Energy Fuels is a leading U.S. producer of
uranium and vanadium and expects to soon enter the rare earth
elements processing business
LAKEWOOD, Colo., Oct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Energy Fuels
Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels"),
a leading producer of uranium and vanadium in the United
States, is pleased to announce that last night President Trump
issued an Executive Order on Addressing the Threat to the
Domestic Supply Chain from Reliance on Critical Minerals from
Foreign Adversaries (the "Order"). The full text of the
Order can be found here; President Trump's message to Congress can
be found here; and, a fact sheet summarizing the Executive Order
can be found here. The Company believes the Order may be a major
step toward providing tangible support and/or funding to be
directed toward producers and processors of critical minerals,
which may include Energy Fuels.
In 2018, the Secretary of Interior issued a final list of 35
minerals deemed critical to U.S. national security and the economy,
which can be found here. The list includes uranium, vanadium, and
the rare earth elements group. Energy Fuels has been the leading
U.S. producer of uranium since 2017, and the Company's assets have
produced over 16 million pounds of uranium since 2006, placing the
Company second only to Cameco in the U.S. In 2019, Energy Fuels
produced 1.8 million pounds of high-purity vanadium, making the
Company the largest producer of vanadium in the U.S. last year.
Earlier this year, the Company announced its plan to enter into the
rare earths processing business, where the Company believes its
White Mesa Mill can play a critical role in bringing the rare earth
element supply chain back to the U.S. At the end of 2020, the
Company expects to hold significant inventories of both uranium and
vanadium that have been produced in the U.S.
The Order was signed pursuant to the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act, the National Energencies Act, and section 301
of title 3, United States Code, which includes the declaration of a
national emergency "to deal with the threat posed by our Nation's
undue reliance on critical minerals, in processed or unprocessed
form, from foreign adversaries."
The Order requires "the Secretary of Interior, in consultation
with the Secretary of Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the
Secretary of Commerce, and the heads of other executive departments
and agencies, as appropriate, to investigate our Nation's undue
reliance on critical minerals…." Following this investigation, the
Secretary of Interior shall submit a report to the President within
sixty (60) days recommending additional executive actions, "which
may include the imposition of tariffs or quotas, other import
restrictions …, or other appropriate action, consistent with
applicable law."
Importantly for Energy Fuels, the Order also "begins the process
for the Department of Interior to develop a program to use its
authorities under the Defense Production Act ("DPA") to fund
mineral processing that protects our national security." Energy
Fuels holds over 11.5 million pounds of licensed uranium processing
capacity in three facilities, including two in situ recovery
("ISR") uranium facilities and the White Mesa Mill, which is
the only conventional uranium and vanadium processing facility in
the United States. This is more
uranium processing capacity than any other U.S. uranium company,
and Energy Fuels holds more in-ground uranium resources than any
other U.S. uranium miner.
Mark S. Chalmers, President and
CEO of Energy Fuels stated: "President Trump made a strong
statement last night on the importance of bringing the production
of critical minerals back to the United
States. In 2018, the Administration deemed 35 minerals
critical to U.S. national security and the economy. For 31 of these
35 minerals, the U.S. imports more than half of our requirements.
And, for 14 of these 35 minerals, the U.S. is effectively 100%
dependent on imports. These minerals are needed for aerospace,
computers, cell phones, electrical generation and transmission,
renewable energy systems and batteries, and advanced electronics.
This is an unacceptable situation for a superpower like
the United States, and we applaud
President Trump for taking bold action to address this critical
need.
"Energy Fuels stands ready to do our part in bringing uranium,
vanadium and rare earth element processing and production back to
the United States. We have led
uranium industry efforts in Washington
DC over the past three years to bring the issue of mineral
supply chain security to the forefront, beginning with our Uranium
Section 232 Petition, in which we asked the President to impose
quotas on uranium imports. Unfortunately, despite expressing strong
support for domestic uranium producers, the Administration has not
yet turned their strong support into definitive actions. Energy
Fuels strongly supports the President's declaration of a national
emergency and invoking the Defense Production Act to free up the
immediate government funding required to bring uranium production
back to the United States and
reduce our current dependency on imports from foreign adversaries,
while also helping to fund U.S. vanadium and rare earth element
production.
"Energy Fuels will continue our efforts in Washington, DC towards seeing that last
night's announcement results in real, tangible support for U.S.
uranium, vanadium and rare earth element producers."
About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is a leading
US-based uranium mining company, supplying
U3O8 to major nuclear utilities. The Company
also produces vanadium from certain of its projects, as market
conditions warrant, and is evaluating the potential to also
recover rare earth elements at its White Mesa Mill. Its
corporate offices are near Denver,
Colorado, and all of its assets and employees are in
the United States. Energy Fuels
holds three of America's key uranium production centers, the White
Mesa Mill in Utah, the Nichols
Ranch ISR Project in Wyoming, and
the Alta Mesa ISR Project in Texas. The White Mesa Mill is the only
conventional uranium mill operating in the U.S. today, has a
licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of
U3O8 per year, and has the ability to produce
vanadium when market conditions warrant. The Nichols Ranch ISR
Project is on standby and has a licensed capacity of 2 million
pounds of U3O8 per year. The Alta Mesa ISR
Project is also on standby and has a licensed capacity of 1.5
million pounds of U3O8 per year. In addition
to the above production facilities, Energy Fuels also has one of
the largest NI 43-101 compliant uranium resource portfolios in the
U.S., and several uranium and uranium/vanadium mining projects on
standby and in various stages of permitting and development. The
primary trading market for Energy Fuels' common shares is the NYSE
American under the trading symbol "UUUU", and the Company's common
shares are also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the
trading symbol "EFR." Energy Fuels' website is
www.energyfuels.com.
Cautionary Notes: This news release
contains certain "Forward Looking Information" and "Forward Looking
Statements" within the meaning of applicable United States and Canadian securities
legislation, which may include, but is not limited to, statements
with respect to: any expectation that the Order may be a
major step toward providing tangible support and/or funding to be
directed toward producers and processors of critical minerals,
which may include Energy Fuels; any expectation that the Company's
White Mesa Mill can play a critical role in bringing the rare earth
element supply chain back to the U.S.; any expectation that the
Order may help to fund U.S. uranium, vanadium and/or rare earth
element production; any expectation as to how or to the extent the
Order may be implemented and that the Order may result in
real, tangible support for U.S. uranium, vanadium and rare earth
element producers; any expection as to any inventories of both
uranium and vanadium that the Company may hold at any time; and any
expectation that the Company may to soon enter the rare earth
elements processing business. 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," "budgets," "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:
any expectation that the Order may be a major step toward
providing tangible support and/or funding to be directed toward
producers and processors of critical minerals, which may include
Energy Fuels; any expectation that the Company's White Mesa Mill
can play a critical role in bringing the rare earth element supply
chain back to the U.S.; any expectation that the Order may help to
fund U.S. uranium, vanadium and/or rare earth element production;
any expectation as to how or to the extent the Order may be
implemented and that the Order may result in real, tangible
support for U.S. uranium, vanadium and rare earth element
producers; any expection as to any inventories of both uranium and
vanadium that the Company may hold at any time; any expectation
that the Company may to soon enter the rare earth elements
processing business; and the other factors described
under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recently
filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, 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.
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/energy-fuels-applauds-president-trumps-executive-order-declaring-state-of-emergency-to-address-americas-overreliance-on-critical-minerals-from-foreign-adversaries-includes-uranium-vanadium-and-rare-earth-elements-301144407.html
SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.