Westwater Resources Provides Energy Materials Business Update
April 03 2020 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Westwater Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: WWR), an energy
materials development company, is pleased to provide an update on
its energy materials business.
Christopher M. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer,
stated, “First, we wish to extend our sympathies to everyone that
has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a time of great
need for our families and communities, and we are doing our part to
support both. Our employees are working from home where possible,
and we maintain our sites with the strongest commitment towards
safety, and in compliance with our permits.
“Second, we wanted to remind our shareholders that we continue
to execute the Coosa Project business plan that develops our
battery materials manufacturing business here in the United States
– where we can offer our prospective customers improved supply line
diversity and security. Our uranium business offers our potential
customers this sort of security as well. Worldwide economic
disruptions have demonstrated that fragile overseas supply lines
can be vulnerable, most particularly for those materials identified
by the U.S Government in its Critical Minerals List, including
graphite, lithium, vanadium and uranium, all of which are materials
in Westwater’s portfolio.”
Battery Graphite Update
Our battery graphite business continues to test for and develop
our plan to operate a pilot plant that intends to make battery
graphite in bulk quantities in the fourth quarter of this year. Our
work with Dorfner Anzaplan continues without interruption. We
expect test results for evaluation by the end of April.
Uranium Update
Uranium prices have bucked worldwide trends and risen from a low
of $24 per pound to $27.50 per pound, in response to mine and mill
shutdowns over the last month. Demand for nuclear fuel is expected
to continue driving the price higher in the near term.
The President’s Nuclear Fuel Working Group report has been
delayed as the U.S. Government grapples with the growing health
crisis, but statements from officials continue to affirm uranium's
place in the critical minerals list. The President’s budget has
requested $150 million per year for ten years to build a strategic
stockpile of uranium to mitigate future overseas supply issues.
Approval of this budget would have real time positive consequences
for Westwater Resources and its large base of uranium mineral
rights and its base of licensed processing capacity.
Westwater Resources’ Uranium Portfolio
Westwater’s holdings in New Mexico encompass approximately
188,700 acres and include:
- The Cebolleta and Juan Tafoya properties immediately west of
Albuquerque;
- Nose Rock, Ambrosia Lake and West Largo properties located in
the prolific Grants Mineral Belt, where much of the uranium
produced in the United States over four decades was sourced;
and
- Parts of the Santa Fe Railroad minerals rights checkerboard
between Grants and Gallup, New Mexico.
Westwater’s holdings in Texas encompass approximately 11,000
acres and include:
- Two processing plants with licenses to produce uranium;
and
- Wellfields in place as well as permits in hand to develop added
capacity.
About Westwater Resources
WWR is focused on developing energy-related materials. The
Company’s battery-materials projects include the Coosa Graphite
Project — the most advanced natural flake graphite project in the
contiguous United States — and the associated Coosa Graphite Mine
located across 41,900 acres (~17,000 hectares) in east-central
Alabama. In addition, the Company maintains lithium mineral
properties in prospective lithium brine basins in Nevada and Utah.
Westwater’s uranium projects are located in Texas and New Mexico.
In Texas, the Company has two licensed and currently idled uranium
processing facilities and approximately 11,000 acres (~4,400
hectares) of prospective in-situ recovery uranium projects. In New
Mexico, the Company controls mineral rights encompassing
approximately 188,700 acres (~76,000 hectares) in the prolific
Grants Mineral Belt, which is one of the largest concentrations of
sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in the world. Incorporated in
1977 as Uranium Resources, Inc., Westwater also owns an extensive
uranium information database of historic drill hole logs, assay
certificates, maps and technical reports for the western United
States. For more information, visit www.westwaterresources.net.
Cautionary Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and
assumptions and are identified by words such as “expects,”
“estimates,” “projects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” and
other similar words. All statements addressing events or
developments that WWR expects or anticipates will occur in the
future, including but not limited to statements relating to the
Company’s battery graphite business, including the timing or
development of a pilot plant, development and future production
from the Company’s uranium portfolio, the future price of uranium,
and the ultimate adoption of funds for the Uranium Reserve are
forward-looking statements. Because they are forward-looking, they
should be evaluated in light of important risk factors and
uncertainties. These risk factors and uncertainties include, but
are not limited to, (a) the Company’s ability to successfully
integrate Alabama Graphite Corporation’s business into its own, and
the risk that additional analysis of the Coosa Graphite Project may
result in revisions to the findings of WWR’s initial optimization
study; (b) the Company’s ability to raise additional capital in the
future; (c) spot price and long-term contract price of graphite,
lithium, vanadium and uranium; (d) risks associated with our
operations and the operations of our partners such as Dorfner
Anzaplan, including the impact of COVID-19; (e) operating
conditions at the Company’s projects; (f) government and tribal
regulation of the graphite industry, the lithium industry, the
vanadium industry, the uranium industry, and the power industry;
(g) world-wide graphite, lithium, vanadium and uranium supply and
demand, including the supply and demand for lithium-based
batteries; (h) maintaining sufficient financial assurance in the
form of sufficiently collateralized surety instruments; (i)
unanticipated geological, processing, regulatory and legal or other
problems the Company may encounter in the jurisdictions where the
Company operates or intends to operate, including in Alabama,
Texas, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada; (j) the ability of the Company
to enter into and successfully close acquisitions or other material
transactions; (k) the results of the Company’s lithium brine
exploration activities at the Columbus Basin and Sal Rica projects,
and the possibility that future exploration results may be
materially less promising than initial exploration result; (I) any
graphite, lithium, vanadium or uranium discoveries not being in
high-enough concentration to make it economic to extract the
metals; (m) currently pending or new litigation or arbitration; and
(n) other factors which are more fully described in the Company’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and
other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should
one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should
any of the Company’s underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual
results may vary materially from those currently anticipated. In
addition, undue reliance should not be placed on the Company’s
forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company
disclaims any obligation to update or publicly announce any
revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained in
this news release.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200403005047/en/
Westwater Resources Contact: Christopher M. Jones,
President & CEO Phone: 303.531.0480 Jeff Vigil, VP Finance
& CFO Phone: 303.531.0481 Email:
Info@WestwaterResources.net
Investor Relations Contact: Michael Porter Porter, LeVay
and Rose Phone: 212.564.4700 Email: Westwater@plrinvest.com
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