Energy Fuels Plan for Canyon Priority

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Exploration, Mining, Marketing, & Acquisitions

Date posted: 09/17/16

WNN reports that Energy Fuels will prioritize work at its Canyon mine in Arizona under a revised business plan, which focuses on sustaining the company production capabilities whilst ensuring it is able to respond quickly to any changes in market conditions. The Lakewood, Colorado-based company set out its plans in its latest operational update and 2017 production guidance, published yesterday. The main emphasis of the business plan is to sustain production capabilities and uranium resources, whilst retaining production scalability and optionality, including permitted mining and processing capacity, so that it can respond to improved market conditions. It is producing uranium from the Nichols Ranch in situ leach (ISL) project in Wyoming and processing stockpiled ore and other feeds at the White Mesa conventional mill in Utah. Its recently acquired Alta Mesa ISL project in Texas remains on care and maintenance. It currently claims a licensed capacity of over 11.5 million pounds U3O8 (4423 tU) per year, and believes it has the capability, with improved uranium prices and the receipt of additional permits, to produce 4 to 6 million pounds of U3O8 per year on a sustained basis. However, in the short term, and for so long as weak uranium prices persist, it said it expects to maintain production at reduced levels or lower, including 950,000 pounds of U3O8 in 2016 and 800,000 pounds of U3O8 in 2017.