TORONTO, Aug. 8, 2022
/PRNewswire/ - Denison Mines Corp. ("Denison" or
the "Company") (TSX: DML) (NYSE American: DNN) is pleased to
announce that it has received a License to Possess, Use, Store
and Transfer a Nuclear Substance ("Nuclear Substance
License") from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission ("CNSC")
for the In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") Feasibility Field Test ("FFT")
planned for the Phoenix uranium
deposit at the Company's 95% owned Wheeler River
project. Receipt of this license, together with the
previously announced approval from the Saskatchewan Minister
of Environment (see news release dated July
12, 2022), means that the FFT is fully permitted to
proceed as per the Company's plans. View PDF version
In accordance with the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, the
Nuclear Substance License allows Denison to possess the
uranium collected from the operation of the FFT, store
the uranium on site, and handle / transfer the
recovered material for laboratory analyses.
Kevin Himbeault, Denison's Vice
President of Plant Operations & Regulatory Affairs,
commented "We are pleased to have
received the Nuclear Substance License
from the CNSC. With receipt of
this license, we are now fully permitted
to operate the FFT facilities and carry out
the process of recovering a
uranium bearing solution from
the Phoenix ore
body. Overall, Denison was
pleased with the CNSC's license review
process – particularly given the somewhat novel
design of our FFT program and the
collaboration necessary to ensure the safe and
environmentally responsible handling of a
nuclear substance of this nature."
David Cates, Denison's President
& CEO, added, "With the
successful receipt of a Nuclear Substance License
from the CNSC, our technical and
regulatory teams have again
demonstrated
their ability to navigate the
applicable regulatory regimes to
support our plans to carry out a
first-of-its-kind test of the ISR
uranium mining method
in Canada. Our focus
has now transitioned to the timely completion of the
construction and operation of the FFT, which
represents a very exciting time in the Company's modern
history and is expected to generate further
important de-risking milestones for the planned Phoenix ISR
operation through the balance of the
year."
This press release constitutes
a "designated news
release" for the purposes of the
Company's prospectus supplement dated September 28, 2021, to its short form base shelf
prospectus dated September 16,
2021.
Update on FFT
Construction
Following receipt of the Approval to Operate Pollutant Control
Facilities from the Saskatchewan Minister of Environment
(see news release dated July 12,
2022), earthworks and associated preparation of the
site for the FFT facilities commenced at Wheeler
River, and construction of the recovered
solution management modules is underway in
Saskatoon. Procurement efforts have been completed and
deliveries of materials are being regularly received.
Figure 1 provides a plan view of the expected FFT site
layout. For more information about the temporary surface
facilities required to complete the FFT, including additional
illustrative figures, please see our news release dated
July 12, 2022.
Background on the FFT
The FFT is designed to use the existing commercial-scale
ISR test pattern ("Test Pattern"), installed at Phoenix in 2021 (see news releases
dated July 29, 2021, and October
28, 2021), to facilitate a combined assessment of the
Phoenix deposit's hydraulic flow
properties with the leaching characteristics that have been
assessed through the metallurgical core-leach testing
program. Overall, the FFT is intended to provide further
verification of the permeability, leachability, and
containment parameters needed for the successful application of the
ISR mining method at Phoenix and is expected to validate and
inform various feasibility study design elements – including the
production and remediation profiles expected for the
project.
The operation of the FFT is planned to occur in three phases:
(1) the leaching phase, (2) the neutralization phase, and (3) the
recovered solution management phase.
The majority of the test activities (leaching and neutralization
phase) will occur within an estimated 60-day operating
time frame, with the construction and placement of temporary
facilities commencing approximately two months prior to the
commissioning of the test facilities and initiation of the leaching
phase.
The leaching phase is designed to assess the effectiveness and
efficiency of the leaching process in the mineralized zone, which
is approximately 400m below the
surface. The leaching phase includes the controlled injection of
an acidic solution into a portion of the existing Test
Pattern within the mineralized zone (the "Leaching Zone") and the
recovery of the solution back to the surface using
existing test wells. The recovered solution from the
leaching phase is expected to contain dissolved minerals,
including uranium, copper, iron, molybdenum, and zinc.
The neutralization phase involves the recovery of the remainder
of the leached mineralized solution from the Leaching Zone and
is intended to verify the efficiency and effectiveness of the
process for returning the Leaching Zone to
environmentally acceptable conditions. During this phase,
a mild alkaline (basic) solution will be injected into the
Leaching Zone to neutralize the area and reverse the residual
effects of the acidic solution injected during the
leaching phase.
The recovered solution management phase involves separating the
solution recovered from both the leaching phase and the
neutralization phase into (i) mineralized precipitates and
(ii) a neutralized treated solution.
About Wheeler
River
Wheeler River is the largest undeveloped uranium project in
the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region, in northern
Saskatchewan – including combined
Indicated Mineral Resources of 132.1 million pounds
U3O8 (1,809,000
tonnes at an average grade of 3.3%
U3O8), plus
combined Inferred Mineral Resources of 3.0 million pounds
U3O8 (82,000
tonnes at an average grade of 1.7%
U3O8). The
project is host to the high-grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits,
discovered by Denison in 2008 and 2014, respectively, and is a
joint venture between Denison (operator) and JCU (Canada) Exploration
Company, Limited ("JCU"). Denison has an
effective 95% ownership interest in Wheeler River (90%
directly, and 5% indirectly through a 50% ownership in
JCU).
A PFS was completed for Wheeler River in 2018, considering
the potential economic merit of developing the Phoenix deposit as an ISR operation and the
Gryphon deposit as a conventional underground mining operation.
Taken together, the project is estimated
to have mine production of 109.4 million pounds
U3O8 over a
14-year mine life, with a base case pre-tax NPV of $1.31 billion (8% discount rate), Internal Rate
of Return ("IRR") of 38.7%, and initial
pre-production capital expenditures of $322.5 million. The Phoenix ISR operation is
estimated to have a stand-alone base case pre-tax NPV of
$930.4 million (8% discount rate),
IRR of 43.3%, initial pre-production capital expenditures of
$322.5 million, and industry-leading
average operating costs of US$3.33/lb
U3O8. The
PFS is prepared on a project (100% ownership) and pre-tax basis, as
each of the partners to the Wheeler River Joint Venture are subject
to different tax and other obligations.
Further details regarding the PFS, including additional
scientific and technical information, as well as after-tax results
attributable to Denison's ownership interest, are described in
greater detail in the NI 43-101 Technical Report titled
"Pre-feasibility Study for the Wheeler River Uranium
Project, Saskatchewan,
Canada" dated October 30, 2018, with an effective date of
September 24, 2018. A copy of
this report is available on Denison's website and under its profile
on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at
www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
Denison suspended certain activities at Wheeler River during
2020, including the EA process, which is on the critical path to
achieving the project development schedule outlined in the
PFS. While the EA process has resumed, the Company is not
currently able to estimate the impact to the project development
schedule outlined in the PFS, and users are cautioned against
relying on the estimates provided therein regarding the start of
pre-production activities in 2021 and first production in
2024.
About Denison
Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with
interests focused in the Athabasca
Basin region of northern Saskatchewan,
Canada. In addition to its effective 95% interest in the
Wheeler River project, Denison's interests in the Athabasca Basin include a 22.5% ownership
interest in the McClean Lake joint venture, which includes several
uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill that is
contracted to process the ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll
milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest Main and
Midwest A deposits, and a 66.90% interest in the Tthe Heldeth Túé
("THT", formerly J Zone) and Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake
property. The Midwest Main, Midwest A, THT and Huskie deposits are
each located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill.
Through its 50% ownership of JCU, Denison holds additional
interests in various uranium project joint ventures in Canada, including the Millennium project (JCU
30.099%), the Kiggavik project (JCU 33.8118%) and Christie Lake (JCU 34.4508%). Denison's
exploration portfolio includes further interests in properties
covering approximately300,000 hectares in the Athabasca Basin region.
Denison is also engaged in post-closure mine care and
maintenance services through its Closed Mines group (formerly
Denison Environmental Services), which manages Denison's reclaimed
mine sites in the Elliot Lake
region and provides related services to certain third-party
projects.
Follow Denison on Twitter: DenisonMinesCo
Qualified Persons
The disclosure of scientific or technical information related
to the FFT or Wheeler River project contained in this release has
been reviewed and approved, as applicable, by Mr. David Bronkhorst, P.Eng, Denison's Vice
President, Operations or Mr. Andrew
Yackulic, P. Geo., Denison's Director, Exploration, who are
Qualified Persons in accordance with the requirements of NI
43-101.
Cautionary Statement Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information contained in this news release
constitutes 'forward-looking information', within the meaning of
the applicable United States and
Canadian legislation, concerning the business, operations and
financial performance and condition of Denison. Generally,
these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use
of forward-looking terminology such as 'potential', 'plans',
'expects', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts',
'intends', 'anticipates', or 'believes', or the negatives and/or
variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain
actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or
'will' 'be taken', 'occur' or 'be
achieved'.
In particular, this news release contains forward-looking
information pertaining to the following: expectations with respect
to the FFT program, scope, required permitting,
timing and the anticipated results thereof; and
expectations regarding its joint venture ownership interests and
the continuity of its agreements with its partners and third
parties.
Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions
and estimates of management as of the date such statements are
made, and they are subject to known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results,
level of activity, performance or achievements of Denison to be
materially different from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. For example, the modelling and
assumptions upon which the work plans for exploration and/or the
Wheeler River Project are based may not be maintained after further
work is completed. In addition, Denison may decide or
otherwise be required to discontinue exploration, testing,
evaluation and development work if it is unable to maintain or
otherwise secure the necessary resources (such as testing
facilities, capital funding, regulatory approvals, etc.).
Denison believes that the expectations reflected in this
forward-looking information are reasonable but no assurance can be
given that these expectations will prove to be accurate and results
may differ materially from those anticipated in this
forward-looking information. For a discussion in respect of risks
and other factors that could influence forward-looking events,
please refer to the factors discussed in Denison's Annual
Information Form dated March 25,
2022, or subsequent quarterly financial
reports under the heading 'Risk Factors'. These factors are not,
and should not be construed as being exhaustive.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information
contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this
cautionary statement. Any forward-looking information and the
assumptions made with respect thereto speaks only as of the date of
this news release. Denison does not undertake any obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the
date of this news release to conform such information to actual
results or to changes in Denison's expectations except as otherwise
required by applicable legislation.
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SOURCE Denison Mines Corp.