Uranium Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:URRE) (ASX:URI),
an energy metals development company, announced today that it has
completed certain key activities in support of ongoing work at the
Columbus Basin Project, including the acquisition of geophysical
data from a major mining company and the submittal of two water
rights applications to the State of Nevada.
Chris Jones, URI’s President and CEO said, “We
have significantly reduced the cost and schedule for our
exploration activities at the Columbus Basin Project with the
acquisition of geophysical data and are excited about the potential
of this project. Additionally, our water rights
application is key to brine production and has real potential to
put URI in a prime position to develop any resources we
discover.”
Geophysical Data
URI has acquired a license for a substantial
amount of geophysical data from two parties previously engaged in
mineral exploration adjacent to the Columbus Basin Project.
The geophysical data covers the southern half of the Columbus Salt
Marsh, including a significant portion of the Company’s 11,200 acre
Columbus Basin Project. The license allows URI to utilize
data from previously completed gravity surveys and a
magnetotelluric (MT) survey for further analysis and evaluation of
the project.
URI has also engaged a consulting geophysicist
to integrate and reinterpret this data with other geophysical data
in possession of the Company. This work is presently
ongoing. Following integration and reinterpretation of the
available data, URI will determine the necessity and scope of
further geophysical surveys within the Columbus Basin
Project. The results of the geophysical data studies will be
combined with geological and geochemical sampling data (please
refer to the News Release of February 22, 2017 for details) to
guide our forthcoming exploration drilling program at the
project.
Water Rights
URI subsidiary Lithium Holdings Nevada, LLC has
submitted two water rights applications to the Nevada Division of
Water Resources (NDWR). Unlike other basins in Nevada that
are prospective for lithium brine development, water rights in the
Columbus Salt Marsh basin are not over-allocated and there are
significant groundwater resources available for appropriation
through the water rights application process. Each water
rights application submitted requests a 2 cubic foot per second
(cfs) point of diversion, equating to a total of approximately
3,000 acre feet per year (af/yr) between the two
applications. Although there is some uncertainty with all
water rights application processes, the Company believes that one
or both of the water rights applications can be approved by NDWR by
the end of 2017.
About URI’s Columbus Basin
Project
The Columbus Basin Project is located within the
Columbus Salt Marsh Basin of western Nevada, approximately 45 miles
(72 kilometers) west of the town of Tonopah, Nevada, 140 miles (227
kilometers) southeast of the city of Reno and 137 miles (221
kilometers) southeast of Tesla Motors’ “Gigafactory”. The Columbus
Basin Project is approximately 27 miles (43 kilometers) northwest
of the Clayton Valley/Silver Peak lithium brine operation of
Albemarle Corporation, the only lithium brine production facility
in the United States.
The Columbus Salt Marsh is a closed drainage
basin that covers an area of approximately 370 square miles (960
square kilometers) with a geologic setting that is dominated by
lake and basin-fill sediments that have been past sources of borate
and salt production. The basin is bounded on its south and east
sides by Tertiary-age volcanic rocks, including some that are
considered to be potential source rocks for lithium.
The approximately 11,200 acre Columbus Basin
Project was acquired through staking in 2016, and is 100% owned by
URI through its subsidiaries. URI is presently advancing through a
series of exploration activities to determine the potential of
economic concentrations of lithium within the subsurface brines of
the basin.
About Uranium Resources
URI is focused on expanding its energy metals
strategy, which includes developing its new lithium business while
maintaining optionality on the future rising uranium price.
The Company has developed a dominant land position in two
prospective lithium brine basins in Nevada and Utah in preparation
for exploration and potential development of any lithium resources
that may be discovered there. In addition, URI remains
focused on advancing the Temrezli in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium
project in Central Turkey when uranium prices permit economic
development of this project. URI controls extensive exploration
properties in Turkey under eight exploration and operating licenses
covering approximately 39,000 acres (over 16,000 ha) with numerous
exploration targets, including the potential satellite Sefaatli
Project, which is 30 miles (48 km) southwest of the Temrezli
Project. In Texas, the Company has two licensed and currently idled
uranium processing facilities and approximately 11,000 acres (4,400
ha) of prospective ISR uranium projects. In New Mexico, the Company
controls mineral rights encompassing approximately 186,000 acres
(75,300 ha) in the prolific Grants Mineral Belt, which is one of
the largest concentrations of sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in
the world. Incorporated in 1977, URI also owns an extensive
information database of historic drill hole logs, assay
certificates, maps and technical reports for uranium properties
located in the Western United States.
Cautionary Statement
This news release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to
risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are identified by words
such as “expects,” “estimates,” “projects,” “anticipates,”
“believes,” “could,” and other similar words. All statements
addressing events or developments that the Company expects or
anticipates will occur in the future, including but not limited to
statements relating to developments at the Company’s projects,
including future exploration costs and results, the expected
approval and timing of the water rights applications and the
anticipated benefits of the acquired geophysical data, are
forward-looking statements. Because they are forward-looking,
they should be evaluated in light of important risk factors and
uncertainties. These risk factors and uncertainties include,
but are not limited to, (a) the Company’s ability to raise
additional capital in the future; (b) spot price and long-term
contract price of uranium and lithium; (c) risks associated with
our foreign operations, (d) operating conditions at the Company’s
projects; (e) government and tribal regulation of the uranium
industry, the lithium industry, and the power industry; (f)
world-wide uranium and lithium supply and demand, including the
supply and demand for lithium-based batteries; (g) maintaining
sufficient financial assurance in the form of sufficiently
collateralized surety instruments; (h) unanticipated geological,
processing, regulatory and legal or other problems the Company may
encounter in the jurisdictions where the Company operates,
including in Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and Turkey; (i) the
ability of the Company to enter into and successfully close
acquisitions or other material transactions; (j) the results
of the Company’s lithium brine exploration activities at the
Columbus Basin and Sal Rica Projects, and (k) other factors which
are more fully described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form
10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the Company’s
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary
materially from those currently anticipated. In addition, undue
reliance should not be placed on the Company’s forward-looking
statements. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any
obligation to update or publicly announce any revisions to any of
the forward-looking statements contained in this news release.
Competent Person’s
Statement
Technical information in this news release is
based on data reviewed by Matthew Hartmann, who is Director –
Technical Services of Uranium Resources, Inc. Mr. Hartmann is
a “Qualified Person” as defined by Canadian National Instrument
43-101, and a “Competent Person” as defined in the 2012 Edition of
the “Australasian Code for Reporting Exploration Results, Mineral
Resources and Ore Reserves” (JORC Code). He is a Licensed
Professional Geologist, and a Registered Member of the Society of
Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (No. 4170350RM). Mr.
Hartmann has appropriate experience that is relevant to the
evaluation of the style and nature of mineral deposits relating to
this document. Mr. Hartmann consents to the inclusion in this
release of the matters based on their information in the form and
context in which they appear.
Uranium Resources Contact:
Christopher M. Jones, President and CEO
303.531.0472
Jeff Vigil, VP Finance and CFO
303.531.0473
Email: Info@uraniumresources.com
Website: www.uraniumresources.com
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