ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following management’s discussion and analysis of the consolidated financial results and condition of Rare Element Resources Ltd. (collectively, “we,” “us,” “our,” “Rare Element” or the “Company”) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, has been prepared based on information available to us as of November 6, 2024. This discussion should be read in conjunction with the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included herewith and the audited Consolidated Financial Statements of Rare Element for the year ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes thereto filed with our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Our actual results, performance, or achievements may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including, but not limited to, those set forth elsewhere in this report. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”
All currency amounts are expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted.
Overview and Outlook
Our primary focus has been and continues to be the engineering, permitting, licensing, construction, and planned operation of the Demonstration Plant. If successful, the Demonstration Plant will show that our proprietary extraction technology is able to process and separate certain REEs from high grade sample materials extracted from our Bear Lodge REE Project in a more efficient and economical manner than traditional REE processing methods and will serve as a precursor to inform the design and estimated cost for a future full-scale production facility.
During the first nine months of 2024, the Company, along with the other consortium members, continued their work on the Demonstration Plant project, and this work is expected to continue until the completion of the project’s operations, expected in 2025. These efforts culminated in September 2024 with the DoE issuing its final Project Continuation Notice, confirming the Demonstration Plant’s readiness for operations. This notice, along with the NRC’s approval of operations received in October 2024, allows for operations of the Demonstration Plant to formally commence, with operations to process and separate the REE from the stockpiled mineral sample to follow the completion of construction for a term of up to 12 months.
In June 2023, the Company entered into the WEA Funding Agreement for its previously announced award of a $4,400 grant from the WEA to be used toward the advancement of the Demonstration Plant. This award, along with funds contributed by the Company and the DoE, is being used to fund the Demonstration Plant’s construction and operating costs. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had met the conditions allowing for the invoicing of $2,000 of the $4,400 WEA grant total. This $2,000 was subsequently received on January 31, 2024. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had met the conditions allowing for the invoicing of an additional $2,000 with collection expected in November 2024. The remaining $400 of the $4,400 grant total, which is conditioned on the achievement of other, future milestones, will be invoiced to the WEA once those final milestones have been achieved (expected in the first quarter of 2025).
Since inception, the General Atomics-led consortium has seen increases in the Demonstration Plant project costs, including expected final equipment costs, due to, among other factors, inflation. As a result of these cost pressures, General Atomics, on behalf of the consortium, submitted to the DoE an updated Demonstration Plant construction and operations budget of approximately $53,600, which is approximately 21% higher than the original budget of approximately $43,800. In response, the DoE pledged an additional commitment of $2,400 to help fund a portion of this budget increase, with the balance to be funded by the Company, including any amount in excess of the $53,600 revised DoE approved budget.
To fund the Company’s share of these cost increases, the Company announced, during December 2023, its intention to launch the 2024 Rights Offering to raise approximately $36,000 in gross proceeds. In March 2024, the Company completed the 2024 Rights Offering for gross proceeds of approximately $35,800 in which each holder of the Company’s common shares as of the record date of December 15, 2023 was eligible to participate. The proceeds from the 2024 Rights Offering are being used to progress the Company’s business strategy to support commercialization, which includes funding the operation of the Demonstration Plant for a period of time that is expected to be sufficient to provide the information to support a commercialization decision, as well as for other general corporate purposes. Even with these funds, however, the Company will still require substantial additional funds for the permitting, development, and build-out of the Bear Lodge REE Project. Ultimately, in the event the Company cannot secure additional financial resources, or