Adds share price move in paragraph 2, details throughout

MELBOURNE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. uranium producer Energy Fuels UUUU.A will acquire rare earths firm Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) ASM.AX in a deal valuing the Australian firm's equity at A$447 million ($300.9 million), the two parties said in separate statements on Wednesday.

The deal, which represents a 121% premium on ASM's close from January 20, sent shares of the Australian producer soaring as much as 126% to A$1.63.

The buyout is significant for the U.S., which is looking to lock in Western supply for the metals used in applications such as wind farms, mobile phones and missiles. Australia and the U.S. signed a framework agreement for cooperation around critical minerals such as rare earths last year.

Under the deal, shareholders of Australian Strategic Materials would receive 0.053 Energy Fuels shares for each ASM share held, along with a special dividend of up to A$0.13 per ASM share, representing a total implied value of A$1.60 per ASM share.

ASM's board has unanimously recommended that ASM shareholders vote in favour of the transaction in the absence of a superior proposal, it said.

Upon completion, the transaction will combine ASM's operating Korean metalisation plant and its planned American metals plant with Energy Fuels' existing rare earth oxide production at its White Mesa Mill in Utah.

It will also have a number of development projects. In Australia that will include ASM's Dubbo rare earths project in New South Wales, the Donald project in Victoria, as well as the Vara Mada project in Madagascar and the Bahia project in Brazil.

They are all intended to supply feed materials for the planned expansion of the company's White Mesa Mill to produce 6,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), 240 tpa dysprosium, and 66 tpa terbium oxides.

Prices of rare earths have been rising as Western countries scramble to reduce dependence on China. In response, Australia has been considering setting a price floor and new international partnerships to support rare earths projects and build alternative supplies.

Australia's Lynas Rare Earths LYC.AX is the world's largest rare earths producer outside China. It produced 10,462 tons of rare earth oxides in the 2025 financial year.

($1 = 1.4857 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru. Additional reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Editing by Alan Barona, Chris Reese and Jacqueline Wong)

((Himanshi.Akhand@thomsonreuters.com;))