LAKEWOOD, CO, Feb. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Energy Fuels Inc.
(NYSE American: UUUU; TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the
"Company"), a leading uranium producer in the U.S., is pleased
to announce that members of the Company's management team will be
attending two events during the next three weeks: PDAC 2020 in
Toronto (March 1 – 4, 2020) and the 32nd Annual
ROTH Conference in Southern
California (March 17, 2020).
In addition, the Company is pleased to announce that it has been
approached by several entities, including the U.S. government, to
evaluate the potential to process certain natural ores and
alternate feed materials for their Rare Earth Element ("REE")
content in addition to uranium, at the Company's 100%-owned White
Mesa Mill in Utah.
PDAC 2020
March 1 – 4, 2020, Metro Toronto Convention
Centre ("MTCC"), Toronto,
Canada
Energy Fuels invites you to attend the convention of the
Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada ("PDAC"). PDAC describes this
conference as: "The World's Premier Mineral Exploration &
Mining Convention." We invite you to visit with the Company,
including members of the management team, in Booth #2452 in the
Investors Exchange, or to contact us directly for one-on-one
meetings using the contact information at the end of this release.
The Company's booth is near the main entrance to the exhibit
hall.
In addition, on Monday, March 2,
2020 at 2:45 pm (Eastern),
Energy Fuels' President and CEO, Mark S.
Chalmers, will be giving a presentation during the PDAC
Uranium Session in Room 801B of the
MTCC. Mr. Chalmers will discuss Energy Fuels' uranium and vanadium
businesses, along with opportunities the Company is currently
pursuing in land cleanup and the recovery of rare earth elements
(see below). Mr. Chalmers will also provide updates on U.S.
government actions to support U.S. uranium production, including
the planned creation of a U.S. uranium reserve, which is intended
to support established U.S. uranium production facilities. The
Company is the owner of three such established U.S. uranium
facilities, including the White Mesa Mill in Utah which is the only operating conventional
uranium mill in the U.S. today, the producing Nichols Ranch ISR
Facility in Wyoming, and the Alta
Mesa ISR Facility in Texas, which
is currently on standby.
32ND ANNUAL ROTH CONFERENCE,
PRESENTATION & WEBCAST
March
17, 2020, The Ritz-Carlton, Dana
Point, California
Energy Fuels also invites you to join Mr. Mark Chalmers at the 32nd Annual ROTH
Conference in Dana Point,
California. Mr. Chalmers will be presenting on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 1:30 pm (Pacific) in the Blue Track – Salon 5. A
video webcast of Mr. Chalmers presentation will also be available
at the following link:
Energy Fuels ROTH Webcast Presentation
Mr. Chalmers will also be available for one-on-one meetings
throughout that day. Please contact ROTH Capital Partners at
oneononerequests@roth.com to request a meeting.
RARE EARTH ELEMENT OPPORTUNITY
Energy Fuels is pleased to provide the following update on
opportunities the Company is pursuing in the rare earth element
("REE") sector. The Company is – first and foremost – a uranium
producer. However, Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill, which is the only
conventional uranium and vanadium mill operating in the U.S. today,
is a large and highly versatile facility that can be utilized in a
number of applications, including potentially the processing of
certain natural ores and alternate feed materials for the recovery
of both uranium and rare earth elements.
In addition to uranium and vanadium, the Company's White Mesa
Mill license has allowed for the production of other minerals,
along with uranium, from alternate feed materials, such as
tantalum, which is on the U.S. department of Interior's Critical
Minerals List. Alternate feed materials are uranium-bearing
materials other than natural ores, which are often tailings and
residues from other metal processing operations. Many ores and
alternate feed materials that contain uranium also contain
recoverable quantities of REEs; therefore, we believe certain of
these ores and alternate feed materials can be processed for the
recovery of both uranium and REE's at the White Mesa Mill. Natural
uranium and REE-bearing ores that meet certain criteria can
generally be processed under the Mill's existing license and
permits, whereas alternate feed materials typically require a
license amendment before they can be processed.
The Company is in discussions with several entities, including
the U.S. government, about the potential to recover both light and
heavy REE's at the White Mesa Mill along with uranium from certain
natural ores and alternate feed materials. Initial evaluation and
bench-scale testing indicates that certain of these types of ores
and alternate feed materials can be processed using mainly existing
mill equipment, and we expect that any upgrades and process changes
would be minimal in cost and time due to the existing mill
flexibility and capacity. The White Mesa Mill is a large facility
with a licensed and operating capacity to process 2,000 tons of ore
per day. Typical production rates for uranium/REE ores and
alternate feed materials would be expected to be small relative to
the White Mesa Mill's capacity. Therefore, even at higher levels of
uranium and vanadium production, the Company believes there is
enough capacity to process such ores and alternate feed materials,
in addition to typical uranium and vanadium ores.
The U.S. government is currently taking action to support the
domestic production of REE's, which are considered vital to U.S.
national and economic security. On July 22,
2019, U.S. President Donald J.
Trump issued five (5) Presidential Determinations in
accordance with the Defense Production Act (the "Act") directing
the U.S. Department of Defense to "take actions to develop and
purchase equipment and materials needed for creating, maintaining,
protecting, and expanding production capability for [REE's]." Since
the issuance of those Determinations, Energy Fuels has actively
engaged with the U.S. Government, along with several other REE
companies, to facilitate initial evaluation and potential pilot
testing of REE recovery at the White Mesa Mill. The Company
believes the White Mesa Mill could be an ideal location for
producing certain REE's in the U.S. Currently, REE-bearing uranium
ores are being shipped to China
for processing, which presents geopolitical, national security and
economic risks.
In these Presidential Declarations, the President went on to
state "that the domestic production capability for separation and
processing of [REE's] is essential to the national defense," and
the President declared that "purchases, purchase commitments, or
other action pursuant to the Act are the most cost-effective,
expedient, and practical alternative method for meeting the need
for this critical capability."
On REE's, Mark S. Chalmers,
President and CEO of Energy Fuels stated: "Energy Fuels is very
lucky to own a facility like the White Mesa Mill due to its
considerable flexibility. Energy Fuels will always primarily be a
uranium miner. However, when other opportunities arise to diversify
and generate cash flow, we will carefully evaluate them, especially
when the U.S. government is backing those efforts. The processing
of natural ores and alternate feed materials for the recovery of
REEs in addition to uranium is just such an opportunity for Energy
Fuels. We believe Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill could be the ideal
location to process certain REE-bearing uranium ores and alternate
feed materials in the U.S., thereby loosening China's stranglehold on this critical
industry. We look forward to working with the U.S. government and
other companies to bring REE production back home to the United States."
About Energy Fuels: Energy Fuels is a leading
US-based uranium mining company, supplying
U3O8 to major nuclear utilities. The Company
also produces vanadium from certain of its projects, as market
conditions warrant. Its corporate offices are near Denver, Colorado, and all of its assets and
employees are in the United
States. Energy Fuels holds three of America's key uranium
production centers, the White Mesa Mill in Utah, the Nichols Ranch in-situ recovery
("ISR") Project in Wyoming, and
the Alta Mesa ISR Project in Texas. The White Mesa Mill is the only
conventional uranium mill operating in the U.S. today, has a
licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of
U3O8 per year, and has the ability to produce
vanadium when market conditions warrant. The Nichols Ranch ISR
Project is in operation and has a licensed capacity of 2 million
pounds of U3O8 per year. The Alta Mesa ISR
Project is currently on standby. In addition to the above
production facilities, Energy Fuels also has one of the largest NI
43-101 compliant uranium resource portfolios in the U.S., and
several uranium and uranium/vanadium mining projects on standby and
in various stages of permitting and development. 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 Notes: This news release
contains certain "Forward Looking Information" and "Forward Looking
Statements" within the meaning of applicable United States and Canadian securities
legislation, which may include, but is not limited to, statements
with respect to: any expectation that the
Company may have the opportunity to process uranium-bearing ores
and/or alternate feed materials for the recovery of REEs, at all or
on commercial terms; any expectation that the Company will be able
to recover REEs and/or uranium from such ores or alternate feed
materials on a commercial basis; any expectation that any such
natural ores may be processed within the Mill's existing licenses
and permits; and any expectation that any required alternate feed
license amendments would be obtained at all or on a timely
basis. 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,"
"budgets," "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:
any expectation that the Company may have the opportunity to
process uranium-bearing ores and/or alternate feed materials for
the recovery of REEs, at all or on commercial terms; any
expectation that the Company will be able to recover REEs and/or
uranium from such ores or alternate feed materials on a commercial
basis; any expectation that any such natural ores may be processed
within the Mill's existing licenses and permits; any expectation
that any required alternate feed license amendments would be
obtained at all or on a timely basis.; and the other
factors described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's
most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, 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.