DENVER, June 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Energy Fuels Inc.
(NYSE American: UUUU; TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the
"Company"), a leading producer of uranium and vanadium in
the United States, is pleased to
announce that it recently strengthened its cash position and
currently has sufficient existing cash on hand to allow the Company
the ability to retire all or a portion of its existing long-term
debt and to further advance its long-term and sustainable vanadium
production profile.
As previously announced on June 25,
2018, the Company was added to the Russell 3000®
Index, following the 2018 Russell indexes reconstitution process
that began on May 11, 2018. Since
May 11, the Company has experienced
relative strength in its stock price and increased trading volume.
Due to this special situation, the Company recently increased
activity on its existing 'At-The-Market' ("ATM") program to raise
equity on favorable terms, near the 52-week high on the Company's
stock, and with minimal dilution to shareholders. As a result,
between May 11, 2018 and June 25, 2018, the Company strengthened its cash
position by raising a total of $16.0
million through the ATM program, at an average price of
$2.08 per share, including
$7.8 million on Friday, June 22 at an average price of
$2.10 per share.
The Company is evaluating the potential of using this cash to
finance vanadium-related activities, particularly with the spot
price of vanadium currently above $17
per pound, repay existing long-term debt, and/or maintain a
strengthened working capital position.
The Company currently has a secured Wyoming Industrial
Development Revenue Bond with an outstanding balance of
$9.2 million, annual payments of
principal and interest of approximately $4.0
million, and a maturity date of October 15, 2020. The Company also has
approximately $16.3 million
(Cdn$20.9 million) of unsecured,
subordinated convertible debentures with annual interest-only
payments of approximately $1.4
million (Cdn$1.8 million), a
maturity date of December 31, 2020,
and the right of the Company to redeem all or a portion of the
debentures after June 30, 2019. The
Company is evaluating using a portion of its existing cash balance
to pay-off or redeem all or a portion of one or both of these debt
components. If this course of action is pursued, the Company would
expect to remove significant long-term liabilities from its balance
sheet, avoid relatively large interest expenses, and reduce the
Company's overall cash requirements for the next several years.
As previously announced on May 8,
2018, the Company also plans to resume vanadium production
in 2018 and expects to recover up to four (4) million pounds of
currently dissolved vanadium (as V2O5) from
pond solutions at the Company's White Mesa Mill (the "Mill"),
including up to 500,000 lbs. of V2O5 in
late-2018 or early-2019. Beyond the pond project, the Company
expects to use a portion of recent ATM proceeds to further advance
its long-term vanadium production profile. The Company is currently
in the process of renovating and upgrading portions of the Mill's
vanadium recovery circuit and completing the refurbishment of two
of the underground access declines at both of its La Sal and
Pandora uranium/vanadium mines, which are properties within the La
Sal Complex where the Company received federal government approvals
for an expansion earlier in 2018. The Company is also evaluating
other advancements to its vanadium program, including further
refurbishment activities at certain of its standby uranium/vanadium
mines, completing additional drilling and resource evaluation at
certain of its uranium/vanadium properties, potentially licensing
vanadium-bearing alternate feed materials, and identifying and
processing previously mined uranium/vanadium stockpiles in the
vicinity of the Mill.
Cash not used for the foregoing activities will serve to
strengthen the Company's working capital position, push off the
need for potential future financings, and put the Company in a
better position to take advantage of other opportunities as they
may arise.
Mark S. Chalmers, President and
CEO of Energy Fuels stated: "The recent strength in our stock due
to the annual Russell rebalance presented Energy Fuels with a
unique, one-time opportunity to raise significant cash with no
discounts or warrants, at little cost, and in what we believe is a
minimally-dilutive manner. We strengthened our balance sheet and
provided the Company with the ability to repay all or a portion of
our existing long-term debt and further advance our long-term
vanadium production profile, which supplies the steel and alloy
industries and the growing vanadium battery and energy storage
industries. All of this occurred while our stock has out-performed
most of our peers in the uranium space year-to-date.
"While uranium will always be Energy Fuels' core focus,
everything we do, including vanadium recovery, is intended to
support our uranium business. Today's uranium markets offer Energy
Fuels a number of exceptional opportunities, including our pending
232 Petition, which we expect the U.S. Department of Commerce to
act on soon, new buyers of uranium coming into the market, falling
primary production, Japanese reactors resuming operation, and
generally increasing global uranium demand. We look forward to
continuing to utilize our assets to pursue opportunities in both
the uranium and vanadium sectors, while also keeping our cost of
capital as low as possible. We are very pleased with the
performance of the ATM during this recent unique circumstance."
About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is a leading
integrated US-based 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 ISR production center with a licensed capacity of 2
million pounds of U3O8 per year. Alta Mesa is an ISR production center currently
on care and maintenance. Energy Fuels also has the largest NI
43-101 compliant 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 ISR project, mines on
standby, and mineral properties in various stages of permitting and
development. The Company also produces vanadium as a by-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 Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements: This news release contains certain "Forward
Looking Information" and "Forward Looking Statements" within the
meaning of applicable securities legislation, which may include,
but is not limited to, statements with respect to: the Company
being a leading producer of uranium and vanadium in the U.S.; any
expectations as to the use of the ATM proceeds, including the
potential to retire all or a portion of the Company's existing
debt, or to use all or a portion of the proceeds to fund vanadium
activities; the ability of any of the ATM proceeds to strengthen
the Company's working capital position, to push off the need for
any future financings or to put the Company in a better position to
take advantage of other opportunities as they may arise; the
Company's expectation to resume vanadium production and any
expected vanadium recoveries; the Company's expectation to further
advance its long-term vanadium production profile and related
activities; expected opportunities in the uranium market; and any
expectation to keep the Company's cost of capital as low as
possible. 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",
"budget" "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: the
Company being a leading producer of uranium and vanadium in the
U.S.; any expectations as to the use of the ATM proceeds, including
the potential to retire all or a portion of the Company's existing
debt, or to use all or a portion of the proceeds to fund vanadium
activities; the ability of any of the ATM proceeds to strengthen
the Company's working capital position, to push off the need for
any future financings or to put the Company in a better position to
take advantage of other opportunities as they may arise; the
Company's expectation to resume vanadium production and any
expected vanadium recoveries; the Company's expectation to further
advance its long-term vanadium production profile and related
activities; expected opportunities in the uranium market; any
expectation to keep the Company's cost of capital as low as
possible; and the other factors described under the caption "Risk
Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K dated
March 9, 2018, 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.