Australian government funder Export Finance Australia (EFA) has agreed to provide Australian rare earths developer Astron and US developer Energy Fuels up to A$80mn ($52mn) to support the Donald rare earths and mineral sand project in Victoria, Australia.
The EFA sent the companies a non-binding letter of support, conditioned on project approvals and due diligence, Astron and Energy Fuels said on 21 October. The agency will support the Donald project through debt financing, they added.
Astron and Energy Fuels need to raise A$520mn to build the Donald project. The development will initially produce 1,000 t/yr of neodymium-praseodymium oxide, 92 t/yr of dysprosium oxide, and 16 t/yr of terbium oxide in its first phase. US producer Energy fuels, which owns 49pc of the project, will buy all of the project's rare earth output at market prices when production begins.
Regulators in Australia's Victoria state approved the Donald project in June 2025.
The EFA's support for the Donald project came on the same day that Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and US president Donald Trump agreed to co-invest $1bn into critical mineral projects over the next six months.
The Australian government also gave $200mn to US producer Alcoa and $100mn to Australian developer Arafura Rare Earths to support Australian gallium and rare earth projects.
