Sunrise Energy Metals

What Sunrise Energy Metals does

Sunrise Energy Metals Limited is an Australian critical-minerals developer (ASX: SRL; OTCMKTS: SREMF) building scandium, nickel, and cobalt assets intended to supply defense, aerospace, semiconductor, and clean-energy supply chains currently dominated by Chinese production. The company was incorporated and listed in 2007 as Clean TeQ Holdings Limited, pivoting from water treatment to critical minerals around its 2013 acquisition of the Syerston project and rebranding to Sunrise Energy Metals in 2021. Headquartered in Melbourne with 51-100 employees, the company is led by Founder/Non-Executive Chairman Robert Friedland (via Ivanhoe Capital Holdings) and CEO Sam Riggall, and is now evaluating relocation to the United States to access American capital markets and strengthen ties with U.S. government customers.

The company's core platform is the Syerston Scandium Project in central New South Wales, positioned as the world's first primary scandium mine outside China, Russia, and Ukraine, with planned initial capacity of 60 tonnes per year of scandium oxide (target commissioning H2 2028) expandable to 180 tpa per an accelerated July 2026 study. Syerston's Mineral Resource Estimate was recently nearly doubled to 19,007 tonnes of contained scandium (>90% Measured and Indicated), with a reported 32-year operational life. The Sunrise Nickel-Cobalt Project contains over 900,000 tonnes of nickel and 170,000 tonnes of cobalt, with a pending lithium-ion battery cathode patent filing. The processing backbone is ion-exchange-based scandium oxide refining, paired with patented scandium alloy development, and is backed by an unusually complete Australian permitting stack (Mining Lease 1770, Development Consent, Environmental Protection Licence, water rights, NSW Critical Minerals Royalty Deferral Scheme).

The company is pre-revenue, with only ~A$133K disclosed in recent filings, and generates no recurring revenue today. The commercial model is built on long-dated offtake and government-backed financing: a non-binding five-year Lockheed Martin agreement (up to 75 tonnes of scandium oxide, ~25% of first-five-year output), a U.S. Department of War right of first offer tied to a $400M Office of Strategic Capital conditional 25-year loan (August 2026), a US$67M US EXIM Bank Letter of Interest, alignment with the U.S.-Australia Critical Minerals Agreement (US$1B pledge per side), an A$46M equity placement, and a strategic investment in Agni Semiconductor LLC to capture downstream value. The nickel-cobalt project remains unfinanced and unpermitted for production, representing a longer-dated asset option rather than a near-term revenue driver.

Name

Sunrise Energy Metals

Legal name

Sunrise Energy Metals Limited

Website

https://sunriseem.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Sunrise Energy Metals is a pre-revenue Australian critical-minerals developer building what it positions as the world's first primary scandium mine at Syerston (NSW), with a secondary nickel-cobalt asset, supplying defense, aerospace, semiconductor, and clean-energy customers via long-dated offtake and U.S. government financing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Critical Minerals Mining

NAICS

Primary Metal Manufacturing (331), Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Smelting and Refining (331410)

SIC

Metal Mining (1000), Primary Smelting & Refining Of Nonferrous Metals (3330)

akta.pro primary industry

Exploration & Resource Development (Critical Minerals) (IMAKAFAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Battery Raw Materials Mining & Refining (Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt, Manganese, Graphite) (EUAFABAA), Battery-Grade Chemical Processing (LiOH/Li2CO3, Ni/Co Sulfates, Mn Sulfate) (IMAKAFAI)

Keywords

• Scandium mining
• Nickel-cobalt extraction
• Critical minerals processing
• High-purity metal oxides
• Mineral resource development

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Scandium Oxide Sales: Pre-revenue mining company that will generate revenue through the sale of scandium oxide produced from its Syerston Scandium Project. Production targeted for late 2028 with initial capacity of 60 tonnes per year of scandium oxide, expandable to 180 tonnes.
2. Nickel and Cobalt Sales: Future revenue from the Sunrise Nickel-Cobalt Project, one of the world's largest nickel-cobalt resources, containing over 900,000 tonnes of nickel and 170,000 tonnes of cobalt in the mineral resource.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sunrise Energy Metals is developing the Syerston Scandium Project in central New South Wales, Australia, intended to be the world's first primary scandium mine, producing high-purity scandium oxide at an initial rate of 60 tonnes per annum (expandable to 180 tonnes) starting in 2028. The company also holds the Sunrise Nickel-Cobalt Project, one of the largest undeveloped nickel-cobalt resources globally, and an Exploration Portfolio in Queensland and New South Wales. Output is targeted at defense, aerospace, 5G/6G semiconductor, solid-oxide fuel cell, and electric-vehicle lightweighting applications.

Product overview

Sunrise Energy Metals operates two core projects: the Syerston Scandium Project and the Sunrise Nickel-Cobalt Project, both located in Australia. The Syerston Scandium Project is a development-ready mining operation targeting the world's first primary scandium supply, while the Sunrise Nickel-Cobalt Project represents one of the world's largest undeveloped nickel-cobalt resources for battery materials. Additionally, the company maintains an Exploration Portfolio in Queensland and New South Wales. The portfolio focuses on strategic metals critical to energy, defense, transport, and computing markets, with the company positioning itself as a world-leading supplier of refined metals for advanced and emerging technologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Syerston Scandium Project A mining and refining operation in central New South Wales, Australia, intended to be the world's first primary scandium mine. It will produce high-purity scandium oxide for advanced aerospace alloys, 5G/6G semiconductors, solid-oxide fuel cells for AI data centers, and defense applications. Initial capacity of 60 tonnes per annum is expandable to 180 tonnes per annum.
• Sunrise Nickel-Cobalt Project
• Exploration Portfolio Mineral exploration acreage in the Cloncurry region of Queensland and Central West New South Wales, targeting large, high-grade base-metal and gold targets in districts home to some of Australia's largest mineral resources.

Quantifiable outcome

• Expected to produce 60 tonnes per year of scandium oxide, with potential to expand to 180 tonnes
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• I-PulsecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026I-Pulse announced a strategic partnership with Sunrise Energy Metals and Greenvale Mining to develop geothermal energy in the Millungera Basin in northwest Queensland, Australia. The joint venture will deploy I-Pulse's G-Pulse pulsed power drilling technology, with I-Pulse holding 65%, Greenvale Mining 20%, and Sunrise Energy Metals 15%, while Sunrise retains a free-carried minority position.
• Greenvale MiningminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026Joint venture partner in the Millungera Basin geothermal project alongside I-Pulse and Sunrise Energy Metals. The joint venture is structured with Greenvale Mining holding a 20% interest in the project.
• Lockheed MartincoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Lockheed Martin has secured a non-binding offtake agreement covering up to 75 tonnes of scandium oxide over five years from the Syerston project, representing approximately 25% of expected production. The partnership anchors the project to a real end-user in aerospace and defense, with testing and qualification work aimed at accelerating scandium-containing components in Lockheed Martin's product platforms.
• U.S.-Australia Critical Minerals AgreementflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025The U.S.-Australia critical minerals agreement signed by President Trump and Prime Minister Albanese in October, under which each country pledged US$1 billion in investments. The agreement supports Sunrise Energy Metals' Syerston project as part of broader efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese critical mineral supply chains.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• MP Materials: US-listed operator of the Mountain Pass rare earth mine and a leading Western-aligned critical minerals producer. Like Sunrise, it is positioned as the foundational non-Chinese supplier of a strategically important metal group, with explicit US government policy support (DoD investment) and a vertically integrated mine-to-oxide strategy.
• Energy Fuels: US-listed uranium and rare earth processor that has built out rare earth and critical mineral separation capacity with US government support. It is a direct analog for a Western-aligned miner/processor chasing non-Chinese supply contracts in defense-adjacent specialty metals.
• Jervois Mining: ASX-listed developer of the São Miguel Paulista nickel-cobalt refinery and Idaho cobalt operations. Closely comparable to Sunrise's Nickel-Cobalt Project as an Australian-listed developer targeting Western, ex-China battery materials supply.
• Lynas Rare Earths: Australian-listed (ASX:LYC) producer of separated rare earth oxides outside China, with downstream processing in Malaysia and a planned US facility. It is the most directly comparable Western critical minerals champion: Australian domicile, government-backed financing, US-aligned customers, and focus on reducing dependence on Chinese processing.

Emerging players

• Ionic Rare Earths: Australian-listed emerging player focused on rare earth and critical mineral refining (including magnet recycling). Comparable to Sunrise as an ASX-listed critical minerals developer targeting downstream Western customers, though earlier stage and focused on rare earths rather than scandium.
• Frontier Lithium: Canadian-listed developer of a hard-rock lithium project with downstream battery-grade chemical plans. Comparable as a pre-revenue critical minerals developer with strategic government/oftofftake backing and a vertically integrated mine-to-chemical strategy.
• Talga Group: ASX-listed graphite anode and battery materials developer with European operations. Comparable as an Australian-listed advanced materials miner focused on supplying Western battery and tech supply chains with government-backed strategic project status.

Broad incumbents

• Nickel Industries: ASX-listed large-scale nickel producer with Indonesian rotary kiln operations. Relevant as a peer benchmark for the nickel/cobalt portion of Sunrise's resource base, and for the broader ASX critical-minerals valuation framework.
• Albemarle Corporation: Global lithium major and the largest Western specialty chemicals/li producer. Comparable as the incumbent Western supplier of a battery- and tech-critical metal where Chinese supply dominates, providing a public-market template for how a large-scale critical minerals producer is valued.

Regional players

• Pilbara Minerals: ASX-listed lithium hard-rock miner and one of Australia's largest critical mineral producers. Comparable as an Australian-listed, government-aligned battery/critical minerals pure-play that has scaled from explorer to major producer, offering a market reference for Sunrise's growth trajectory.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCZ_mc7rQX1iwVzY_mCaprfQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/100065515688439
• Xx.com/SunriseMetals
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sunriseenergymetals

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sunrise Energy Metals