Sheriff reported in March, 2023 that the challengers to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) granting of a Source Materials License to enCore Energy Corp's wholly-owned subsidiary Powertech (USA) Inc. have declined to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The NRC license is now final and fully effective.
In a filing before the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board the Oglala Sioux, which had challenged the NRC license, stated "the Oglala Sioux does not oppose the lifting of the stay in this matter given the conclusion of the proceedings in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit." The Oglala Sioux thereby confirmed its decision not to seek Supreme Court review of the NRC license.
Confirmation of the NRC license clears the way for the resumption of proceedings in two additional legal challenges to the Dewey-Burdock Project final EPA Class III and V Underground well permits and aquifer exemption. Those challenges are based on some of the same issues decided in the NRC case.
For more information on the D.C. Circuit proceeding see enCore's news release dated December 15, 2022: United States Court of Appeals Upholds Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Handling of enCore Energy's Dewey Burdock Project Source Material License.
The Dewey Burdock Project, South Dakota
The Company's 100% owned Dewey Burdock Project is an in-situ recovery ("ISR") uranium project located in the Edgemont uranium district, South Dakota and is comprised of 12,613 surface acres and 16,962 net mineral acres. In December 2020, the Company filed an amended and restated NI 43-101 compliant independent Technical Report and Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA")2. The PEA indicates that the project has compelling economic potential at current U3O8 market prices.
Initial capital expenditures are estimated at $31.7 million. The Dewey Burdock Project is forecast to produce 14.3 million pounds of U3O8 over its 16 years of production and the projected cash flows of the Dewey Burdock Project are expected to be positive in the second year of production, two years after the commencement of construction.
The Dewey Burdock PEA resulted in a pre-income tax NPV of $171.3 million at a discount rate of 8% and an IRR of 55% compared to a post-income tax NPV of $147.5 million at a discount rate of 8% and an IRR of 50%. The Dewey Burdock PEA post-income tax calculations do not include a corporate level assessment of income tax liabilities; taxes have only been calculated at the Dewey Burdock Project level. The estimate of income tax at the corporate level is subject to a number of additional considerations that have not been factored in when calculating income taxes at the project level, including, but not limited to, the capital structure to finance the Dewey Burdock Project, which has not yet been determined, and loss carry forwards available at the corporate level.
The Dewey Burdock PEA estimated uranium prices of $55/lb U3O8, direct cash operating costs of $10.46 per pound of production and royalties and local taxes (excluding property tax) of $5.15 per pound of production. The total pre-income tax cost of uranium production is estimated to be $28.88 per pound of production. Income taxes are estimated to be $3.39 per pound of production.
Details of the assumptions and parameters used with respect to the Dewey Burdock PEA, including information on data verification, are set out in the "NI 43-101 Technical Report Preliminary Economic Assessment, Dewey-Burdock Uranium ISR Project, South Dakota, USA", dated December 22, 2020, with an effective date of December 3, 2019, by Yovich, M., PE and S. Cutler, PG, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. The Dewey Burdock mineral resource estimate includes resources in the measured, indicated and inferred classes. However Yovich and Cutler (2020) concluded the resources in the inferred class are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations to be included in the PEA. The Dewey Burdock PEA is preliminary in nature; There is no certainty that the Dewey Burdock PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not yet have demonstrated economic viability.
John M. Seeley, Ph.D., P.G., C.P.G., enCore's Manager of Geology and Exploration, and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure in this news release on behalf of enCore Energy Corp.
About enCore Energy Corp.
enCore Energy Corp. is committed to providing clean, reliable, and affordable domestic nuclear energy by becoming the next United States uranium producer in 2023. enCore solely utilizes In-Situ Recovery (ISR) for uranium extraction, a well-known and proven technology co-developed by the leaders at enCore Energy. In-Situ Recovery extracts uranium in a non-invasive process through the use of natural groundwater and oxygen, coupled with a proven ion exchange process, to recover the uranium. Uranium production is planned at enCore's licensed and past-producing South Texas Rosita Processing Plant in 2023, and at its licensed and past-producing South Texas Alta Mesa Processing Plant in 2024. Future projects in enCore's production pipeline include the Dewey-Burdock project in South Dakota and the Gas Hills project in Wyoming, along with significant uranium resource endowments in New Mexico providing long-term opportunities. The enCore team is led by industry experts with extensive knowledge and experience in all aspects of ISR uranium operations and the nuclear fuel cycle. enCore diligently works to realize value from other owned assets, including our proprietary uranium database that includes technical information from many past producing companies, from our various non-core assets, and by leveraging our ISR expertise in researching opportunities that support the use of this technology as applied to other metals. enCore is also committed to working with local communities and indigenous governments to create positive impact from corporate developments. [Alta Mesa, in Brooks and Jim Hogg Countries, Texas]
FUELING THE FUTURE
1 Mineral resource estimates are based on technical reports prepared in accordance with NI43-101 and available on SEDAR as well as company websites at www.encoreuranium.com.
2 Dewey Burdock Preliminary Economic Assessment: Woodard & Curran and Rough Stock Mining Services (the "Dewey Burdock PEA") with an effective date of December 3, 2019
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