LITTLETON, Colo., May 6, 2015 /CNW/ -- Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSE
MKT:URG, TSX:URE) ("Ur-Energy" or the "Company") is pleased to
announce a new and increased mineral resource estimate for the Lost
Creek Property, Sweetwater County,
Wyoming. This increase is due to an updated resource
estimation for Ur-Energy's operating Mine Unit 1 ("MU1"), as well
as new resources encountered in recent exploratory drilling within
the Lost Creek Property. The Lost Creek Property consists of six
contiguous project areas totaling approximately 42,000 acres (see
map). The exploration drilling was conducted on Lost Creek and LC
East lands.
Lost Creek Project MU 1 Resource Estimate
The Company has been operating the Lost Creek Mine since
August 2013 and, to date, over one
million pounds of uranium have been captured in the plant from MU1.
Mineral resources for the mine unit have been re-estimated to
reflect additional geologic data gathered from continued wellfield
drilling and to reconcile higher-than-expected uranium recoveries
from production operations. Uranium recovery from the first five
production units (header houses) has exceeded the related original
resource estimates, and uranium recovery from all five units
continues today at grades which remain above original projections.
The new resource estimate results from analyses of data from an
additional 85 close-spaced wells and core holes, the detailed
remapping of mineralized trends within ten sand horizons, and the
lowering of grade-thickness (GT) cut-offs from 0.30 to 0.20 within
the Company's GT contouring resource estimation technique. These
recalculations and analyses estimate MU1 mineral resources to be
increased by 2.308 million pounds of uranium, averaging 0.058%
U3O8. This represents a 95% increase to
the MU1 resources reported in the December
30, 2013 National Instrument 43-101 technical report
authored by TREC, Inc. and titled "Preliminary Economic
Assessment of the Lost Creek Property, Sweetwater County,
Wyoming."
|
MINERAL RESOURCES
AT LOST CREEK MINE UNIT 1
|
MU1
December 2013
PEA
|
MU1
April 2015
Re-Estimation
|
Measured
Resources
|
Measured
Resources
|
Ave. Grade
%
U3O8
|
Short Tons
(x1000)
|
Pounds
(x1000)
|
Ave. Grade
%
U3O8
|
Short Tons
(x1000)
|
Pounds
(x1000)
|
0.066
|
1.839
|
2.428
|
0.058
|
4.083
|
4.736
|
As well, because of the close-spaced nature of the pattern
wells, the drill hole density within the operating mine unit is
sufficient to classify all resources in MU1 as Measured Resources
as defined in Section 1.2 of Canadian National Instrument 43-101
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43‑101) and
the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM)
Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves
(CIM Definition Standards, May 2014).
There is not yet a re-estimation of existing resources elsewhere on
the Property based upon the lowered GT cut-off, although Company
geologists will be working on this in coming months. Without
additional close-spaced drilling on the other project areas, as
well as related detailed mapping and analyses, it is not expected
that the lowered GT cut-off, alone, will result in such significant
increases to the other existing resources.
Jeffrey Klenda, Executive
Director and Acting CEO commented, "I regard this increase in
resource as being highly significant because it is derived
primarily from our actual production experience. Together with
solid drill results thus far in our exploration program, this
furthers our 2015 objective to identify increased resources and
define operational scalability at Lost Creek."
Lost Creek Property
Resources Estimated from 2015 Exploration Drill
Program
Exploration drilling was conducted during Q1 2015 immediately
south and adjacent to MU1 within the Lost Creek and LC East
Projects. Ninety-one exploratory holes, totaling 55,085 feet of
drilling, were completed for the purpose of characterizing three
previously-identified mineralized sand units (FG, HJ and KM).
Exploration drilling was conducted along drill hole fences spaced
at 400-foot intervals along projected mineralized trends.
Thirty-four of the 91 drill holes encountered uranium intercepts
with GTs of 0.20 or stronger. Because of the relatively
wide-spaced drilling, the application of the CIM Definition
Standards resulted in the majority of the new resources being
classified as Inferred Resources. Using a 0.20 GT cut-off,
Company geologists estimated a total of 100,000 new pounds of
Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources and 300,000 new pounds of
Inferred Mineral Resources. The 150-hole exploration drilling
program was suspended in compliance with Wyoming State Sage Grouse
seasonal restrictions and is anticipated to be completed during
third quarter 2015. A breakdown of the additional resources
from the exploration drilling follows:
UNIT
|
MEASURED
|
INDICATED
|
INFERRED
|
AVG GRADE
%
eU3O8
|
SHORT TONS
|
POUNDS
|
AVG GRADE
%
eU3O8
|
SHORT TONS
|
POUNDS
|
AVG GRADE
%
eU3O8
|
SHORT TONS
|
POUNDS
|
FG
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
0.035
|
139,946
|
97,962
|
HJ
|
0.040
|
20,738
|
16,590
|
0.039
|
112,656
|
87,872
|
0.033
|
256,841
|
169,515
|
KM
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
0.029
|
28,060
|
16,275
|
0.040
|
36,004
|
28,803
|
TOTAL
|
0.040
|
20,738
|
16,590
|
0.037
|
140,716
|
104,147
|
0.034
|
432,791
|
296,280
|
An updated NI 43-101 technical report whose purpose is to update
the Lost Creek Property resource estimate within the Preliminary
Economic Assessment of the Lost Creek Property, Sweetwater County, Wyoming, will be filed
on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release. Mr.
John Cooper, Project Geologist with
Ur-Energy, P.Geo., SME Registered Member, and a Qualified Person as
defined by NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical
disclosure contained in this news release. Mr. Cooper has verified
the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the mineral
resource estimate disclosed here.
About Ur-Energy
Ur-Energy is a uranium mining company operating the Lost Creek
in-situ recovery uranium facility in south-central
Wyoming. The Lost Creek processing
facility has a two million pounds per year nameplate design
capacity. Shirley Basin, our
newest project, is one of the Pathfinder Mines assets we acquired
in 2013. Baseline studies necessary for permitting and licensing of
the project are currently being advanced. Ur-Energy is engaged in
uranium mining, recovery and processing activities, including the
acquisition, exploration, development and operation of uranium
mineral properties in the United
States. Shares of Ur-Energy trade on the NYSE MKT under the
symbol "URG" and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol
"URE." Ur-Energy's corporate office is located in Littleton, Colorado; its registered office is
in Ottawa, Ontario. Ur-Energy's
website is www.ur-energy.com.
|
FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
|
|
Rich Boberg, Director
IR/PR
|
|
Jeff Klenda,
Executive Director and Acting CEO
|
866-981-4588
|
|
866-981-4588
|
rich.boberg@ur-energy.com
|
|
jeff.klenda@ur-energy.com
|
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information:
This release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of applicable securities laws regarding events or
conditions that may occur in the future (e.g., whether the
mineral resources may be further developed to become a part of the
production at Lost Creek; the potential to develop additional
resources at Lost Creek Property; the scalability of Lost Creek;
the technical and economic viability of Lost Creek; and the
amenability of certain of the resources to in situ recovery
methods) and are based on current expectations that, while
considered reasonable by management at this time, inherently
involve a number of significant business, economic and competitive
risks, uncertainties and contingencies. Factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, capital and other costs
varying significantly from estimates; failure to establish
estimated resources and reserves; the grade and recovery of ore
which is mined varying from estimates; production rates, methods
and amounts varying from estimates; delays in obtaining or failures
to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project
approvals; inflation; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in
development and other factors described in the public filings made
by the Company at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov. Readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the
beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date
hereof and Ur-Energy disclaims any intent or obligation to update
them or revise them to reflect any change in circumstances or in
management's beliefs, expectations or opinions that occur in the
future.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors: The terms
"mineral resource," "measured mineral resource," and "indicated
mineral resource," as used in this news release are Canadian mining
terms that are defined in accordance with National Instrument
43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI
43-101"). These Canadian terms are not defined terms under United
States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Industry Guide 7
and are normally not permitted to be used in reports and
registration statements filed with the SEC by U.S. registered
companies. The SEC permits U.S. companies, in their filings
with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a
company can economically and legally extract or produce.
Accordingly, note that information contained in this news release
describing the Company's "mineral resources" is not directly
comparable to information made public by U.S. companies subject to
reporting requirements under U.S. securities laws. U.S.
investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the
mineral resources in these categories will ever be converted into
Mineral Reserves. U.S. investors are urged to consider
closely the disclosure in our Form 10-K which may be secured from
us, or online at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
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SOURCE Ur-Energy Inc.