Energy Fuels Files Two Technical Reports and Preliminary Base Shelf
Prospectus
TORONTO, ONTARIO and LAKEWOOD, COLORADO--(Marketwired - Mar 28,
2014) - Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSEMKT:UUUU)(TSX:EFR) ("Energy Fuels"
or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has filed an
updated mineral resource estimate on its 100% owned La Sal Project,
increasing the Company's measured and indicated uranium and
vanadium resources by about 2.7 million and 15.5 million pounds,
respectively, and an updated mineral resource estimate and
preliminary economic assessment on its 100% owned Juniper Ridge
Project, increasing the Company's indicated uranium resources by
nearly 1 million pounds. In addition, the Company has filed a
preliminary base shelf prospectus with the securities commissions
in each of the provinces and territories of Canada, except Quebec
and intends to file on March 31, 2014 a registration statement
(Form F-10) with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC"). Each of these filings is described in more
detail below.
The La Sal
Project:
The Company has filed on SEDAR a report titled, "Technical
Report on La Sal District Project (Including the Pandora, Beaver,
and Energy Queen Projects), San Juan County, Utah, U.S.A.", which
includes an updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate (the "La
Sal Technical Report"), prepared in accordance with National
Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects of the Canadian Securities Administration ("NI
43-101"). The La Sal Technical Report was prepared by Douglas C.
Peters, CPG, who is a "qualified person" and "independent" of the
Company within the meaning of NI 43-101. The La Sal Technical
Report replaces the March 15, 2011 technical report on the Energy
Queen project.
The La Sal Project consists of a series of uranium-vanadium
mines along an 11-mile mineral trend located in southeastern Utah.
The Pandora/Snowball ("Pandora") mines and the Beaver/LaSal
("Beaver") mines are fully-permitted and fully-developed mines
which were in production by Energy Fuels as recently as the Fall of
2012. The Company is currently maintaining these mines on standby,
so they can be placed back into production with minimal time or
cost, as uranium market conditions warrant. In addition, the La Sal
Project includes the Company's fully-permitted and
partially-developed Energy Queen project, along with an adjacent
property known as the Redd Block property.
The La Sal Technical Report increases the Company's measured and
indicated uranium resources by approximately 2.7 million pounds,
and its measured and indicated vanadium resources by approximately
15.5 million pounds, compared to the previous Energy Queen
technical report. According to the La Sal Technical Report, the
project contains 1.14 million tons of Measured and Indicated
Mineral Resources with approximately 4.1 million pounds of uranium
and 21.5 million pounds of vanadium at average grades of 0.18% U3O8
and 0.94% V2O5, respectively. In addition, the project contains
approximately 0.2 million tons of Inferred Mineral Resources with
0.4 million pounds of uranium and 1.9 million pounds of vanadium at
average grades of 0.10% U3O8 and 0.51% V2O5, respectively.
Stephen P. Antony, President and CEO of Energy Fuels stated:
"The La Sal Project is one of Energy Fuels' key uranium and
vanadium production sources, as it has the potential to contribute
to our near-term production optionality. Two mines in the project,
the Beaver mine and the Pandora mine, were in production as
recently as late 2012. We continue to maintain these mines on
standby, so we can bring them back into production within just a
few months' time with minimal upfront cost, once market conditions
improve to suitable levels."
The Juniper Ridge
Project:
The Company also filed on SEDAR a report titled, "Juniper Ridge
Uranium Project, Carbon County, Wyoming, U.S.A.", which includes an
updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate and a preliminary
economic assessment (the "Juniper Ridge Technical Report") prepared
in accordance with NI 43-101. The Juniper Ridge Technical Report
was prepared by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. and Terence P.
McNulty, P.E., D.Sc., each of whom are a "qualified person" and
"independent" of the Company within the meaning of NI 43-101. The
Juniper Ridge Technical Report replaces a previous February 21,
2012 technical report on the project.
The Juniper Ridge Technical Report increases the mineral
resource estimate for the project by nearly 20% in comparison to
the previous technical report. The new resource estimate for the
Juniper Ridge project shows the project having a total of
approximately 5.2 million tons of Indicated Mineral Resources
containing 6.1 million pounds of uranium with an average grade of
0.06% eU3O8. In addition, the project is estimated to have an
additional 107,000 tons of Inferred Mineral Resources containing
182,000 pounds of uranium with an average grade of 0.09% eU3O8.
Under the base-case scenario in the preliminary economic
assessment ("PEA"), the Company anticipates utilizing open pit
mining in conjunction with on-site heap leach recovery that
produces an intermediate uranium concentrate in the form of loaded
resin, which could be shipped to Energy Fuels' 100% owned White
Mesa Mill near Blanding, Utah (or other regional facilities) for
final processing. Historic mining at the project occurred in the
1950's and 1960's, during which time significant uranium was
produced.
Under the base-case scenario in the PEA, the Juniper Ridge
Project is expected to produce a little over 500,000 pounds of U3O8
per year over a 10-year mine life. The project is expected to
require initial capital expenditures of $37.5 million, and to
generate an after-tax internal rate of return of 22% and net
present value of $21.3 million, applying an 8% discount rate. In
addition, the direct cash cost of production, including processing
and royalties, is expected to total $38.84 per pound. The PEA
assumes a constant uranium price of $65/pound over the 10-year life
of the project.
Preliminary Base Shelf
Prospectus & U.S. Registration Statement:
The Company also has filed a preliminary base shelf prospectus
(the "Prospectus") with the securities commissions in each of the
provinces and territories of Canada, except Quebec, and intends to
file on Monday, March 31, 2014 a registration statement on Form
F-10 with the SEC, which will not yet become effective. The
securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy, be accepted
prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.
Details on these filings are described below.
Under the Prospectus, the Company may issue common shares,
warrants, subscription receipts, preferred shares, debt securities,
or any combination of such securities as units, in amounts, at
prices, and on terms to be determined based on market conditions at
the time of sale, and as set forth in an accompanying prospectus
supplement, for an aggregate offering amount of up to
US$100,000,000 during the 25 month period that the final short form
base shelf prospectus remains effective.
Stephen P. Antony, President and CEO of Energy Fuels commented:
"An important aspect of Energy Fuels' strategy is to create and
maintain the optionality of our US-based uranium production assets
so we can significantly increase uranium production as market
conditions may improve in the coming years. This base shelf
prospectus puts Energy Fuels into a position to access new
financing opportunities that could be utilized in pursuing this
strategy over the next two years and ensures that we are ready to
rapidly execute on new transactions as they arise."
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of any offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of
these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or
sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under
the securities laws of any such state.
Stephen P. Antony, P.E., President & CEO of Energy
Fuels, is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and
has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in
this document.
About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is currently
America's largest conventional uranium producer, which supplied
approximately 25% of the uranium produced in the United States in
2013. Energy Fuels operates the White Mesa Mill, which is the only
conventional uranium mill currently operating in the U.S. The mill
is capable of processing 2,000 tons per day of uranium ore and has
a licensed capacity of over 8 million lbs. of
U3O8 per year. Energy Fuels has
projects located in a number of Western U.S., including a producing
mine, mines on standby and mineral properties in various stages of
permitting and development. The Company's common shares are listed
on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "EFR" and on
the NYSEMKT under the trading symbol "UUUU".
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain "Forward Looking
Information" and "Forward Looking Statements" within the meaning of
applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation, which
may include, but is not limited to, statements and expectations
with respect to the Juniper Ridge and La Sal Project resource
estimates, development plans, permitting, and project economics,
the filing of the preliminary or final base shelf prospectus and
obtaining a receipt therefor, future offerings of securities,
having any registration statement referred to herein declared
effective in the U.S., and the timing of filing an F-10
registration statement. Generally, these forward-looking statements
can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"expects" "does not expect", "is expected", "subject to",
"prospective" or "believe", or variations of such words and
phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may",
"could", or "will be taken", "be achieved" or "have the potential
to". All statements, other than statements of historical fact,
herein are considered to be forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of the Company to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements
express or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
anticipated in these forward-looking statements are described under
the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form
dated March 26, 2014, which is available for review on the System
for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval at www.sedar.com.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date
of this news release, and the Company disclaims, other than as
required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, results, future
events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions
should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements.
Energy Fuels Inc.Curtis H. MooreInvestor Relations(303) 974-2140
or Toll free:
1-888-864-2125investorinfo@energyfuels.comwww.energyfuels.com
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