LAKEWOOD, CO, Oct. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Energy Fuels Inc.
(NYSE American: UUUU; TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the
"Company") is pleased to provide the following updates on
activities at the Company's La Sal Complex of uranium/vanadium
mines, in addition to recent positive federal government actions
that affect the Company's projects.
Initial Results of Test-Mining Program Targeting
Vanadium at La Sal Complex
As previously announced, the Company has commenced a limited
conventional vanadium mining program at its 100% owned and fully
permitted and constructed La Sal Complex of uranium/vanadium mines
in Utah. The purpose of the
test-mining program is to evaluate different approaches that
selectively target high-grade vanadium zones, thereby potentially
increasing productivity and mined grades for vanadium and
decreasing mining costs per pound of V2O5 and
U3O8 recovered. After three weeks of test
mining and evaluation, the Company is discovering areas of
high-grade vanadium mineralization that were not previously mined
due to the relatively lower uranium grades in the material.
While the test mining campaign is still in its early stages, the
Company is pleased to provide the following assay results from the
initial 420 tons of material mined and sampled to date:
Area
|
Stope
|
Sample
Date
|
Tons
Mineralized
Material
|
%
V2O5
|
%U3O8
|
V2O5:U3O8
Ratio
|
Lbs.
V2O5
|
Lbs.
U3O8
|
2300
|
2380
|
10/9/2018
|
63
|
1.540%
|
0.074%
|
20.8
|
1,940
|
93
|
2300
|
2380
|
10/9/2018
|
63
|
1.872%
|
0.141%
|
13.3
|
2,359
|
178
|
2300
|
2380
|
10/9/2018
|
35
|
1.461%
|
0.119%
|
12.3
|
1,023
|
83
|
2300
|
2380
|
10/10/2018
|
28
|
1.993%
|
0.109%
|
18.3
|
1,116
|
61
|
2300
|
2380
|
10/10/2018
|
28
|
1.854%
|
0.172%
|
10.8
|
1,038
|
96
|
2300
|
2380
|
10/11/2018
|
14
|
3.104%
|
0.171%
|
18.2
|
869
|
48
|
2300
|
2380
|
10/11/2018
|
14
|
1.491%
|
0.075%
|
19.9
|
417
|
21
|
720
|
721
|
10/9/2018
|
35
|
1.247%
|
0.082%
|
15.2
|
873
|
57
|
720
|
721
|
10/9/2018
|
21
|
1.948%
|
0.032%
|
60.9
|
818
|
13
|
720
|
721
|
10/9/2018
|
7
|
1.271%
|
0.204%
|
6.2
|
178
|
29
|
2300
|
2310
|
10/12/2018
|
28
|
1.366%
|
0.141%
|
9.7
|
765
|
79
|
2300
|
2310
|
10/12/2018
|
28
|
1.673%
|
0.124%
|
13.5
|
937
|
69
|
721
|
721
|
10/17/2018
|
28
|
1.759%
|
0.028%
|
62.8
|
985
|
16
|
730
|
732
|
10/17/2018
|
28
|
1.347%
|
0.026%
|
51.8
|
754
|
15
|
|
|
|
420
|
1.671%
|
0.102%
|
16.4
|
14,072
|
858
|
- All data presented in the table above are the result of the
following mining, evaluation, and laboratory QA/QC procedures.
Company personnel blast and remove the mineralized material from
the mine, and transport it to an ore pad on the mine surface using
a seven-ton truck. After the material is dumped on the stockpile
pad, representative samples from various locations in each
seven-ton pile are sampled randomly. The Company believes that
blasting, mucking, transporting, and dumping adequately mixes the
material in each pile, allowing for representative sampling.
Approximately, ten pounds of sample material is collected from each
seven-ton pile. All samples are analyzed at the Company's White
Mesa Mill using titration chemical analysis for vanadium and
spectrophotometric analysis for uranium, in each case following the
Mill's standard quality assurance program and quality control
measures.
Historically, when uranium was targeted for production at the La
Sal Complex, the recovered vanadium-to-uranium ratio was
approximately 5-to-1. By targeting vanadium, the samples in the
above table show a ratio of over 16-to-1 vanadium-to-uranium,
including an average vanadium grade of 1.675% and an average
uranium grade of 0.102% U3O8. Assuming
average historic recoveries at the Company's White Mesa
uranium/vanadium mill of approximately 95% uranium and 70%
vanadium, using these results, the Company would expect to recover
approximately 23.5 pounds of V2O5, and 1.9
pounds of U3O8, per ton of the mineralized
material that has been mined to date under this program. Today, the
uranium spot price is $27.75 per
pound (TradeTech), and the vanadium price is $24.80 per pound (Metal Bulletin).
While not intended to represent a resource or reserve estimate
or economic evaluation, this test mining program is demonstrating
two key points to the Company. First, high-grade vanadium
associated with lower grade uranium exists in the La Sal mine complex. This mineralized material
was either not detected in the past or not mined due to its
relatively lower uranium grade. Second, the Company now has the
technology to identify this mineralization, which was not available
historically. This material is attractive at current vanadium
prices, and would have been attractive during previous mining
campaigns had the vanadium grades been identified at those times.
These two key points confirm the Company's belief that further
study is required to determine the extent of this additional
mineralized material at the La Sal Complex and other
uranium/vanadium mines owned or controlled by the Company, and the
impacts such additional mineralized material may have on the mining
costs per pound of V2O5 and
U3O8 recovered from these mines.
The Company plans to continue the test-mining program and
recover, sample, and evaluate a minimum of 5,000 tons of
mineralized material. The Company also plans to conduct additional
surface exploration drilling that targets high-grade vanadium
mineralization at the La Sal Complex. Furthermore, as previously
announced, the Company expects to resume vanadium production from
tailings pond solutions, which result from past mineral processing
operations, at its White Mesa Mill in November 2018, at an expected rate of
approximately 200,000 to 225,000 pounds of
V2O5 per month, up to a total of
approximately 4 million pounds of V2O5,
subject to market conditions, costs, and recoveries.
Mark S. Chalmers, President and
CEO of Energy Fuels, stated: "Today, Energy Fuels is pursuing a
number of exciting vanadium-related opportunities. In addition to
resuming production from existing pond solutions at the White Mesa
Mill in a few weeks, we are looking to build a longer-term vanadium
production profile at our uranium/vanadium mines. While we're still
in the early stages of this vanadium test-mining program, we wanted
to show the market some of the positive results we're already
seeing thus far. As we suspected, there may be large zones of
high-grade vanadium mineralization in the La Sal Complex that were
never mined in the past, because they contain relatively
lower-grade uranium mineralization. If we continue to see similar
results as the program advances, it is our hope that we can mine
the La Sal Complex in a manner that targets vanadium during periods
of elevated vanadium prices, even during periods of lower uranium
prices. The ability to target higher-grade vanadium zones,
separately and independently from higher-grade uranium zones in
these mines may be, we believe, a true paradigm shift in the way
these mines can be mined going forward. We will continue to pursue
our test-mining program, and we look forward to providing the
market with additional results in the future as these become
available.
"Energy Fuels is pleased to be the only company in the U.S. that
can provide shareholders with near-term exposure to both vanadium
and uranium production, as market conditions warrant. The Company's
White Mesa Mill is the only mill in the
United States capable of recovering vanadium from
conventionally mined ores, and Energy Fuels-owned or controlled
mines are the only vanadium mines that currently have access to the
White Mesa Mill."
Final Federal Approval for La Sal Complex
Expansion Plan of Operations
The Company is also pleased to announce that the Manti-La Sal
National Forest has issued their final approval for the La Sal
Complex Plan of Operations Amendment. The Company is now fully
authorized by the U.S. Forest
Service ("USFS") and Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") to
move forward with the expansion of mining operations, exploration
drilling, and vent shaft construction at the La Sal Complex. This
follows the February 2018 issuance of
the Environmental Assessment ("EA"), Decision Record/Notice, and
Finding of No Significant Impact ("FONSI") approving the expansion
of a large portion of the La Sal Complex, pending certain
conditions including having the required reclamation bond in place.
All of those conditions have now been fully met.
EPA Withdraws Unnecessary Proposed Rule
On October 19, 2018, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") officially withdrew its
January 19, 2017 proposed rule that
would have revised 40 CFR Part 192, "Health and Environmental
Standards for Uranium and Thorium Mill Tailings." This proposed
rule would have primarily affected in situ uranium recovery
("ISR") facilities, like the Company's Nichols Ranch and Alta Mesa ISR Projects, and
could have imposed unnecessary, duplicative, and expensive
additional requirements on ISR facilities in the U.S. with no
resulting benefits to human health or the environment. The EPA
decision to withdraw the rulemaking was partially driven by their
belief that "existing regulatory structures are sufficient to
ensure the targeted protection of public health and the environment
at existing ISR facilities." The EPA's decision removes a
significant risk factor for the Company's current and future ISR
operations.
Mark S. Chalmers continued:
"Energy Fuels is also pleased to see positive news on the federal
regulatory front. The U.S. leads the World in the protection of
human health and the environment, and Energy Fuels would not want
it any other way. However at times, regulatory agencies may pursue
misguided regulatory actions. We look forward to continuing to
provide our input to regulatory agencies and make sure that the
U.S. remains the leader in responsible uranium production."
Mark S. Chalmers,
P.E., is a Qualified Person as defined by
Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved
the technical disclosure, including sampling, analytical, and test
data underlying the information, contained in this news
release.
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 Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements: Certain information contained in this news
release, including any information relating to the Company being a
leading producer of uranium and vanadium in the U.S.; any
expectations relating to potential increases in productivity and
mined grades for vanadium and decreases in mining costs at the La
Sal Complex or any other mines; any expectations about uranium and
vanadium recovery rates and expected pounds of uranium and vanadium
that may be recovered at the White Mesa Mill; any expectation that
the Company plans to continue the test mining program and the tons
of mineralized material that may be recovered, sampled and
evaluated under the program; any expectation that the Company plans
to conduct additional surface exploration drilling that targets
high-grade vanadium at the La Sal Complex; any expectation that the
Company plans to resume vanadium production from existing pond
solutions at the Mill and any expected vanadium recoveries from
such solutions; any expectations that high-grade vanadium
associated with lower grade uranium exists in the La Sal mine complex or in any other mines, and
the extent to which it may exist; any expectation that the Company
now has the technology to identify higher-grade vanadium
mineralization; any expectation about the attractiveness of
higher-grade vanadium mineralized material at current vanadium
prices or during previous mining campaigns; any expectation that
the Company plans to build a longer-term vanadium production
profile at its mines; any expectation that the Company may be able
to mine its mines in a manner that targets vanadium during periods
of elevated vanadium prices even during periods of lower uranium
prices; any expectation that the Company can provide shareholders
with near-tem exposure to both vanadium and uranium production as
market conditions warrant, and any expectation that the Company may
be the only company in the US that is able to do so; and any
other statements regarding Energy Fuels' future expectations,
beliefs, goals or prospects; constitute forward-looking information
within the meaning of applicable securities legislation
(collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements in
this news release that are not statements of historical fact
(including statements containing the words "expects", "does not
expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes",
"intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled",
"forecast", "budget" and similar expressions) should be considered
forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are
subject to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which
are beyond Energy Fuels' ability to control or predict. A number of
important factors could cause actual results or events to differ
materially from those indicated or implied by such forward-looking
statements, including without limitation factors relating to: the
Company being a leading producer of uranium and vanadium in the
U.S.; any expectations to resume vanadium production at the
Mill; any expectations relating to expected vanadium recoveries
from the Mill pond and cash flows; the Company being a
leading producer of uranium and vanadium in the U.S.; any
expectations relating to potential increases in productivity and
mined grades for vanadium and decreases in mining costs at the La
Sal Complex or any other mines; any expectations about uranium and
vanadium recovery rates and expected pounds of uranium and vanadium
that may be recovered at the White Mesa Mill; any expectation that
the Company plans to continue the test mining program and the tons
of mineralized material that may be recovered, sampled and
evaluated under the program; any expectation that the Company plans
to conduct additional surface exploration drilling that targets
high-grade vanadium at the La Sal Complex; any expectation that the
Company plans to resume vanadium production from existing pond
solutions at the Mill and any expected vanadium recoveries from
such solutions; any expectations that high-grade vanadium
associated with lower grade uranium exists in the La Sal mine complex or in any other mines, and
the extent to which it may exist; any expectation that the Company
now has the technology to identify higher-grade vanadium
mineralization; any expectation about the attractiveness of
higher-grade vanadium mineralized material at current vanadium
prices or during previous mining campaigns; any expectation that
the Company plans to build a longer-term vanadium production
profile at its mines; any expectation that the Company may be able
to mine its mines in a manner that targets vanadium during periods
of elevated vanadium prices even during periods of lower uranium
prices; any expectation that the Company can provide shareholders
with near-tem exposure to both vanadium and uranium production as
market conditions warrant, and any expectation that the Company may
be the only company in the US that is able to do so; and
other risk factors as described in Energy Fuels' most recent annual
report on Form 10-K and quarterly financial reports. Energy
Fuels assumes no obligation to update the information in this
communication, except as otherwise required by law. Additional
information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in
Energy Fuels' filings with the various securities commissions which
are available online at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com.
Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of
providing information about the current expectations, beliefs and
plans of the management of Energy Fuels relating to the future.
Readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate
for other purposes. Readers are also cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, that speak only as of
the date hereof.
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SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.