Sunrise Energy Metals Shares Jump on U.S. Ex-Im Bank Interest in Scandium Project

By Rhiannon Hoyle

Shares in Sunrise Energy Metals, backed by billionaire mining financier Robert Friedland, jumped Tuesday after the company said it has received a letter of interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank for up to US$67 million to help fund a scandium project in Australia.

Melbourne-based Sunrise said potential financing from the Ex-Im Bank could cover roughly half the cost of developing the Syerston project in New South Wales state, which it says contains the world's largest and highest-grade scandium deposit. Shares in the company were 33% higher as of early Tuesday afternoon in Sydney.

The stock has rallied over the past week after Sunrise published a revised mineral resource with roughly double the scandium metal it had previously estimated, the result of a drilling campaign earlier this year. Shares in Sunrise have more than doubled versus the start of last week, and at an intraday peak Tuesday notched their highest level since 2018.

Friedland, Sunrise's co-chair, said the letter of interest reflects the importance of scandium to the U.S., including for military technologies. Scandium, designated a critical mineral by the U.S. Geological Survey, is used in wireless communications infrastructure and to strengthen aluminum alloys, among other applications, and hasn't been produced in the U.S. in decades.

Sunrise is working on a feasibility study for the project, due in mid- to late-October, and said it is in ongoing talks regarding potential offtake and financing arrangements.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 16, 2025 00:28 ET (04:28 GMT)