logo-loader

Energy Fuels builds uranium position in Wyoming through acquisition of royalties

Published: 17:36 14 Aug 2018 EDT

1534284378_Nichols-Ranch-Wellfield-Development-1
Today, the company acquired a 6-8% sliding-scale gross proceeds production royalty on its Nichols Ranch, Hank and Doughstick properties

Energy Fuels Inc. (TSE:EFR) (NYSE:UUUU) announced Tuesday that it has completed its previously announced acquisition from Excalibur Industries of royalties on the company's 100%-owned Nichols Ranch in situ recovery project in Wyoming, along with royalties on several operating, standby and advanced-stage ISR uranium projects in Wyoming owned and operated by Power Resources Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cameco Corp.

The company also announced that it has provided the State of Wyoming with a notice of its intent to repay and retire its Wyoming industrial development revenue bond, which has a balance of US$8.3mln.

"Today, we strengthened our position in Wyoming by adding to our assets and announcing our intent to retire debt. We believe today's acquisition of the royalties will be extremely accretive for Energy Fuels as uranium prices rise, whether due to global supply and demand fundamentals, or through remedies associated with the current U.S. government investigation into uranium imports into the US," said Mark S. Chalmers, president and chief executive officer. 

READ: Energy Fuels sees working capital position perk up in second quarter

"As Energy Fuels increases production, today's acquisition of the 6 to 8% royalty on Nichols Ranch, together with our other Wyoming projects, will significantly enhance our operating margins and cash flow profiles. Furthermore, the acquisition of the 4% gross production royalty on Cameco's properties, including North Butte which has an extensive production history and significant in-ground resources, should result in an attractive return on investment for Energy Fuels and our shareholders," he added. 

Acquisition of royalties

Today, the company acquired a 6-8% sliding-scale gross proceeds production royalty on its Nichols Ranch, Hank and Doughstick properties.

This royalty also applies to the nearby Niles Ranch, Willow Creek and Verna Ann properties, which are important pipeline uranium properties also owned by the company.

The acquisition of this royalty is expected to significantly decrease the company's cost of production at Nichols Ranch.

Energy Fuels also acquired the 4% gross proceeds production royalty on Cameco's North Butte/Brown Ranch project, the Ruby Ranch project and the Greasewood property. North Butte is a fully permitted and operational project that has been operated by Cameco as a satellite to its Smith Ranch-Highland ISR project since 2013.

In November, 2017, the company announced that this transaction was to occur by way of a merger of Excalibur with an Energy Fuels subsidiary. However, the parties subsequently agreed to structure the transaction as a purchase of assets.

WATCH: Energy Fuels boosts working capital position in second quarter

At the closing today, the company delivered to Excalibur 995,619 common shares of Energy Fuels having a total value of US$2.90-million, which were priced at US$3.26 per share based on the volume-weighted average price of Energy Fuels' shares on the New York Stock Exchange American for the five trading days ending on Aug. 13, 2018, as well as approximately US$25,000 cash for all accrued but unpaid royalties owing to Excalibur at the time of the closing.

In addition, the company is holding back another 107,221 common shares having a total value of US$350,000 which, pending the satisfaction of certain conditions, will be released to Excalibur six months following the date of closing. These shares were priced at US$3.26 per share based on the volume-weighted average price of Energy Fuels' shares on the NYSE American for the five trading days ending on Aug. 13, 2018.

Notice of repayment of Wyoming debt

On Aug. 10, 2018, the company provided notice to the State of Wyoming that it intends to repay and retire the entire outstanding principal balance of its Wyoming industrial development revenue bond within the next 30 to 60 days.

The Wyoming debt, which is secured by the company's Nichols Ranch project, currently has a principal balance of US$8.3-million.

As of June 30, 2018, the company reported approximately US$55.25-million of working capital, including cash and cash equivalents of US$43.2-million, and the company previously announced its intent to use a portion of its working capital to repay debt, including the Wyoming debt.

The company said that repayment of this loan will reduce the company's short- and long-term debt and avoid significant future interest.

"In sum this quarter, Energy Fuels is deploying almost US$12-million of capital into the state of Wyoming. Furthermore, by lowering the costs at our projects, we are in a position to make future investments in Wyoming sooner than we were before," said Chalmers.

"We are committed to Wyoming and its people, and we look forward to continuing to operate responsibly in the state for many years to come."

Shares of Energy Fuels were up 10.8% at US$3.39 on Tuesday.

ARway.ai announces multiple new SaaS developer contracts in both the United...

ARway.ai (CSE:ARWY, OTCQB:ARWYF) Chief Executive Officer Evan Gappelberg joined Steve Darling from Proactive to announce multiple new SaaS developer sign-ups for its augmented reality experience platform, focusing on AR indoor navigation. These partnerships represent significant milestones in...

1 hour, 44 minutes ago