DENVER, Nov. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ur-Energy
Inc. (NYSE American: URG; TSX: URE) ("Ur-Energy") and Energy
Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU; TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels")
recently hosted a team of U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) Section
232 investigators at four uranium mines and mills in Utah and Wyoming. The tour was part of DOC's Section
232 investigation into the effects on national security of today's
high levels of uranium imports into the U.S.
The tour included stops in Utah
at Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill, which is the only operating
uranium mill in the U.S., and the La Sal Complex, which is one of
only two underground uranium mines currently operating in
North America. The tour also
included visits to two operating in-situ uranium recovery
(ISR) facilities in Wyoming:
Energy Fuels' Nichols Ranch ISR Project and Ur-Energy's Lost Creek
ISR Project.
"We were pleased to have the opportunity to show the DOC
investigators the high quality of our uranium production
facilities, the vast uranium resources we have in our portfolio of
projects, and the expertise and professionalism of our people,"
said Mark Chalmers, president and
CEO of Energy Fuels. "We clearly demonstrated that domestic
companies can supply the U.S. nuclear power industry and meet our
national security needs well into the future."
"We demonstrated to the Commerce team that the U.S. industry can
compete in a global market on a level playing field," said
Jeffrey Klenda, chair and CEO of
Ur-Energy. "We look forward to the DOC's findings and to President
Trump using his authority to take action to support a sustainable
domestic uranium mining industry."
Experts from the companies highlighted the following during the
tour:
- U.S. companies have substantial licensed, permitted, and
constructed mining and milling capacity that can ramp up production
quickly to meet the demand resulting from a quota that reserves 25
percent of the U.S. market for domestic uranium producers, one of
the remedies the companies asked the President to consider. U.S.
companies have spent considerable resources maintaining these
projects in a state of readiness, but it is becoming increasingly
difficult to do so. Without some level of support, licenses and
permits will be lost and uranium production facilities will go into
reclamation, likely never to return in the future.
- Energy Fuels, Ur-Energy, and other companies hold millions of
tons of in-ground uranium resources that we believe can be mined on
a sustainable basis for decades to come under such a quota remedy.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also confirmed that the U.S. has
considerable in-ground uranium resources. These resources will
sustain the long-term uranium production needed to support U.S.
energy and national security.
- Cheap, state-subsidized supplies of uranium from our
adversaries are driving free market uranium production in the U.S.
to the brink. In 2019, foreign sources are expected to supply more
than 99 percent of the uranium needed to fuel U.S. nuclear power
plants, according to industry estimates. This is a sharp and
dramatic increase from as recently as 1987 when imports represented
only half of U.S. uranium needs.
- The flood of state-sponsored uranium is also forcing free
market production from our allies to decline sharply. For instance,
in Canada, only one uranium mine
is still in operation. In Australia, the Ranger Mine, a large,
long-operating uranium production source, is scheduled to cease all
mining operations in January 2021. It
is believed that a significant portion of remaining allied
production is already contracted for and, therefore, not available
for purchase by U.S. utilities.
- It is dangerous to rely on our geopolitical rivals to supply
the uranium that fuels U.S. nuclear power plants, which provide 20
percent of the country's electricity. Russia has a history of using natural
resources as a weapon, including cutting off gas supplies to
Ukraine and Poland. According to the Department of
Homeland Security and the FBI, Russia also launched a multiyear cyberattack
that targeted U.S. critical infrastructure, including electricity
systems.
- Today's U.S. uranium production workforce has dwindled to fewer
than 500 people. This small group of people, including miners,
geologists, process and mining engineers, and environmental and
regulatory compliance professionals, has vital knowledge and
expertise. Any further decline in the domestic industry will cause
the U.S. to lose this critical knowledge base, which will not be
revived easily in the future when the U.S. needs it.
Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy filed the Section 232 petition in
January 2018 and Secretary of
Commerce Wilbur Ross initiated the
investigation in July. The DOC has 270 days to conduct its
investigation and make recommendations to President Trump, who then
has 90 days to decide whether to act on those recommendations or
take other actions to protect the domestic uranium mining
industry.
About Ur-Energy: Ur-Energy is a U.S.
uranium mining company with corporate and operations offices in
Denver, Colorado and Casper, Wyoming. Ur-Energy operates the Lost
Creek in-situ recovery uranium facility in
south-central Wyoming. Ur-Energy
has produced, packaged and shipped more than two million pounds
from Lost Creek since the commencement of operations. Applications
are under review by various agencies to incorporate our LC East
project area into the Lost Creek permits, and to construct and
operate at our Shirley Basin Project. Ur-Energy is engaged
in uranium mining, recovery and processing activities in the
United States, including the
acquisition, exploration, development and operation of uranium
mineral properties. The primary trading market for Ur-Energy's
common shares is the NYSE American under the trading symbol "URG;"
Ur-Energy's common shares also trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange
under the trading symbol "URE." Ur-Energy's website is
www.ur-energy.com.
About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is a leading
integrated U.S. uranium mining company, supplying
U3O8 to major nuclear utilities. Its
corporate offices are in Denver,
Colorado, and all of its assets and employees are in the
western United States. 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 in-situ recovery production center with a licensed
capacity of 2 million pounds of U3O8 per
year. Alta Mesa is an in-situ
recovery production center with a licensed capacity of 1.5 million
pounds of U3O8 per year, which is currently
on care and maintenance due to low uranium prices. Energy Fuels
also has the largest 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 in-situ recovery
project, mines on standby, and mineral properties in various stages
of permitting and development. Energy Fuels 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 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 Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements: Certain information contained in this news
release, including any information relating to: the expected
increases in foreign state-subsidized imports of uranium in coming
years; the expected further negative impacts of such imports on
U.S. uranium production and national security, including the
depletion of stockpiles held by the Department of Energy; the
potential of the U.S. to be unable to sustain an independent
nuclear fuel cycle and to become 100% dependent on foreign parties;
the outcome of the Department of Commerce Section 232
investigation, including whether or not the Secretary of Commerce
will make a recommendation to the President and the nature of the
recommendation; whether or not the President will act on the
recommendation and, if so, the nature of the action and remedy; the
expected benefits of the proposed remedies, including: the expected
impacts on U.S. production and the U.S. uranium mining industry,
the expected impacts on purchases of U.S. production by U.S.
utilities, the expected impacts on supply diversification and the
expected benefits of such diversification on domestic utilities and
national defense, the expected ability of the U.S. uranium mining
industry to reliably ramp up and supply the required domestic
uranium production, the expected impact of the proposed remedy on
improved competition, innovation and lower prices, and the
reduction of dependence on imports; the expected impact on pricing
for U.S. uranium production and the negligible price impact on
electricity rates paid by consumers; and any other statements
regarding Energy Fuels' or Ur-Energy's 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' and Ur-Energy's 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 expected increases in foreign
state-subsidized imports of uranium in coming years; the expected
further negative impacts of such imports on U.S. uranium production
and national security, including the depletion of stockpiles held
by the Department of Energy; the outcome of the Department of
Commerce Section 232 investigation, including whether or not the
Secretary of Commerce will make a recommendation to the President
and the nature of the recommendation; whether or not the President
will act on the recommendation and, if so, the nature of the action
and remedy; the expected benefits of the proposed remedies; the
expected impact on pricing for U.S. uranium production and the
negligible price impact on electricity rates paid by consumers; and
other risk factors as described in Energy Fuels' and Ur-Energy's
most recent annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly financial
reports. Energy Fuels and Ur-Energy assume 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' and Ur-Energy's 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
and Ur-Energy 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.
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Leonard Greenberger
lgreenberger@pcgpr.com
202.349.9672
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ur-energy-and-energy-fuels-host-us-department-of-commerce-section-232-investigators-on-tour-of-domestic-uranium-mines-and-mills-300755617.html
SOURCE Ur-Energy Inc.; Energy Fuels Inc.