LAKEWOOD,
CO, June 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/
- Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE MKT: UUUU; TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels"
or the "Company"), a leading producer of uranium in
the United States, wishes to
report that it currently expects to complete the acquisition of
Mesteña Uranium, LLC ("Mesteña") on or before Thursday, June 16, 2016, subject only to final
approval for the transfer of its Radioactive Materials License by
the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality ("TCEQ"), which is expected sometime this
week. Mesteña is a privately-held in situ recovery ("ISR")
uranium producer that owns the Alta Mesa ISR Project ("Alta Mesa"),
a fully-licensed uranium project, currently on standby, located in
South Texas.
As previously announced on March 7, 2016, the Company expects to issue
4,551,284 common shares of the Company to the current owners of
Mesteña at closing. Together with the Company's recently
announced transaction that increased the Company's ownership in the
Roca Honda Project to 100%, the Company expects to have a total of
57.7 million shares issued and outstanding upon completion of the
acquisition of Mesteña. It is expected that, if this
transaction closes as contemplated this week, the shares issued for
the acquisition of Mesteña will be available for consideration in
the final rebalancing of the FTSE Russell 3000 Index this
month.
Energy Fuels' acquisition of Mesteña is expected
to further cement Energy Fuels' position as the dominant integrated
uranium producer in the U.S., especially now that Cameco has
announced that it is reducing production in the U.S.
Mesteña's Alta Mesa Project is a fully-permitted and constructed
ISR operation and processing facility, with a well-established
track record of lower cost uranium production, which will diversify
Energy Fuels' operations into a third production center, along with
the Nichols Ranch ISR Project (Wyoming) and the White Mesa Mill (Utah). Alta Mesa is currently on standby
and ready to resume production, as market conditions warrant, and
it can reach commercial production levels with limited required
capital within six months of a production decision. Mesteña
also controls a large land package totaling 195,501 contiguous
acres, including 4,575-acres currently under a lease and mining
permit and 190,926-acres under a lease-option and
exploration/testing permit. Mesteña also has extensive
exploration results across the area that have identified
significant uranium resources that Energy Fuels expects can be
recovered at lower costs, as market conditions warrant.
Between Alta Mesa, Nichols Ranch,
and the White Mesa Mill, Energy Fuels' licensed processing capacity
will exceed 11.5 million pounds of uranium per year.
Stephen P. Antony,
President and CEO of Energy Fuels stated: "Energy Fuels looks
forward to completing our acquisition of Mesteña and its lower-cost
ISR uranium production which is economic at today's quoted term
prices. Although the long-term fundamentals for the uranium
sector are as strong as ever, it is critical for us to lower all-in
costs of production in today's weak uranium price
environment. In addition to other cost-cutting and cash
conservation efforts we are actively pursuing, our acquisition of
Mesteña is expected to move Energy Fuels down the cost curve which
will allow us to increase production sooner and at lower uranium
prices.
"I have had the pleasure of meeting with the
Mesteña shareholders recently, and they have expressed their
enthusiasm for closing this transaction and becoming shareholders
in the Company. We will be very excited to welcome them as
shareholders on the expected completion of this acquisition, and to
see the future development of the Alta Mesa project and other
Mesteña assets."
About Energy Fuels: Energy
Fuels is a leading integrated US-based uranium mining company,
supplying U3O8 to major nuclear
utilities. Energy Fuels operates two of America's key uranium
production centers, the White Mesa Mill in Utah and the Nichols Ranch Processing Facility
in Wyoming. The White Mesa Mill is the only conventional
uranium mill operating in the U.S. today and has a licensed
capacity of over 8 million pounds of U3O8 per
year. The Nichols Ranch Processing Facility is an in situ
recovery ("ISR") production center with a licensed capacity of 2
million pounds of U3O8 per year. Energy
Fuels also has the largest NI 43-101 compliant uranium resource
portfolio in the U.S. among producers, and uranium mining projects
located in a number of Western U.S. states, including one producing
ISR project, mines on standby, and mineral properties in various
stages of permitting and development. The Company's common
shares are listed on the NYSE MKT under the trading symbol "UUUU",
and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol
"EFR".
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements: Certain information contained in this
news release, including any information relating to: the Company
being a leading producer of uranium;the Company's
expectations with regard to the date of and successful closing of
the acquisition of Mesteña Uranium, LLC; the expected receipt,
timing and substance of TCEQ approval; the Company's market
capitalization and any impact on rebalancing of the FTSE Russell
3000 Index; the Company's expectations as to longer term
fundamentals in the market; the Alta Mesa Project's costs, capital
requirements, economics, and timing for restarting production;
exploration potential; the Company's licensed production
capacity; and any other statements regarding Energy Fuels'
future expectations, beliefs, goals or prospects; constitute
forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable
securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking
statements"). All statements in this news release that are
not statements of historical fact (including statements containing
the words "expects", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates",
"does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates",
"projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and
similar expressions) should be considered forward-looking
statements. All such forward-looking statements are subject
to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are
beyond Energy Fuels' ability to control or predict. A number
of important factors could cause actual results or events to differ
materially from those indicated or implied by such forward-looking
statements, including without limitation factors relating to: any
information relating to the Company being a leading producer of
uranium;the Company's expectations with regard to the date
of and successful closing of the acquisition of Mesteña Uranium,
LLC; the expected receipt, timing and substance of TCEQ approval;
the Company's market capitalization and any impact on rebalancing
of the FTSE Russell 3000 Index; the Company's expectations as to
longer term fundamentals in the market; the Alta Mesa Project's
costs, capital requirements, economics, and timing for restarting
production; exploration potential; the Company's licensed
production capacity; and other risk factors as described in
Energy Fuels' most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly
financial reports. Energy Fuels assumes no obligation
to update the information in this communication, except as
otherwise required by law. Additional information identifying
risks and uncertainties is contained in Energy Fuels' filings with
the various securities commissions which are available online
at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com. Forward-looking
statements are provided for the purpose of providing information
about the current expectations, beliefs and plans of the management
of Energy Fuels relating to the future. Readers are cautioned
that such statements may not be appropriate for other
purposes. Readers are also cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, that speak only as of
the date hereof.
SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.