LAKEWOOD, CO, March 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Energy Fuels
Inc. (NYSE MKT: UUUU; TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the
"Company"), a leading producer of uranium in the United States, is pleased to announce that
it has received the final amendment to the Source Material License
(the "License Amendment") for the expansion of its Nichols Ranch
ISR Project ("Nichols Ranch") from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission ("NRC"). With this License Amendment in hand, the
Company now holds all of the permits, licenses, and approvals
required to expand the Nichols Ranch ISR Project into the Jane
Dough wellfields in the future. Nichols Ranch is a currently
producing in situ recovery ("ISR") uranium project, located
in northeast Wyoming. All of the Company's uranium production
is sold into the global uranium market and used for the generation
of clean, carbon-free nuclear energy.
The License Amendment for the Jane Dough expansion was issued by
the NRC on March 22, 2017. In
support of the License Amendment, the NRC prepared an Environmental
Assessment ("EA"), a Safety Evaluation Report ("SER"), and a
Finding of No Significant Impact ("FONSI"). This final NRC
approval for the Jane Dough expansion follows final U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and Wyoming Department of
Environmental Quality ("WDEQ") approval of the aquifer exemption,
as previously announced by the Company on February 17, 2017. In addition on
March 7, 2017, the Company received
final approval from the WDEQ Land Quality Division ("LQD") for an
amendment that added the Jane Dough wellfield to the mine permit
for Nichols Ranch.
The Jane Dough wellfield, which is adjacent to Energy Fuels'
currently producing Nichols Ranch wellfield, is important to
sustain the Company's long-term uranium production at Nichols
Ranch. The Company is currently producing uranium from the
Nichols Ranch wellfield and expects nine (9) header-houses to be in
operation during 2017 producing a total of approximately 350,000
pounds of U3O8. The Nichols Ranch
wellfield includes four (4) additional header-houses, which are
expected to be constructed in the future, but only after sustained
improvements in uranium prices are observed. Once all
thirteen (13) header-houses in the Nichols Ranch wellfield have
been constructed, the Company expects to advance production at
Nichols Ranch into the Jane Dough wellfield, which contains
twenty-two (22) header-houses that can be connected to the Nichols
Ranch Plant.
According to a February 2015
technical report ("Technical Report") prepared in accordance with
Canadian National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure
for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), the Jane Dough wellfield is
estimated to hold approximately 3.6 million pounds of uranium,
contained in 1.5 million tons of Indicated Mineral Resources with
an average grade of 0.11% eU3O8. This
is almost 1 million more pounds of uranium than what the Technical
Report originally estimated to be contained in the currently
producing Nichols Ranch wellfields.
Stephen P. Antony, President and
CEO of Energy Fuels stated: "Receipt of NRC approval is a key
milestone for Energy Fuels, as it ensures we are able to produce
uranium from our Nichols Ranch ISR Project over the long-term as
market conditions warrant. I would like to recognize our
internal permitting and ISR operations teams for their hard work in
obtaining the various government approvals, licenses and permits
from the NRC, EPA, and State of
Wyoming for this important project. In my view,
obtaining these approvals is validation of Energy Fuels' successful
track-record of uranium production in Wyoming, and our commitment to safe operations
and environmental protection. Uranium spot prices are up over
40% since early December 2016, and we
are optimistic that we will continue to see positive market
catalysts as the year goes on. As uranium prices continue to
rise on a sustained basis, we expect to resume wellfield
construction at Nichols Ranch, which is expected to include the
Jane Dough wellfields in the future."
About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is a
leading integrated US-based uranium mining company, supplying
U3O8 to major nuclear utilities. Energy
Fuels holds three of America's key uranium production centers, the
White Mesa Mill in Utah, the
Nichols Ranch Processing Facility in Wyoming, and the Alta Mesa Project in
Texas. 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 ISR production center
with a licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of
U3O8 per year. Alta Mesa is an ISR production center currently
on care and maintenance. 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 also produces vanadium as a
co-product of its uranium production form certain of its mines on
the Colorado Plateau, as market conditions warrant. 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".
Stephen P. Antony, P.E., President & CEO of Energy
Fuels, is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian
National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the
technical disclosure contained in this news
release.
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 in the U.S.; the
Company's expectation that it now holds all permits required to
expand the Nichols Ranch ISR Project into the Jane Dough wellfields
in the future; the Jane Dough wellfields being important to sustain
the Company's long-term uranium production at Nichols Ranch; the
Company's expectations regarding production at the Nichols Ranch
Project in 2017; the Company's expectations with regard to the
sequencing of header-houses and wellfields including resuming
wellfield construction, and advancing production at Nichols Ranch
into the Jane Dough wellfields in the future; resource estimates;
expectations about seeing positive market catalysts as the year
goes on; 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: the
Company being a leading producer of uranium in the U.S.; the
Company's expectation that it now holds all permits required to
expand the Nichols Ranch ISR Project into the Jane Dough wellfields
in the future; the Jane Dough wellfields being important to sustain
the Company's long-term uranium production at Nichols Ranch; the
Company's expectations regarding production at the Nichols Ranch
Project in 2017; the Company's expectations with regard to the
sequencing of header-houses and wellfields including resuming
wellfield construction, and advancing production at Nichols Ranch
into the Jane Dough wellfields in the future; resource estimates;
expectations about seeing positive market catalysts as the year
goes on; 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.
Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning
Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred
Resource: This news release contains certain
disclosure that has been prepared in accordance with the
requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the
requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise
indicated, all reserve and resource estimates included in this news
release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian National
Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects
("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and
Petroleum ("CIM") classification system. Canadian standards,
including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of
U.S. securities laws, and reserve and resource information
contained in this news release may not be comparable to similar
information disclosed by companies reporting only under U.S.
standards. In particular, the term "resource" does not equate
to the term "reserve" under SEC Industry Guide 7.
United States investors are
cautioned not to assume that all or any of Measured or Indicated
Mineral Resources will ever be converted into mineral
reserves. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or
any part of an "Inferred Mineral Resource" exists or is
economically or legally minable. Energy Fuels does not hold
any Reserves as that term is defined by SEC Industry Guide 7.
Please refer to the section entitled "Cautionary Note to United
States Investors Concerning Disclosure of Mineral Resources" in the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K dated March 9, 2017 for further details.
SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.