- Total uranium resources at Energy Fuels' Canyon Mine
increased by approximately 1 million pounds of
U3O8.
- Nearly all of the uranium resources upgraded from the
inferred category to the measured and indicated
categories.
- Approximately 12 million pounds of measured and indicated
copper resources identified in the main zone of the deposit with an
average grade of 5.9% Cu.
- The Canyon Mine is a fully-permitted, conventional
uranium/copper mine located in Arizona with all upfront development
construction, including a production shaft, substantially
completed.
- The Company's 100%-owned White Mesa Mill, the only operating
conventional uranium mill in the U.S., is immediately available to
recover uranium and has significant infrastructure in place which
can potentially be used for copper recovery.
LAKEWOOD, CO, Aug. 23, 2017 /CNW/ - 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 the results of an independent
mineral resource estimate (the "Resource Estimate") by Roscoe
Postle Associates Inc. in accordance with CIM Definition Standards
(2014) in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure
for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") for its 100%-owned Canyon
Mine Project located in Coconino County,
Arizona (the "Canyon Mine"). This Resource Estimate will be
supported by a NI 43-101 Technical Report that will be filed within
45 days under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
The Resource Estimate significantly increases the pounds of
uranium contained in the Canyon Mine over previously reported
estimates. It also upgrades a large portion of the resources from
the inferred category to the measured and indicated categories. The
Resource Estimate also quantifies significant copper resources. In
total, the Canyon Mine is estimated to contain 139,000 tons of
Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources with an average grade of
0.88% U3O8 containing 2,434,000 pounds of
uranium. Additionally, the Resource Estimate identifies another
134,000 pounds of uranium in the Inferred Mineral Resource
category. The Company believes there is the strong potential to
grow the resources in the future through further underground
drilling and evaluation. Please refer to the table below for a full
description of the resources at the Canyon Mine.
In the zone containing both uranium and copper (the "Main
Zone"), 101,000 tons of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources
with an average grade of 0.86% U3O8 and 5.93%
Cu, containing 1,725,000 pounds of uranium and 11,939,000 pounds of
copper using a 0.36% U3O8 equivalent cutoff
grade have been estimated. The uranium equivalent cutoff grade used
for the Main Zone is different from the other zones, as the
presence of copper requires different methods of processing.
The zones containing only uranium (the "Upper Zone" and the
"Juniper Zone") are estimated to contain 38,000 tons of Measured
and Indicated Mineral Resources with an average grade of 0.94%
U3O8 containing 709,000 pounds of
U3O8, using a 0.29%
U3O8 cutoff grade.
The Canyon Mine is a fully-permitted and substantially-developed
uranium/copper mine located in Northern
Arizona. To date, substantially all surface development at
the mine has been installed, including a headframe, hoist,
maintenance facility, ore pad and evaporation pond. In addition,
the 8-foot by 20-foot production shaft has been completed to a
depth of approximately 1,452-feet, and some initial horizontal
underground development has been constructed as shown in the figure
below.
The Company's 100%-owned White Mesa Mill, the
only fully-permitted and operating conventional uranium mill in the
U.S., is currently available to process the uranium resources once
the Canyon Mine goes into production. Activities at the mine site
are currently at reduced levels while final underground mine
planning and evaluation is being completed. When the mine goes into
production in the future, the Company believes the Canyon Mine will
have all-in costs that are in-line with the lowest-cost
conventional uranium mines in the World today.
In addition, the Company believes it has identified reasonable
options for processing the copper resources from the Canyon Mine at
its White Mesa Mill. The mineralized copper material is expected to
be processed using acid leach (the same method that is used for
uranium) followed by one of several options available to extract
the copper out of solution and made into a saleable product. Copper
processing is expected to require some additional equipment and
circuit modifications at the White Mesa Mill, and depending on the
option chosen, possibly some additional licensing actions.
Bench-scale metallurgical testing has been ongoing since January at
Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill Laboratory, as well as at ANSTO, an
independent testing firm in Australia. Further metallurgical testing,
optimization, and evaluation is expected to continue into 2018. The
copper resources have the significant potential to add by-product
credits and lower the U3O8 cost per pound at
the Canyon Mine even further.
Stephen P. Antony, CEO of Energy
Fuels stated: "Today's announced report confirms Energy
Fuels' belief that the Canyon Mine is a valuable low-cost uranium
and copper project. Our investment in the underground core drilling
campaign completed in 2016 and early-2017 was highly successful, as
we were able to expand the estimated high-grade uranium resources
by approximately 1 million pounds, upgrade resources to the
Measured and Indicated categories, and identify 12 million pounds
of high-grade copper resources, the first ever for our company. In
addition, the Canyon Mine is differentiated from nearly every other
pre-production uranium project in the World today, because all
licensing and permitting has been completed, up-front development
has been substantially completed, and we own a fully-licensed and
operating uranium mill available to process the uranium resources
once the mine goes into production. We believe we are demonstrating
that the Canyon Mine is production-ready and competitive with any
conventional uranium mine globally."
The following table provides a full summarization of the Canyon
Mine Uranium and Copper Resource Estimate by RPA that will be
included in the new Technical Report. The effective date for
the Resource Estimate is June 17,
2017.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Main
Zone
|
Upper +
Juniper Zones
|
URANIUM
Total
|
COPPER
Total
|
Cutoff
Grade
|
0.36%
U3O8 equivalent
|
0.29%
U3O8
|
Measured
|
Tons
|
6,000
|
-
|
6,000
|
6,000
|
%
U3O8
|
0.43%
|
-
|
0.43%
|
-
|
Lbs.
U3O8
|
56,000
|
-
|
56,000
|
-
|
%
Cu
|
9.29%
|
-
|
-
|
9.29%
|
Lbs.
Cu
|
1,203,000
|
-
|
-
|
1,203,000
|
Indicated
|
Tons
|
94,000
|
38,000
|
132,000
|
94,000
|
%
U3O8
|
0.89%
|
0.94%
|
0.90%
|
-
|
Lbs.
U3O8
|
1,669,000
|
709,000
|
2,378,000
|
-
|
%
Cu
|
5.70%
|
-
|
-
|
5.70%
|
Lbs.
Cu
|
10,736,000
|
-
|
-
|
10,736,000
|
Measured
+ Indicated
|
Tons
|
101,000
|
38,000
|
139,000
|
101,000
|
%
U3O8
|
0.86%
|
0.94%
|
0.88%
|
-
|
Lbs.
U3O8
|
1,725,000
|
709,000
|
2,434,000
|
-
|
%
Cu
|
5.93%
|
-
|
-
|
5.93%
|
Lbs.
Cu
|
11,939,000
|
-
|
-
|
11,939,000
|
Inferred
|
Tons
|
5,000
|
13,000
|
18,000
|
5,000
|
%
U3O8
|
0.20%
|
0.44%
|
0.38%
|
-
|
Lbs.
U3O8
|
20,000
|
114,000
|
134,000
|
-
|
%
Cu
|
5.90%
|
-
|
-
|
5.90%
|
Lbs.
Cu
|
570,000
|
-
|
-
|
570,000
|
Notes:
|
|
1)
|
CIM definitions
(2014) were followed for mineral resources.
|
2)
|
The metal prices used
for this estimate were $60.00 per pound U3O8
and $3.50 per pound Cu.
|
3)
|
Process recoveries
used were 96% for U3O8 and 90% for Cu, based
on preliminary metallurgical test work.
|
4)
|
Copper grades were
converted to U3O8 equivalent grades by
dividing copper grades (Cu%) by 18.19.
|
5)
|
U3O8 was estimated within a
nominal 0.15% U3O8 grade envelope, and Cu was
estimated within a nominal 1.0% Cu grade envelope.
|
6)
|
No minimum mining
width was used (4 ft3 blocks were used in the block
model).
|
7)
|
Bulk density is 0.082
tons/ft3 (12.2 ft3/ton or 2.63 t/m3).
|
8)
|
Numbers may not add
due to rounding.
|
Mark Mathisen, C.P.G. is a
Principal Geologist, Valerie Wilson,
M.Sc., P. Geo is a Senior Geologist and Jeffrey Woods, SME, MMSA is a Principal
Consulting Metallurgist at Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. They
are Qualified Persons as defined by Canadian National Instrument
43-101 and have reviewed and approved the technical disclosure of
the Mineral Resources 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".
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: the Company's expectations
as to the evaluation and preparation of a revised NI 43-101
Technical Report for the Canyon Project; the resource estimates
described in this press release; expectations that there is
a strong potential to grow the resources in the future through
further underground drilling and evaluation; the Company's
belief that it has identified reasonable options for processing the
copper resources at its White Mesa Mill; any additional licensing
that may be required to process copper at the Mill and whether it
can be obtained in a timely manner; the expectation that the copper
resources have the strong potential to add by-product credits and
lower the cost of production at the mine; expectations relating to
mining costs at the Canyon Project and that the mine is
production–ready and competitive with any conventional uranium mine
globally; 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: the
Company's expectations as to the evaluation and preparation of a
revised NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Canyon Project; the
resource estimates described in this press release; expectations
that there is a strong potential to grow the resources in
the future through further underground drilling and
evaluation; the Company's belief that it has identified
reasonable options for processing the copper resources at its White
Mesa Mill; any additional licensing that may be required to process
copper at the Mill and whether it can be obtained in a timely
manner; the expectation that the copper resources have the strong
potential to add by-product credits and lower the cost of
production at the mine; expectations relating to mining costs at
the Canyon Project and that the mine is production–ready and
competitive with any conventional uranium mine globally; 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.
Cautionary note to United
States investors concerning estimates of measured, indicated
and inferred resources. 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 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, 2016 for
further details.
SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.