LAKEWOOD, Colo., May 13, 2021 /CNW/ - Energy Fuels
Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the
"Company") today reported its financial results for the
quarter ended March 31, 2021. The
Company's annual report on Form 10-K has been filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and may be viewed
on the Electronic Document Gathering and Retrieval System
("EDGAR") at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, on the System for
Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR") at
www.sedar.com, and on the Company's website at www.energyfuels.com.
Unless noted otherwise, all dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars.
Highlights:
- At March 31, 2021, the Company had $60.37 million of working capital, including
$44.11 million of cash and marketable
securities and $27.98 million of
inventory, including approximately 690,800 pounds of uranium and
1,672,000 pounds of high-purity vanadium in the form of immediately
marketable product.
- Due to recent share price strength, the Company raised gross
proceeds of $12.99 million on its
at-the-market equity program between April
1, 2021 and May 12, 2021,
further enhancing the Company's financial position.
- During the quarter ended March 31,
2021, the Company incurred a net loss of $10.91 million, compared to a net loss of
$5.66 million for the first quarter
of 2020, due primarily to an increase in the Company's share price
during Q1 2021, which resulted in a non-cash mark-to-market
increase in warrant liabilities of $3.50
million during Q1 2021, and an increase of $2.69 million in development expenditures in Q1
2021 compared to Q1 2020 primarily due to the development and
ramping up of the expected rare earth element ("REE")
carbonate production program at the White Mesa Mill during the
first quarter of 2021.
- With several existing mines on standby and existing inventories
of Company-produced, U.S.-origin uranium, the Company continues to
be ready to supply uranium into the U.S. Uranium Reserve once it is
established by the U.S. government.
- On March 1, 2020, the Company,
along with Neo Performance Materials ("Neo"), announced the
joint launch of a U.S.-European REE production initiative
under which the parties plan to produce value-added REE products
from natural monazite sands, a byproduct of heavy mineral sands
mined in the southeastern United
States. Pursuant to this initiative, in late-March 2021 Energy Fuels commenced ramping-up
commercial production of a mixed rare earth carbonate ("REE
Carbonate") from natural monazite sands at the Company's White
Mesa Mill. Under an agreement in principle signed on March 1, and subject to completion of definitive
agreements and successful ramp-up of production, Energy Fuels will
ship a portion of its REE Carbonate production to Neo's REE
separations facility in Sillamae, Estonia ("Silmet"). Neo will then
process the REE Carbonate into separated REE materials for use in
REE permanent magnets and other REE-based advanced
materials.
- On March 9, 2021, the Company
announced that the first shipments of natural monazite ore arrived
at the Company's White Mesa Mill from The Chemours Company's
Offerman Plant in Georgia,
pursuant to a supply agreement entered into by the Company and
Chemours in December 2020.
- On April 21, 2021, the Company
announced the execution of a non-binding memorandum of
understanding for the potential future supply of additional natural
monazite sands from the Titan heavy mineral sand project in
Tennessee owned by Hyperion Metals
Limited.
- On April 23, 2021, the Company
announced that the U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") Office
of Fossil Energy and National Energy Technology Laboratory
exercised an option to award Energy Fuels, working with a team from
Penn State University, an additional
$1.75 million to complete a
feasibility study on the production of REE products from natural
coal-based resources, as well as from other materials such as
REE-containing ores like the natural monazite ore the Company is
currently processing at the White Mesa Mill.
- On April 27, 2021, the Company
announced that it engaged Carester SAS ("Carester") to
prepare a scoping study for the development of a solvent extraction
("SX") REE separation circuit at the White Mesa Mill.
Carester is one of the world's leading global consultants on REE
supply chains, with expertise in designing, constructing, operating
and optimizing REE production facilities globally.
Mark S. Chalmers, Energy
Fuels' President and CEO, stated:
"Without a doubt, Energy Fuels is making major strides toward
restoring critical U.S. rare earth supply chains, while also
maintaining our position as the leading U.S. uranium producer,"
stated Mark S. Chalmers, President
and CEO of Energy Fuels. "On rare earths, our efforts over the past
several months culminated in the announcement on March 1 that Energy Fuels and Neo Performance
Materials were creating a new, U.S.-European rare earth supply
chain. In early March, we began to receive shipments of
rare-earth-rich natural monazite sands from Chemours' Georgia heavy mineral sand operations. In
late-March, we began to ramp-up production of an intermediate rare
earth product at our White Mesa Mill in Utah using monazite from Chemours. This is
expected to be a high-value product ready to be separated and
refined into value-added rare earth products at Neo's plant in
Europe. At this time, no other
U.S. company is producing a product this far down the rare earth
value chain.
"However, as I've said many times, we have much bigger rare
earth plans, and the momentum is building rapidly as we execute our
purposeful strategy. We are now taking real steps toward designing
and building fully integrated, U.S. rare earth production
capabilities. To this end, we hired Carester SAS of Lyons, France, one of the world's leading rare
earth supply chain experts, to help us begin designing rare earth
separation capabilities at the White Mesa Mill. And we are
continuing several collaborations with the U.S. government and
national laboratories on various rare earth initiatives, including
being granted a $1.75 million
contract by the U.S. Department of Energy to perform studies that
complement our work to develop rare earth separation capabilities
at the White Mesa Mill. We continue to believe Energy Fuels has
distinct advantages in the rare earth sector. Monazite ore has
superior distributions of the high-value magnetic rare earths,
including NdPr and "heavy" rare earths, versus most other rare
earth minerals mined around the world, and monazite is currently
produced as a byproduct of existing heavy mineral sand operations.
We are also taking steps to utilize licensed and existing
facilities at the White Mesa Mill to process the monazite into
value-added products. This is a highly capital efficient
initiative.
"While we are obviously extremely excited about the potential
for rare earths, our core business remains uranium production, and
by almost any metric, including a successful track-record of past
and current uranium production, experience in both ISR and
conventional uranium mining, existing licensed and constructed
processing capacity, U.S.-origin inventory, recycling capabilities,
and the like, Energy Fuels is clearly the leading U.S. uranium
company as well. We are particularly excited by actions the Biden
Administration is taking to address climate change and support
nuclear energy. The U.S. gets 20% of all of our electricity, and
55% of our carbon-free electricity, from nuclear. Meeting the
President's climate goals will require preserving America's
existing fleet of nuclear reactors, while quickly deploying the
next generation of reactors. And global policies, including those
in Europe and China, are supporting nuclear power to achieve
carbon reduction goals. We remain ready to supply U.S.-origin
uranium for these initiatives.
"At the same time, we are transforming our company into
'America's Critical Mineral Hub', with the main focus being on the
White Mesa Mill in Utah. While
nearly all current and future nuclear reactors are fueled by
uranium, other clean energy and advanced technologies, including
electric vehicles renewable energy and batteries, require other
critical minerals that Energy Fuels produces. A robust market for
responsibly produced, American clean energy products and
technologies, made by American workers, is possible in the U.S. How
amazing would it be for electric vehicles to be built in America
using rare earth products manufactured in America; and for those
EVs to be charged using carbon-free, next generation American
nuclear technologies fueled by American uranium and nuclear fuel,
along with renewable energy systems using American rare earth
products? Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill in Utah can help this vision become a reality. To
say these are exciting times for our company would be the
understatement of my lifetime."
Webcast on Monday, May 17, 2021
at 4:00 pm ET (2:00 pm MT):
Energy Fuels will be hosting a video webcast Monday, May 17, 2021 at 4:00 pm ET (2:00 pm
MT) to discuss its Q1-2021 financial results and
corporate initiatives. To join the webcast, please click on the
link below to access the presentation and the viewer-controlled
webcast slides:
Energy Fuels' Q1-2021 Results
If you would like to participate in the webcast and ask
questions, please dial (888) 664-6392 (toll free in the U.S. and
Canada).
A link to a recorded version of the proceedings will be
available on the Company's website shortly after the webcast by
calling (888) 390-0541 (toll free in the U.S. and Canada) and by entering the code 764688#. The
recording will be available until May
31 ,2021.
Selected Summary Financial Information:
|
|
|
$000's, except per
share data
|
Three months
ended
March 31, 2021
|
Three months
ended
March 31, 2020
|
Total
revenues
|
$
|
353
|
$
|
393
|
Gross profit
(loss)
|
353
|
(685)
|
Operating
loss
|
(8,847)
|
(7,806)
|
Net loss attributable
to the company
|
(10,908)
|
(5,657)
|
Basic and diluted loss
per share
|
(0.08)
|
(0.05)
|
|
As at March
31,
2021
|
As at December
31,
2020
|
Financial
Position:
|
|
|
Working
capital
|
$
|
60,365
|
$
|
40,158
|
Property, plant and
equipment, net
|
23,457
|
23,621
|
Mineral properties,
net
|
83,539
|
83,539
|
Total
assets
|
207,219
|
183,236
|
Total long-term
liabilities
|
13,581
|
13,376
|
Operations Update and Outlook for the Quarter Ending
March 31, 2021:
Overview
In response to the proposed establishment of a strategic
national U.S. Uranium Reserve program, the Company is evaluating
activities aimed towards increasing uranium production at all or
some of our production facilities, including the currently
operating White Mesa Mill, as well as the Alta Mesa ISR Facility,
the Nichols Ranch ISR Facility, the La Sal Complex and Pinyon Plain
Mine, which are currently on standby.
During 2021, the Company expects to recover uranium at the White
Mesa Mill from pond-returns and from alternate feed materials. The
Company also expects to recover uranium and produce mixed REE
carbonate from natural monazite ore during 2021, subject to
successful ramp-up. The vanadium pond-return campaign that was
conducted in 2019 was brought to a close in early 2020. The Company
does not plan to extract and/or recover any amounts of uranium of
any significance from its Nichols Ranch Project in 2021, which was
placed on standby in the second quarter of 2020 due to the
depletion of its existing wellfields. Uranium recovery is expected
to be maintained at reduced levels, as a result of current uranium
market conditions, until such time when market conditions improve
sufficiently.
The Company is also seeking new sources of revenue, including
its emerging REE business, as well as new sources of alternate feed
materials and new fee processing opportunities at the White Mesa
Mill that can be processed under existing market conditions (i.e.,
without reliance on current uranium sales prices). The Company will
also continue its support of U.S. governmental activities to
support the U.S. uranium mining industry, including the proposed
establishment of a U.S. Uranium Reserve. In addition, the Company
is in discussions to potentially sell certain of its non-core
properties, although there are currently no binding offers, and
there can be no assurance that a sale will be completed or that we
will be successful in completing a sale on acceptable terms.
Extraction and Recovery Activities Overview
During the quarter ended March 31,
2021, the Company did not recover significant quantities of
U3O8. The Company expects to recover
approximately 30,000 to 60,000 pounds of U3O8
in the year ending December 31, 2021
for its own account. In 2021, the Company also expects to produce
approximately 2,000 to 3,000 tons of mixed REE carbonate at the
mill, containing approximately 1,000 to 1,600 tons of total rare
earth oxides ("TREO"). The Company expects to produce no
vanadium during 2021.
The Company has strategically opted not to enter into any
uranium sales commitments for 2021. Therefore, subject to the
proposed establishment of a U.S. Uranium Reserve and general market
conditions, all 2021 uranium production is expected to be added to
existing inventories, which inventories are expected to total
approximately 720,000 to 750,000 pounds of
U3O8 at year-end. Subject to any actions the
Company may take in response to the proposed establishment of a
U.S. Uranium Reserve or improvements in general market conditions,
both ISR and conventional uranium extraction and/or recovery is
expected to continue to be maintained at reduced levels until such
time that improvements in uranium market conditions are observed or
suitable sales contracts can be entered into. All
V2O5 inventory is expected to be sold on the
spot market if prices rise sufficiently above current levels, but
otherwise maintained in inventory. The Company expects to sell all
or a portion of its mixed REE carbonate to global separation
facilities and/or to stockpile it for future separation at the Mill
or elsewhere.
ISR Activities
The Company expects to produce insignificant quantities of
U3O8 in the year ending December 31, 2021 from Nichols Ranch.
Until such time as improvement in uranium market conditions is
observed, the proposed U.S. Uranium Reserve is established, and/or
suitable sales contracts can be procured, the Company expects to
maintain the Nichols Ranch Project on standby and defer development
of further wellfields and header houses. The Company currently
holds 34 fully permitted, undeveloped wellfields at Nichols Ranch,
including four additional wellfields at the Nichols Ranch
wellfields, 22 wellfields at the adjacent Jane Dough wellfields,
and eight wellfields at the Hank Project, which is fully permitted
to be constructed as a satellite facility to the Nichols Ranch
Plant.
The Company expects to continue to keep the Alta Mesa Project on
standby until such time as improvements in uranium market
conditions are observed, the proposed U.S. Uranium Reserve is
established, and/or suitable sales contracts can be procured.
Conventional Activities Conventional Extraction and Recovery
Activities
During the quarter ended March 31,
2021, the White Mesa Mill did not recover any quantities of
U3O8, focusing instead on developing its REE
recovery business. However, during the remainder of 2021, the
Company expects to recover approximately 30,000 to 60,000 pounds of
U3O8 at the White Mesa Mill, including
uranium recovered through the processing of REE- and
uranium-bearing natural monazite ore. The Company also expects to
produce approximately 2,000 to 3,000 tons of mixed REE carbonate at
the Mill, containing approximately 1,000 to 1,600 tons TREO. The
Company currently has approximately 150,000 pounds of
U3O8 contained in stockpiled alternate feed
material and ore inventory that can be recovered in the future for
the proposed U.S. Uranium Reserve or as general market conditions
warrant. In addition, there remains an estimated 1.5-3 million
pounds of solubilized recoverable V2O5
inventory remaining in the Mill's tailings facility awaiting future
recovery, as market conditions may warrant.
Conventional Standby, Permitting and Evaluation Activities
During the quarter ended March 31,
2021, standby and environmental compliance activities
occurred at the Pinyon Plain Project.
The Company is selectively advancing certain permits at its
other major conventional uranium projects, such as the Roca Honda
Project, a large, high-grade conventional project in New Mexico. The Company will also maintain
required permits at the Company's conventional projects, including
the Sheep Mountain Project, La Sal Complex, and the Whirlwind mine.
In addition, the Company will continue to evaluate the Bullfrog
Property at its Henry Mountains Project. The Company is also in
discussions to potentially sell the Tony M, Daneros, Rim and other
non-core conventional assets.
Uranium Sales
During the quarter ended March 31,
2021, the Company completed no sales of uranium. The Company
currently has no remaining contracts, and therefore all existing
uranium inventory and future production is fully unhedged to future
uranium price changes.
Vanadium Sales
During the quarter ended March 31,
2020, the Company completed no sales of vanadium. The
Company expects to sell finished vanadium product when justified
into the metallurgical industry, as well as other markets that
demand a higher-purity product, including the aerospace, chemical,
and potentially the vanadium battery industries.
Rare Earth Sales
The Company commenced ramping-up commercial production of a
mixed REE carbonate in March 2021.
Subject to successful ramp-up of production of a salable product
during 2021, the Company expects to sell some or all of this
intermediate REE product to Neo's Silmet separation facility in
Europe and potentially to other
REE separation facilities outside the U.S. To the extent not sold,
the Company expects to stockpile mixed REE carbonate at the Mill
for future separation and other downstream REE processing at the
Mill or elsewhere.
The Company also continues to pursue new sources of revenue,
including additional alternate feed materials and other sources of
feed for the White Mesa Mill.
About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is a
leading U.S.-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 expects to commence commercial production
of REE carbonate in 2021. Its corporate offices are in Lakewood, Colorado near Denver, 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 in-situ recovery
("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, as well as REE
carbonate from various uranium-bearing ores. The
Nichols Ranch ISR Project is currently on standby and has a
licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of U3O8
per year. The Alta Mesa ISR Project is also currently on standby.
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 Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements: 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 are not limited to, statements with respect to:
production and sales forecasts; costs of production; any
expectation that the Company will continue to be ready to supply
uranium into the proposed U.S. Uranium Reserve once it is
established; scalability, and the Company's ability and readiness
to re-start, expand or deploy any of its existing projects or
capacity to respond to any improvements in uranium market
conditions or in response to the proposed Uranium Reserve; any
expectation regarding any remaining dissolved vanadium in the White
Mesa Mill's tailings facility solutions; the ability of the Company
to secure any new sources of alternate feed materials or other
processing opportunities at the White Mesa Mill; expected timelines
for the permitting and development of projects; the Company's
expectations as to longer term fundamentals in the market and price
projections; any expectation that the Company will maintain its
position as a leading uranium company in the United States; any expectation that the
proposed Uranium Reserve will be implemented and if implemented the
manner in which it will be implemented and the timing of
implementation; any expectation with respect to timelines to
production; any expectation that the White Mesa Mill will be
successful in producing REE Carbonate on a commercial basis; any
expectation that Neo will be successful in separating the White
Mesa Mill's REE Carbonate on a commercial basis; any expectation
that Energy Fuels will be successful in developing U.S. separation,
or other value-added U.S. REE production capabilities at the White
Mesa Mill, or otherwise; any expectation that the
Company and Neo will be successful in jointly
developing a fully integrated U.S.-European REE supply chain;
any expectation that the Company will be successful in building
fully integrated U.S REE production capabilities in the future; any
expectation with respect to the future demand for REEs; any
expectation with respect to the quantities of monazite ore to be
acquired by Energy Fuels, the quantities of REE Carbonate to be
produced by the White Mesa Mill or the quantities of contained TREO
in the Mill's REE carbonate; any expectation that Neo and Energy
Fuels will be successful in completing definitive agreements and
hence proceeding with their agreement in principle; any expectation
that the Company will enter into definitive agreements with
Hyperion Metals Limited for the potential future supply of natural
monazite sands from the Titan heavy mineral sand project, or that
the Titan project will commence production and be capable of
supplying monazite sands to the Company; any expectation as to the
results of the feasibility study on the production of REE products
from natural coal-based resources, or that the work to be performed
in connection with the feasibility study will complement the
Company's work to develop rare earth separation capabilities at the
White Mesa Mill; any expectation that the Company has distinct
advantages in the rare earth sector or that the Company's REE
initiative will be a highly capital efficient initiative; any
expectation that the Company will be successful in transforming
itself into America's Critical Mineral Hub; any expectation as to
the outcome of President Biden's actions to address climate change
and support nuclear energy, or their impacts on the Company, if
any; any expectation that global policies will support nuclear
power to achieve carbon reduction goals; any expectation that a
robust market for responsibly-produced, American clean energy
products and technologies, made by American workers, is possible in
the U.S.; and any expectation that the Company will
successfully sell certain of its non-core properties on acceptable
terms or at all. 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:
commodity prices and price fluctuations; processing and
mining difficulties, upsets and delays; permitting and licensing
requirements and delays; changes to regulatory requirements; legal
challenges; the availability of sources of alternate feed materials
and other feed sources for the White Mesa Mill; competition from
other producers; public opinion; government and political actions;
the appropriations for the proposed Uranium Reserve not being
allocated to that program and the Uranium Reserve not being
implemented; the manner in which the proposed Uranium Reserve, if
established, will be implemented; the Company not being successful
in selling any uranium into the proposed Uranium Reserve at
acceptable quantities or prices, or at all; available supplies of
monazite sands; the ability of the White Mesa Mill to produce REE
Carbonate to meet commercial specifications on a commercial scale
at acceptable costs; the ability of Neo to separate the REE
Carbonate produced by the White Mesa Mill to meet commercial
specifications on a commercial scale at acceptable costs; market
factors, including future demand for REEs; the ability of Neo and
Energy Fuels to finalize definitive agreements; 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.
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SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.