LAKEWOOD, CO, Aug. 3, 2017 /CNW/ - Energy Fuels Inc.
(NYSE MKT:UUUU; TSX:EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the "Company"),
today reported its financial results for the quarter ended
June 30, 2017. The Company's
quarterly report on Form 10-Q has been filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), and may be viewed on
the Electronic Document Gathering and Retrieval System ("EDGAR") at
www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, on the System for Electronic Document
Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") at www.sedar.com, and on the
Company's website at www.energyfuels.com. Unless noted otherwise,
all dollar amounts are in US dollars.
Financial Highlights:
- At June 30, 2017, the Company had
$34.2 million of working capital,
including cash and cash equivalents of $18.7
million and approximately 370,000 pounds of uranium
concentrate inventory.
- 300,000 pounds of U3O8 sales were
completed by the Company at an average realized price of
$50.14 per pound.
- Uranium production totaled 112,000 pounds of
U3O8 during the quarter.
Stephen P. Antony, Energy
Fuels' CEO stated: "Energy Fuels realized strong sales during
the quarter from its portfolio of term uranium contracts. As
a result of these sales, capital management, and other sources of
revenue, we have been able to maintain a strong working capital
position and overall balance sheet. The flexibility of our White
Mesa Mill is again proving to be a key asset to the Company, as we
pursue various revenue-generating opportunities that have the
potential to meaningfully strengthen the Company's finances in the
future, including processing additional alternate feed materials,
potentially earning fees from land cleanups, as well as potentially
recovering copper and vanadium. Indeed, vanadium prices have
moved sharply higher in recent months. Energy Fuels has
considerable idle vanadium production capacity, as a co-product of
uranium production at certain of our mines which are currently on
standby, that we could deploy within a relatively short period of
time to capture continued and sustained strength in these
markets."
Key Developments:
The Company continued the resource evaluation program at its
Canyon Mine, which has been identifying large areas of high-grade
uranium and copper mineralization over the past several
months. The Company expects to announce a new resource
estimate for the Canyon Mine during Q3-2017 that is expected to
increase and upgrade the uranium resource and add significant
copper resources. The Company also made significant progress
in identifying a pathway to monetizing the copper resources.
On July 1, 2017, Mark Chalmers was appointed as the Company's
President and Chief Operating Officer, with Stephen Antony continuing as Chief Executive
Officer.
Mr. Antony continued: "The Company's uranium recovery
operations continued to perform well. We also continue to
believe that the Canyon Mine, when brought into production, will
have low overall costs per pound, in-line with the lowest cost
conventional uranium mines operating in the world today, and we are
identifying low-cost methods with our significant existing
infrastructure at the White Mesa Mill to monetize the copper that
have the potential to further reduce our uranium cost-per-pound.
Energy Fuels is truly unique in the U.S. uranium sector. We
have term uranium sales contracts and other ways to generate
revenues. These are providing us with some protection in
today's weak uranium market. At the same time, we have a portfolio
of fully-permitted and developed projects ready to quickly increase
the Company's low-cost uranium production in improving
markets."
Selected Summary Financial Information:
|
|
|
$000, except per
share data
|
Six months ended
June 30, 2017
|
Six months ended
June 30, 2016
|
Results of
Operations:
|
|
|
|
Total
revenues
|
$
|
21,639
|
$
|
25,002
|
|
Gross
profit
|
6,540
|
7,141
|
|
Net loss attributable
to the company
|
(14,978)
|
(19,216)
|
|
Basic and diluted
loss per share
|
(0.22)
|
(0.38)
|
|
|
|
$000's
|
As at June 30,
2017
|
As at December
31,
2016
|
Financial
Position:
|
|
|
|
Working
capital
|
$
|
34,208
|
$
|
24,023
|
|
Property, plant and
equipment
|
34,762
|
37,582
|
|
Mineral
properties
|
83,539
|
92,625
|
|
Total
assets
|
188,296
|
196,457
|
|
Total long-term
liabilities
|
47,853
|
46,487
|
Operations and Sales Outlook:
The Company plans to extract and/or recover uranium from the
following sources in 2017 (each of which is more fully described
below):
|
1)
|
Nichols Ranch ISR
Project;
|
|
2)
|
Alternate feed
materials and pond returns at the White Mesa Mill (the
"Mill").
|
Extraction and Recovery Activities – Overview
The Company expects to produce a total of 640,000 to 675,000
pounds in the year ending December 31,
2017 of which 204,000 pounds U3O8 were
produced in the first half of the year. The Company is maintaining
its previous guidance of 675,000 within a range, to allow for
uncertainty in the estimates.
Extraction and Recovery – ISR Uranium Operations
During the first half of 2017, we recovered 138,000 pounds of
uranium from Nichols Ranch. Production is expected to be somewhat
lower than previously forecast due to normal production declines
and cost-saving measures the Company is implementing in today's
weak uranium price environment. The Nichols Ranch wellfields have
nine header houses extracting uranium. The ninth header house began
extracting uranium in March 2017.
Extraction and Recovery – Milling Operations
In the first half of 2017, we recovered 66,000 pounds of uranium
at the Mill for our own account. In addition, during 2017, the
Company expects to earn a fee for processing approximately 1.0
million pounds of U3O8 contained in alternate
feed materials at the Mill, returning all finished uranium product
to the generator of the feed material. During the six months ended
June 30, 2017, the Company completed
the processing of 466,000 pounds of this material. We expect
production from the White Mesa Mill to be somewhat higher than
previously forecast, mainly due to higher-than-expected recoveries
from pond returns, and to partially or wholly offset the lower than
expected production from Nichols Ranch.
The Company is actively pursuing opportunities to process new
and additional alternate feed sources, low grade ore from third
parties in connection with various uranium clean-up requirements,
and further recovery of pond return. Successful results from these
activities would allow the Mill to extend the current campaign into
2018 and beyond.
The Canyon Mine
The Company substantially completed shaft sinking and
underground evaluation drilling activities in March 2017 at the Canyon Mine which has resulted
in a reduction in the workforce at this project at this time.
The Company is actively processing and reviewing the drilling
results in order to further define the mineralization, develop mine
plans, and evaluate the Mill's ability to recover a salable copper
product from the significant copper mineralization the Company has
identified. Through evaluation activities completed to date, the
Company has identified zones of high-grade uranium and copper
mineralization within the deposit. The Company plans to issue an
updated NI 43-101 compliant technical report in Q3-2017.
Sales and Other Revenue
In the six months ended June 30,
2017, the Company completed deliveries of 360,000 pounds of
U3O8 under four contracts. In the second half
of the year, the Company expects to complete deliveries of 160,000
pounds of U3O8 under two contracts. The
Company is currently monitoring market conditions for additional
sales opportunities. Selective additional spot sales may be made as
necessary to generate cash for operations and development
activities.
During the year ending December 31,
2017, the Company expects to earn approximately $6.5 million in toll revenue for processing
certain alternate feed materials for a third party of which
$3.1 million was earned in the first
half of 2017. The Company also continues to pursue new sources of
revenue, including additional alternate feed materials, toll
processing of alternate feed materials, and other sources of feed
for the Mill.
Stephen P. Antony, P.E., 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.
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 from 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".
ADDITIONAL NON-US GAAP FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES
The Company has included the additional non-US GAAP measure
"Gross Profit" in the financial statements and in this news
release. Management notes that "Gross Profit" provides useful
information to investors as an indication of the Company's
principal business activities before consideration of how those
activities are financed, sustaining capital expenditures, corporate
and exploration and evaluation expenses, finance income and costs,
and taxation.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT 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 with respect to: production, revenue and
sales forecasts; the Company's expectations as to the evaluation
and preparation of a revised NI 43-101 Report for the Canyon
Project; expectations that drill results at the Canyon Project
could result in an expansion of the previously estimated mineral
resource and/or identification of a significant copper resource;
whether all or a portion of any copper resource at the Canyon
Project can be recovered at the White Mesa Mill or elsewhere;
expectations relating to mining costs at the Canyon Project and the
performance of wellfields at the Nichols Ranch Project;
scalability, and the Company's ability and readiness to re-start or
expand any of its existing projects to respond to any improvements
in uranium market conditions; the expectation that the Company will
earn a reasonable margin on any of its alternate feed material or
other processing activities; the ability of the Company to secure
any new sources of alternate feed materials or other processing
opportunities at the White Mesa Mill; the ability of the Company to
manage its activities and assets conservatively under current
market conditions while maintaining its uranium resource base and
recovery capabilities; the ability of the Company to enjoy some
insulation from spot market weakness; the ability of the Company to
enter into suitable sales contracts in the future; expected
timelines for the permitting and development of projects; mineral
resource estimates; the Company's expectations as to longer term
fundamentals in the market and price projections; the Company's
expectations as to expenditures and cost reductions; and
expectations to become or maintain its position as a leading
uranium company in the United
States. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"plans", "expects" "does not expect", "is expected", "is likely",
"budget" "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends",
"anticipates", "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations
of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or
results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken",
"occur", "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 include risks associated with:
production, revenue and sales forecasts; the Company's expectations
as to the evaluation and preparation of a revised NI 43-101 Report
for the Canyon Project; expectations that drill results at the
Canyon Project could result in an expansion of the previously
estimated mineral resource and/or identification of a significant
copper resource; whether all or a portion of any copper resource at
the Canyon Project can be recovered at the White Mesa Mill or
elsewhere; expectations relating to mining costs at the Canyon
Project and the performance of wellfields at the Nichols Ranch
Project; scalability, and the Company's ability and readiness to
re-start or expand any of its existing projects to respond to any
improvements in uranium market conditions; the expectation that the
Company will earn a reasonable margin on any of its alternate feed
material or other processing activities; the ability of the Company
to secure any new sources of alternate feed materials or other
processing opportunities at the White Mesa Mill; the ability of the
Company to manage its activities and assets conservatively under
current market conditions while maintaining its uranium resource
base and recovery capabilities; the ability of the Company to enjoy
some insulation from spot market weakness; the ability of the
Company to enter into suitable sales contracts in the future;
expected timelines for the permitting and development of projects;
mineral resource estimates; the Company's expectations as to longer
term fundamentals in the market and price projections; the
Company's expectations as to expenditures and cost reductions; and
expectations to become or maintain its position as a leading
uranium company in the United
States; and the other factors described under the caption
"Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K dated
March 9, 2017, which is available for
review on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com, and on the Company's website at
www.energyfuels.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. The Company assumes no obligation to
update the information in this communication, except as otherwise
required by law.
SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.