Jul 17 2015
Energy Fuels Inc. ("Energy Fuels" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the State of Wyoming has granted the Company approval for a major revision to the existing mining permit for its 100%-owned Sheep Mountain Project, including expansion of surface and underground mining. This is considered a major milestone in the permitting process for this facility.
The Sheep Mountain Project is a conventional uranium project located in the Crooks Gap Mining District of central Wyoming, and one of the largest uranium development projects in the U.S. today. The project was formerly operated by Western Nuclear from the 1950's to the 1980s, at which time the mine was shut down due to low uranium prices.
In order to place the Sheep Mountain Project into production, the Company also requires a final environmental impact statement ("EIS") from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") and a facility to process the ore from this property. In January 2015, the BLM issued a draft EIS, and the Company expects the BLM to issue a final EIS and approve the Plan of Operations by mid-2016. The Company is continuing to evaluate processing options for the Sheep Mountain Project, including the permitting and construction of a new onsite heap leach facility or the use of an existing third party milling facility in the region.
According to an April 2012 preliminary feasibility study ("PFS"), the Sheep Mountain Project contains 30.3 million pounds of uranium contained in 12.9 million tons of Indicated Mineral Resources with an average grade of 0.117% eU3O8. In addition, the Sheep Mountain Project is one of the only uranium projects in the U.S. with reserves. Included in the Indicated Mineral Resources, the project contains 18.4 million pounds of uranium contained in 7.5 million tons of Probable Mineral Reserves with an average grade of 0.123% eU3O8. The PFS also estimates that the project can produce up to 1.5 million pounds of U3O8 per year over a 15-year mine life.
Stephen P. Antony, President and CEO of Energy Fuels stated: "With over 30 million pounds of uranium resources, the Sheep Mountain Project is one of the largest and most important uranium projects in the U.S. Receipt of the mining permit is a key achievement for Energy Fuels, as we work to ready this project for mining."
"In 2014, Energy Fuels was the second largest producer of uranium in the U.S. with nearly 1 million pounds of production. Our goal is to become the leading uranium producer in the U.S., which could be achieved through our project pipeline that we believe is unmatched in the industry today. We recently added existing ISR production to our portfolio, through the acquisition of Uranerz and its Nichols Ranch ISR Mine and Plant in Wyoming. In addition, large-scale conventional uranium projects, such as our Sheep Mountain, Roca Honda, and Henry Mountains Projects, are critical components of Energy Fuels' production growth strategy, as we seek to significantly scale-up our production capability to capture expected uranium market improvements."
Stephen P. Antony, P.E., President & CEO of Energy Fuels, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.