be significant support for people who need those end products.

We have a following question from Colin Healey with Haywood.

I'd reiterate what was just said, congratulations on what you guys have done for the stock and for the company over the last year. I guess, first of all, do you think that you'll be putting out any time this year some CapEx estimates surrounding the advancement of the rare earth initiative? When you talk about your long-term business plan and the different value-added products that you could potentially produce, do you think we'll see anything in terms of economic studies?

Yes. Look, Colin, we're planning to start doing some scoping work soon on what it would cost to build out these other steps in the integration process and be able to provide the market with better guidance on what we think our cost structures will be and the products that we'll do. We do plan to focus initially on the NdPr and the like, but we also think that we will move forward in heavies because a lot of the feed streams and the monazite sands have quite substantial quantities of heavies in them as well. As I mentioned, we believe that our capital strike rate is going to be very attractive, very attractive because we have an existing facility. We have 5,500 private acres. We've got a lot of the infrastructure in place, including the laboratories and shops and the tailings facilities and whatnot. So we think it's going to be very attractive. And if you've listened to any of the interviews that Constantine Karayannopoulos has made with Neo, he says this is some of the most cost-effective capital production for rare earths that he's ever seen in his whole career. So yes, we don't have accurate numbers at this point in time, but they will be very attractive. I can say that with confidence.

Okay. And I guess between now and then as far as your agreement with Neo goes, taking about 80% of the total rare earths contained in the supply that you've already secured, do they have the ability to take more or have you found another separation facility or are you in negotiations? So if you do secure more ore, you'd be able to quickly potentially turn that around and ship it rather than keep it in inventory?

Yes. Well, look, this initial agreement with Neo, it's capped, but it depends on what the market is at the time. I mean, Neo has their facility in Estonia. They're looking at sort of maxing out that capacity, which they currently haven't done, but they've also been discussing potentially expanding capacity in Estonia. So look, we're going to keep our options open. As I said, we ultimately want to have a substantial amount of the material that's processed at White Mesa fully integrated for uses in the United States and North America. But again, we just have to take it a step at a time.

Okay. And when do you think we'll see kind of some numbers if you're sending carbonates to Neo? Do you think that you'll be capitalizing those processing costs and sales or do you think you'll be showing the revenue in Q2, Q3 this year?

Look, I haven't really got that far. I don't think we'll capitalize them. But Dave Frydenlund, you can chirp in if you want to. But certainly, look, we hope we can give more flavor this year as the program evolves. We are going to be doing this initial rare earths from Chemours in a couple of campaigns. So we've got this initial campaign and we'll have one later in the year. So Dave Frydenlund, do you want to make any other comments with regard to that?

No. I think you've captured it. Our expectation right now is we'd probably be expensing these initial costs and then determine where it goes from there.

Okay. Sounds like if you're expensing cost, then we'll get to see the revenue against those costs. Okay. Last question for me, is there a price hurdle? You mentioned vanadium prices are doing better. And you've got, I think, 1.7 million pounds in inventory. Is there a price hurdle for vanadium where you'd aggressively try to market it or offload that? What's the strategy with the vanadium inventory?

We don't really have a price hurdle, but when it starts getting up towards $10 a pound, that starts getting interesting to us. I mean, certainly, the increase from $5 up to in the mid-$8s has got our attention already. So we don't really have any real plans on exactly, there's no magic number there. We do think, though, having inventories, particularly when you look at things that are as volatile as vanadium that you really have to have that inventory to capitalize on that volatility in a positive way. So yes, look, we'll just see how it goes, but we're excited that it's moving up in the right direction. And we think it's one of these, another critical material that's starting to get a lot more attention and the importance of the role it can play in this sort of niche-y, boutique-y sector called critical materials.

Sure. Okay. I'll let someone else ask some questions.

Your next question comes from Peter Trapp with Bifrost Capital.

Mark, it's amazing what you've accomplished here in 11 months. I have to say, it's really quite impressive. My question is focused on Slide #12, which is your slide on the rebuilt rare earth supply chains. And the short term has the 3 companies, Chemours, you guys and Neo. The medium term, the way it's presented, and I understand where you're going longer term, present it in such a way that it looks as though Neo is nothing more than a short time fix, a short-term fix to get stuff processed in Estonia while you figure out how to do it all in Utah. And I'm wondering whether Neo views the joint venture the same way as it appears on this chart or whether, in fact, there's a bigger plan for the 3 of you to all work together more closely.

Yes. Well, that's a good comment, Peter. I think, look, we view our relationship with Neo as a long-term partner in the rare earth business. Again, when you start looking to 2023, '24, we're not exactly sure how that is going to eventuate. We still could be shipping material to Silmet in that time period. Actually, the agreement is a 3-year deal. So look, we're going to remain kind of open to how this evolves. But certainly, the relationship with Chemours and Neo, I think, has kind of put us on the map with the credibility and the pedigree of existing producers of these different steps with strong capabilities and track records of doing that successfully. So yes, don't read too much into that lower line because it is subject to evolution and evolving over time. But we do see that Neo has a very important role in the supply chain around the world.

Mark, if I could jump in here, this is Curtis. That lower slide, that lower chart there is really meant to represent what a U.S. supply chain would look like. Yes. I mean, like Mark said, I think we would expect to have a relationship with Neo over the long term. But that flow chart was meant to represent just what a U.S. supply chain would look like, a U.S.-only supply chain.

Yes. I mean, it makes sense because Neo is one of the top producers, separators, producers as opposed to just miners. And I think that they add a huge amount substance-wise and credibility to the joint venture. So that's why I raised the question. So not a criticism, just an observation.

Yes. That's fair enough, Peter. And as I said, we believe that the relationship has been good for lots of reasons. And people tend to criticize newcomers into the space that you don't have the expertise or knowledge or the ability to get there anyway in a quick and effective way. And I think we're proving people wrong and partly because we have teamed with the right types of people to get us there without making a bunch of mistakes.

Okay. My second question is, are you at liberty at this stage to discuss more fully if there are other sources of monazite sands to which you might have access as dealing uniquely with Chemours puts them in a kind of monopolistic situation. And I'm wondering if there are further sands or substances that you can use that will keep Chemours not in line, but keep them kind of interested at a competitive price.

Yes. Well, look, as I said, our initial agreement is 2,500 tons a year for 3 years. Chemours has indicated that they may be able to flex that up 2, 2.5-fold. But there are other people that are showing up at the door with monazite here in the United States, either currently or something that could be developed in the future. We're also getting inbounds from overseas of people that have monazite. So yes, look, again, Peter, we don't know exactly how it unfolds, but we're very buoyed with the inbounds that we've received not just on the front end, but various other steps in the process, including some end users. I've mentioned on a few of my calls where we have been contacted by significant automobile manufacturer. And so all these things from the beginning to the very end is getting a lot of notice. But exactly how it unfolds, we don't know. But we do know the Chinese were able to successfully move to monazite integration fairly quickly when they announced it a few years ago and have done well with it. And it's just our objective to do something similar.

Okay. And again, congratulations on what you've accomplished in a very short period of time. Quite impressive.

Your next question comes from Todd Robbins with Five Mile.

Can you help us understand what the economics will look like as you start to ship the 1,000 to 1,600 tons of rare earths to Neo? I know you're early on in the negotiations with them, but how should we be thinking about the economics of those sales?

Yes. Well, yes, look, I understand where it's not maybe completely transparent. And we are in the early days. We're dealing with fairly small quantities. But look, we believe that when you look at it at the project level down at the mill level that we can be effectively cash breakeven at the mill level, plus or minus. But with the current uptick in rare earth prices, we think we might even well be able to make a few million dollars a year on these initial quantities. Now remember, once we produce a carbonate, we ship it to Estonia, which is a cost and then Neo basically buys it on a formula. And so they're able to secure this material on a formula. So it's not completely optimized by any stretch of the imagination. But what we do believe is that the economics, particularly when you add the integration component, are very compelling and very competitive. At current prices, extremely compelling, but even at lower prices. So we think that the monazite has an advantage, a cost advantage in the value contained rare earths in the monazite and not just the lights but the heavies. And we believe it will be world competitive as we scale it up and as we secure the ability to do some of the integration at White Mesa. So there isn't really, over time, you really have to have a level of integration to get to the profitability that we want to get to. But it's early days. Let us take a step at a time, but we're very excited about the compelling economics we believe that our approach will have in the space.

Again, in the case of, Mark, in the case of further integration, as you start to move forward to a finished rare earth element, is this a process that you feel comfortable that you can achieve or is this something that you hope to be able to achieve?

We think we can achieve it. We think we can achieve it. We're going into this with the view that we are going to move forward with integration at White Mesa. And in a fairly quite aggressive way as I said, we hope to be scoping, we hope to be looking at building up the feed supplies to justify that integration. We believe that the people that we've already teamed with, people like Neo and Constantine and his team, Brock O'Kelley, Jack Lifton. We look at the people that we're reaching out to for scoping studies that have decades and decades of history dealing with monazite, dealing with the full integration are exactly the kind of people that we need to make sure that each step we take is a step forward, not a step backwards. Now that doesn't mean that you can't sometimes take a step backwards. That's just life. But we're going to be very focused on having the right people in the right place to do the absolutely highest standard in each step of the way to come up with the best economic outcome here.

When do you see yourself making that step in terms of capital commitment?

Again, it's too early to say. But I'm, when you look at our little time line there that says 2023, '24, we kind of still believe that those are reasonable time lines to start having that integration potentially on the ground. So we think again, we can move quicker, faster because of the existing facility, the existing permits that are in place, the fact that we're in and the State of Utah is very supportive for this type of processing and mining in general. So I don't know if Dave Frydenlund, if you have any other comments that you'd like to add to that, feel free to chime in.

Yes, Mark, I don't think I have much to add. The White Mesa Mill has a lot of the similar equipment that we'd need to fully integrate for rare earths designed for uranium or vanadium. We can work off of that. We will evaluate any permitting, additional permitting that may be required, but we think it's all achievable within that time frame.

[Operator Instructions] Looks like we have a following question from Ron Nash with Nash Partners.

My question is pertaining to the number of shares in the company. I know you did some at-the-market sales primarily last year. Are you still at a point in time where you're still considering at-the-market sales to raise capital with all the capital that you seem to have?

Look, we always want to maintain our ability to raise capital as required. When you're looking at, yes, our cash position is very strong right now, particularly with the inventories and the upgrades that we're seeing on the value of our inventories. If we start looking at things like full integration, that's going to cost additional funds above and beyond probably what we have in treasury right now. And we'll look at the ways to do that. If we decide that we're going for full integration, and there's different ways to finance that type of -- and look, we don't have exact numbers, but kind of we kick around numbers between $100 million and maybe up to $250 million for full integration. So we always want to keep our options open. We did refresh our shelf for $300 million recently. So we're just going to see how it unfolds. But I think it's important that people understand that because we're starting with a facility that's fully paid for, it's a crack and leach facility that if you looked at, Lynas is going to spend to build a new facility in Australia for around $300 million, $400 million just for the crack and leach facility, you look at the, in some cases, maybe over $1 billion spent in other projects in the world. If you look at what we're talking about, at least in orders of $100 million to $250 million, you can see that it could be a very attractive strike rate from a capital perspective. So look, we're going to leave our options open to do what we need to do. But our focus is going to be to achieve a multibillion-dollar company. If you look at Lynas at $4 billion, you look at Mountain Pass at $7 billion or $8 billion, our focus is to become a multibillion-dollar company. And if that takes and requires us to raise $100 million or $200 million to do that, we think that's a good use of funds to the benefit of the shareholders.

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. You may proceed.

Okay. Well, look, in closing, first, I apologize for not advancing the slides or telling you in advance at the beginning of the presentation. But I think as you can tell, we're very excited about what we're doing and how we're doing it. And we really, our plans are big. We will be aggressive but not reckless. I think that we've surprised the market, particularly the rare earths market on how quickly we've advanced and with the people that have teamed with us. One of my biggest sales agent is Constantine, echoing how excited he is with the relationship with Energy Fuels and Neo. And I just want to reiterate that we really appreciate that relationship and what could hold in the future there. So anyways, again, as I said, in closing, we're thinking big here. Let's see how 2021 progresses, but we think we're off to a great start and we're looking for big things in the next couple of years in fulfilling a material chunk of the rare earth business and integration in North America very quickly. So anyways, thank you very much. And any of you that are on this call or listening to this call, you can always reach out to myself or Curtis Moore at any time. We're always available for basically communications off of these kind of events. So feel free to do that if you'd like to do so. We'd be happy to talk to you. So that's it and thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. Thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines.