NYSE MKT Equities Exchange Symbol – UEC
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX,
Feb. 7, 2017 /CNW/ - Uranium Energy
Corp (NYSE MKT: UEC, the "Company") is pleased to provide the
following letter to its shareholders from President and CEO,
Amir Adnani.
Dear Shareholder,
On behalf of management and the board of directors, I am pleased
to report our 2017 outlook for the Company.
Before all else, I want you to know how much I appreciate your
support as a shareholder and your confidence in management. Thank
you!
A corner is turning in the uranium market. You can see this in
the improving price for spot uranium which is up over 40% in just
two months. Several factors are contributing to major change:
- I believe the best place to start is a video link, provided
below, to a short presentation I recently delivered, addressing the
latest positive developments in the uranium market as well as UEC's
strategy, current activities and milestones.
http://www.uraniumenergy.com/featured-video/
- On the supply side of the uranium market, in late 2016 the
uranium price dropped to a 12-year low and made many industry
analysts question when we would see more production cuts by major
producers. It didn't take long, and in early January 2017 the world's largest uranium miner,
Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan's national
uranium company that produces 40% of the world's annual supply,
announced a 10% reduction in uranium production. This single action
will reduce global output by approximately 4%, and comes on the
heels of previous production cutbacks announced by other uranium
producers in 2016.
- On the demand side, the global growth in nuclear power capacity
is clear with 60 reactors under construction worldwide. Over 20
mega-cities in Asia are facing
serious air pollution crises which cannot be resolved without
emission-free baseload electricity generation that only nuclear
power provides. Additionally, US utilities are expected to
significantly increase their spot market and long term contracting
in 2017 to fill their near-term and long-term uranium requirements.
The last major contracting cycle occurred in the 2005-2010 period,
with many of those contracted commitments rolling off today. That
period saw the uranium price react strongly and reach all-time
highs.
- The new US Administration takes energy independence seriously.
Far and away, the most foreign-dependent US energy sector is
imported uranium for nuclear power. US nuclear power accounts for
64% of the country's clean air electricity. The US imports 95% of
its uranium, much of it from countries with elevated geopolitical
risk. Domestically mined US uranium is taking on an entirely new
and urgent strategic significance to American interests and energy
security.
- The recent appointment of Rick
Perry, former governor of Texas, as US Secretary of Energy, demonstrates
the new administration's interests in developing clear pro-active
measures to transform US energy policy. UEC's 12-year history
coincided with Governor Perry's policies to expand energy
industries in Texas. During his
tenure as Governor we made significant progress, permitting two ISR
uranium mines, achieving uranium production in late 2010, and
making a new discovery at our Burke Hollow Project in Bee County, Texas.
- UEC is fortunate to have a senior management team possessing a
wealth of experience in both US and international uranium mining
and government policy. Spencer
Abraham, our executive chairman, served as the tenth US
Energy Secretary in the George W. Bush Administration, devising and
successfully implementing the first national energy policy in the
US since the 1980's. Our Executive VP, Scott Melbye and Senior Advisor, Harry Anthony are past and current Presidents of
the Uranium Producers of America, respectively. Mr. Melbye is a
30-year veteran of the uranium industry and in recent years has
provided expert testimony to the House Oversight Committee on
domestic uranium issues.
Ideally Positioned
As market forces unfold, UEC is strategically positioned to help
fill the growing demand for uranium with licensed, low-cost
operations in stable jurisdictions and a strong balance sheet.
The Company has the infrastructure advantage with our fully
licensed, state-of-the-art Hobson Processing Plant and a focus on a
low-cost, environmentally friendly method of uranium extraction
(ISR or In-Situ Recovery). To learn more about the ISR mining
method, please visit this video on our website:
http://www.uraniumenergy.com/projects/isr-mining. Utilizing
the ISR method, we are positioned to be among the lowest cost
producers in the industry.
UEC is unique in being a 100% unhedged producer, as we have
purposefully avoided restrictive contracting and price ceilings
with utilities during the bottom of the price cycle. This will
give our investors maximum leverage and reward as uranium prices
move higher.
To fulfill this strategy and due to the weakness in uranium
prices over the last few years, we undertook a strategic decision
to place uranium extraction on stand-by to preserve our resources,
while capitalizing on this period to grow our asset base and
advance our key projects through permitting. As the market
improves, we are ready to re-start our operations quickly when
pricing is favorable.
Lastly, we have a solid balance sheet as required to be a
leading player in the coming uranium bull market. Last month,
we completed an over-subscribed $26
million financing with strong interest from existing and new
shareholders.
South Texas Hub-and-Spoke Operations
UEC is executing a 'hub-and-spoke strategy' in South Texas where the Company controls five
wholly-owned, ISR projects surrounding our Hobson processing plant with its
two-million-pound-per-year capacity. Of the five projects,
Palangana is permitted, built and production-ready. Goliad is fully permitted for extraction
within its first production area. Burke Hollow is expanding in
scale while progressing towards final permitting for initial
production.
Of note, Burke Hollow is a new discovery made by our exploration
team in 2012 and, since that time, we have drilled over 500 holes
to define the current resource*. We have near-term plans to
initiate a new drilling program at Burke Hollow of up to 100
delineation and resource* expansion holes. This drilling
program will use our proprietary PFN drilling probes -- an
innovative low-cost technology for drilling in the South Texas uranium belt. A study by the
US Geological Survey ranks the South Texas Uranium Belt amongst the
least explored and most prospective regions in the world for
additional uranium discoveries.
A Pipeline of Projects for Additional Expansion
The Company controls an additional 6 projects in the
southwestern US with assets such as the large Anderson Project in
central Arizona and our Slick Rock
Project in southwestern Colorado.
In Paraguay, we maintain a
district-scale potential with one of the largest in-situ
recoverable property positions in the world with over 750,000 acres
in exploitation and exploration licenses at our Yuty and Oviedo
Projects. Total historic exploration expenditures are over
$50 million and include ~100,000
meters of drilling.
Additionally, UEC announced in March
2016, that the Company had entered into an agreement to
acquire new non-uranium properties in Paraguay from CIC Resources. We are currently
assessing several possible options to maximize shareholder value
from this accretive acquisition, which is expected to be finalized
in the coming months.
These and other pipeline projects demonstrate that UEC is
prepared, well positioned and highly leveraged to a higher price of
uranium.
For details of UEC's Project Portfolio including 43-101 Resource
Reports * **, see the following section of our website:
http://www.uraniumenergy.com/projects
UEC Leadership in Our Industry
Senior management is active and plays a leading role in shaping
uranium policy in the US and other key international
markets. Various members of our team act as advisors, speakers
and board members for domestic and global uranium industry
organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency,
World Nuclear Fuel Market, Nuclear Energy Institute, and the
Uranium Producers of America.
Thank you again for your confidence in management's strategy. We
encourage and appreciate your ongoing support. Call me directly, or
our Investor Relations department, with any questions or comments
that you might have as the year ensues. Please call 1-866-748-1030
any time or email info@uraniumenergy.com. Visit our website at
www.uraniumenergy.com to keep current on all our activities and be
sure that you register your email there to receive the latest
news.
Yours truly,
"Amir Adnani"
President & CEO
About Uranium Energy Corp
Uranium Energy Corp is a U.S.-based uranium mining and
exploration company. The Company's fully-licensed Hobson processing facility is central to all
of its projects in South Texas,
including the Palangana ISR mine, the permitted Goliad ISR project
and the development-stage Burke Hollow ISR
project. Additionally, the Company controls a pipeline of
advanced-stage projects in Arizona, Colorado and Paraguay. The Company's
operations are managed by professionals with a recognized profile
for excellence in their industry, a profile based on many decades
of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration,
development and mining.
Stock Exchange Information:
NYSE MKT: UEC
Frankfurt Stock Exchange Symbol: U6Z
WKN: AØJDRR
ISN: US916896103
Safe Harbor Statement
* The mineral resources referred to herein have been
estimated in accordance with the definition standards on mineral
resources of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and
Petroleum referred to in NI 43-101 and are not compliant with U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") Industry Guide 7
guidelines. In addition, measured mineral resources, indicated
mineral resources and inferred mineral resources, while recognized
and required by Canadian regulations, are not defined terms under
SEC Industry Guide 7 and are normally not permitted to be used in
reports and registration statements filed with the SEC.
Accordingly, we have not reported them in the United States. Investors are cautioned not
to assume that any part or all of the mineral resources in these
categories will ever be converted into mineral reserves. These
terms have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and
great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. In
particular, it should be noted that mineral resources which are not
mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. It
cannot be assumed that all or any part of measured mineral
resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral
resources will ever be upgraded to a higher category. In accordance
with Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources cannot
form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. Investors
are cautioned not to assume that any part of the reported measured
mineral resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral
resources referred to herein are economically or legally
mineable.
** It must be stressed that the exploration targets
referred to herein and their related projections of potential
quantity and grade are extremely conceptual in nature, that there
has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and
it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the ability
to estimate uranium mineral resources.
Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein,
the information presented in this letter constitutes
"forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable
United States and Canadian laws.
These statements relate to analyses and other information that are
based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet
determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements
that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions,
expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions
or future events or performance are not statements of historical
fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such
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
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although
the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could
cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from
those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other
factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as
anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that
such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and
future events could differ materially from those anticipated in
such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this
letter.
SOURCE Uranium Energy Corp