TORONTO, Oct. 26,
2022 /PRNewswire/ - Denison Mines
Corp. ("Denison" or the "Company") (TSX: DML) (NYSE
American: DNN) is pleased to announce a significant regulatory
milestone for the Company's 95% owned Wheeler River project
("Wheeler River") with the submission of
the draft Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") to
the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment ("MOE") and the
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission ("CNSC"). The EIS
submission outlines the Company's assessment of the
potential effects, including applicable mitigation measures,
of the proposed in-situ recovery ("ISR") uranium mine and
processing plant (the "Project") planned for Wheeler River, and
reflects several years of baseline environmental data collection,
technical assessments, plus extensive engagement and consultation
with Indigenous and non-Indigenous interested parties. View PDF
version
David Cates, Denison's President
& CEO, commented, "Canada is an environmentally conscious nation
with rigorous federal and provincial environmental protection
regimes. Through the process of assessing potential
environmental impacts, it
became apparent that our
Project has the potential to achieve a superior
standard of environmental sustainability. Our assessments
indicate that the Project has fewer
residual effects remaining after mitigation when compared to
conventional open pit or underground uranium mining and milling
operations. We are proud of the outcomes
outlined in the EIS and the role that Denison is playing in
re-shaping the uranium mining industry in Saskatchewan."
Kevin Himbeault, Denison's Vice
President of Plant Operations & Regulatory Affairs,
added, "The EIS
reflects a transparent and
conservative assessment process that
followed a
stepwise approach for evaluating
potential
environmental effects.
Working together with world-class subject matter experts,
the evaluations and conclusions of
the EIS indicate that the Project
can be constructed, operated, and
decommissioned while regional
environmental components remain
viable and healthy, human health is
protected, opportunities for
land use activities (including
exercising Indigenous rights) are
maintained and social and economic viability of
local economies is
supported."
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.
Environmental Assessment
Process
A project description was submitted by Denison and accepted by
the MOE and the CNSC in 2019, which marked the formal initiation of
the Environmental Assessment ("EA") process for the Project (see
news release dated June 3,
2019).
The EIS has been prepared in accordance with the Terms of
Reference provided by the MOE in 2019 and the Generic
Guidelines for the Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement
("Guidelines") as authorized by the CNSC in 2019. Additionally, the
EIS has been prepared to align with the federal and provincial EA
processes as stipulated under the Saskatchewan Environmental
Assessment Act, 2018 and the Canadian Environmental Assessment
Act, 2012.
The joint provincial and federal EA process allows Denison to
file one EIS that meets the requirements of both the MOE and CNSC.
Following the submission of the draft EIS, the MOE and CNSC are
expected to initiate their respective review processes. The CNSC
process involves an initial conformity review against the
Guidelines, prior to the commencement of the formal process of
completing technical and public reviews. The review process is
expected to involve further requests for
information/clarification from Denison before the final EIS is
accepted by the regulatory agencies. This process can take multiple
years to complete. Importantly, the commitments within the approved
EIS are expected to then form the basis for which future
regulatory licensing approvals will be framed.
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 Pre-Feasibility Study
("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 67.01% 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 ~300,000 hectares in the Athabasca Basin region.
Denison is also engaged in post-closure mine care and
maintenance services through its Closed Mines group, 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 EA process, including the draft EIS and the results
and objectives thereof; expectations regarding regulatory reviews
and processes; 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.