Conference Call and Webcast on May 6, 2024
LAKEWOOD, Colo., May 3, 2024 /CNW/ - Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the "Company") today reported its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. The Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and may be viewed on the Electronic Document Gathering and Retrieval System ("EDGAR") at www.sec.gov/edgar, on the System for Electronic Data Analysis and Retrieval + ("SEDAR+") at www.sedarplus.ca, and on the Company's website at www.energyfuels.com. Unless noted otherwise, all dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars.
"Energy Fuels maintained our momentum from 2023, by reporting continued profitability in Q1-2024, driven mainly by uranium. We also continued to make extraordinary progress diversifying into the complementary HMS and rare earth oxide businesses.
"During the quarter, we made profitable uranium sales into our portfolio of long-term utility contracts, and we completed two opportunistic spot sales averaging nearly $103 per pound of U3O8, enabled by our significant uranium inventories backed by our near-term low-cost uranium production capacity. From these sales, we maintained high gross margins, averaging roughly 56%, contributed to in large part by our low-cost alternate feed material and other historic uranium production which we have maintained in inventory pending increased uranium prices such as we see today.
"We recently renewed a multi-year alternate feed agreement with one of our key customers, providing the Company with a long-term, low-cost source of U3O8. Finally, the ramp-up of our conventional mines in Arizona and Utah continues to proceed on budget and on schedule. We plan to begin processing alternate feed materials for the production of uranium starting in Q3-2024, followed by a conventional ore run later in 2024 or 2025. In order to optimize recoveries and minimize downtime, it is necessary to build a large stockpile of conventional ore before processing it at the Mill. While we build the necessary uranium stockpile, we are commissioning our new rare earth separation circuit.
"We continue to make extraordinary progress on rare earth elements by leveraging our uranium capabilities and permits. We completed the modifications and enhancements to the Mill's SX circuit, by adding up to 1,000 tonnes of NdPr separation capabilities through the development of our Phase 1 REE separation circuit. This means Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill now has one of the largest rare earth separation circuits in the World, ex China. This is obviously highly strategic. During Q2, we plan to process stockpiled monazite and produce roughly 25 – 35 tonnes of separated NdPr oxide, along with 10 - 20 tonnes of a 'heavy' mixed rare earth concentrate, as we commission the new circuit.
"Once the NdPr run is complete, we will shift our focus to processing alternate feed materials and conventional ore for uranium recovery later in 2024, through mid- 2026. By 2026 or 2027, we expect to have significant quantities of monazite from our newly secured mineral sand projects. We also plan to have a dedicated monazite crack-and-leach facility completed or under construction by that time. We are carefully calibrating Mill and mine schedules to accommodate both uranium and rare earths production, without diminishing the capacity for either, in a clear optimization and diversification strategy.
"We are also making spectacular progress toward securing, large-scale, low-cost sources of monazite that the Mill can process into rare earth oxides in the future. Early on, it became very apparent that to become a low-cost, world-scale rare earth oxide producer, we needed to secure our own supply chains for monazite to better control our costs and production schedules. Monazite sand from HMS projects is clearly one of the best, lowest cost source of rare earths, due to excellent natural distributions of both the 'light' and 'heavy' rare earths needed for magnets, high total and 'magnet' rare earth grades, and the fact that it is produced as a low-cost byproduct of primary titanium and zirconium mineral production.
"We acquired the Bahia HMS Project in Brazil in 2023, which we are advancing toward production. In December 2023, we announced an MOU to acquire a 49% interest in the Donald Mineral Sand Project in Australia, which is moving forward toward definitive agreements. We also recently announced a proposed acquisition of Base Resources, which owns the Toliara Project in Madagascar. Many experts believe the Toliara Project is one of the world's premier mineral sand deposits, due to its massive scale, projected low costs, and the high quality and payability of its ilmenite, rutile, zircon and rare earth minerals. Between these three projects, assuming successful acquisition and/or development of the Toliara Project, Donald Project and Bahia Project, we will have secured up to approximately 50,000 tpa of monazite to supply the Mill, with an expected ramp-up during 2026 - 2028. This quantity of monazite would contain estimated recoverable quantities of up to roughly 5,000 tpa of NdPr oxide, 200 tpa of Dy oxide, and 70 tpa of Tb oxide.
"Importantly, upon the successful completion of the Base Resources acquisition, Energy Fuels will also access Base Resources' proven leadership and heavy mineral sands operations team, which has an exceptional record of responsible asset development, construction, commissioning and profitable production in Africa. The Base Resources team will not only continue to oversee the development and operation of Toliara but will also enhance Energy Fuels' heavy mineral sands teams in Australia and Brazil, thus allowing the Company to maximize the value of all projects to the Company's shareholders.
"We also released the results of the Mill PFS demonstrating that the Mill is expected to have low capital and operating costs that we believe are among the lowest in the World. Now that we are securing our supply chains and demonstrating our commercial viability and competitiveness, we are in the process of advancing discussions with commercial customers on sales opportunities, and the U.S. government on sales and financial support.
"Another key benefit of our HMS project acquisitions that cannot be overlooked, is diversification into the HMS market, which is independent of the uranium and REE markets. The Toliara Project is recognized as a world-class HMS project based on the contained ilmenite and rutile (titanium) and zircon (zirconium), without any reliance on monazite or REEs, and if developed and operating is expected to generate significant cash flows independent of the prices of uranium and REEs.
"At Energy Fuels, we are building a diversified, U.S.-based critical minerals company, centered on our core uranium processing capabilities. Our goal is to create a profitable company able to withstand the business cycles associated with many critical minerals. We plan to be globally competitive in these markets, offering commercial and government customers a reliable, low-cost U.S. alternative."
Energy Fuels will be hosting a conference call and webcast on May 6, 2024 at 9:00 am ET (7:00 am MT) to discuss our Q1-2024 financial results, the outlook for the remainder of 2024, and our uranium, rare earths, vanadium, and medical isotopes initiatives.
To instantly join the conference call by phone, please use the following link to easily register your name and phone number. After registering, you will receive a call immediately and be placed into the conference call: RAPIDCONNECT
Alternatively, you may dial in to the conference call by calling 1-888-664-6392, and you will be connected to the call by an Operator.
You may also access viewer-controlled Webcast slides and/or stream the call by following this link: WEBCAST
A replay of the call will be available until May 20, 2024 by calling (888) 390-0541 and entering the replay code, 812214#
Selected Summary Financial Information:
Three Months Ended March 31, | |||
(In thousands, except per share data) | 2024 | 2023 | |
Results of Operations: | |||
Uranium concentrates revenues | $ 25,314 | $ 18,470 | |
Vanadium concentrates revenues | — | 871 | |
Total revenues | 25,426 | 19,613 | |
Gross profit | 14,374 | 11,347 | |
Operating income (loss) | 2,021 | (405) | |
Net income attributable to the company | 3,638 | 114,264 | |
Basic net income per common share | 0.02 | 0.72 | |
Diluted net income per common share | 0.02 | 0.72 |
(In thousands) | March 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | Percent Change | ||
Financial Position: | |||||
Working capital | $ 222,543 | $ 222,335 | — % | ||
Current assets | 228,069 | 232,695 | (2) % | ||
Mineral properties | 122,406 | 119,581 | 2 % | ||
Property, plant and equipment, net | 29,799 | 26,123 | 14 % | ||
Total assets | 405,787 | 401,939 | 1 % | ||
Current liabilities | 5,526 | 10,360 | (47) % | ||
Total liabilities | 18,097 | 22,734 | (20) % |
THE TECHNICAL INFORMATION IN THIS PRESS RELEASE RELATING TO THE TOLIARA PROJECT AND DONALD PROJECT HAS BEEN PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH JORC STANDARDS, AND THE TECHNICAL INFORMATION RELATING TO THE BAHIA PROJECT HAS BEEN PREPARED BASED ON HISTORICAL EXPLORATION RESULTS REPORTED BY A PREVIOUS OWNER OF THE PROJECT, ALL OF WHICH TECHNICAL INFORMATION HAS BEEN REVIEWED ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY BY DANIEL KAPOSTASY, VP, TECHNICAL SERVICES OF ENERGY FUELS RESOURCES (USA) INC., A QUALIFIED PERSON UNDER BOTH S-K 1300 AND NI 43-101. THE JORC COMPLIANT TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN RELATING TO THE TOLIARA PROJECT WAS DISCLOSED BY BASE RESOURCES ON DECEMBER 14, 2023. THE JORC COMPLIANT TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN RELATING TO THE DONALD PROJECT WAS DISCLOSED BY ASTRON ON JUNE 27, 2023. THE TECHNICAL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN RELATING TO THE BAHIA PROJECT IS BASED ON THE COMPANY'S PRELIMINARY CALCULATIONS USING THE GRADES AND QUANTITIES ESTIMATED IN 16 DIFFERENT EXPLORATION REPORTS PREPARED BY THE PREVIOUS OWNER AND FILED WITH THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL AGENCY OF MINERALS (ANM) OVER SEVERAL YEARS (2011-2019). A QUALIFIED PERSON HAS NOT DONE SUFFICIENT WORK TO CLASSIFY ANY OF THIS TECHNICAL INFORMATION RELATING TO THE TOLIARA PROJECT, DONALD PROJECT OR BAHIA PROJECT AS BASED ON CURRENT NI 43-101 OR S-K 1300 ESTIMATES OF MINERAL RESOURCES, MINERAL RESERVES OR EXPLORATION RESULTS. ACCORDINGLY, ENERGY FUELS IS NOT TREATING ANY OF THIS TECHNICAL INFORMATION AS BASED ON CURRENT ESTIMATES OF MINERAL RESOURCES, MINERAL RESERVES, OR EXPLORATION RESULTS AND IS TREATING THE INFORMATION DISCUSSED ABOVE RELATING TO THE TOLIARA PROJECT, DONALD PROJECT AND BAHIA PROJECT AS HISTORICAL IN NATURE.
Energy Fuels is a leading US-based critical minerals company. The Company, as the leading producer of uranium in the United States, mines uranium and produces natural uranium concentrates that are sold to major nuclear utilities for the production of carbon-free nuclear energy. Energy Fuels recently began production of advanced rare earth element ("REE") materials, including mixed REE carbonate, and plans to produce commercial quantities of separated REE oxides in the future. Energy Fuels also produces vanadium from certain of its projects, as market conditions warrant, and is evaluating the recovery of radionuclides needed for emerging cancer treatments. Its corporate offices are in Lakewood, Colorado, near Denver, and substantially all its assets and employees are in the United States. Energy Fuels holds two of America's key uranium production centers: the White Mesa Mill in Utah and the Nichols Ranch in-situ recovery ("ISR") Project in Wyoming. The White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the US 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, as well as REE products, from various uranium-bearing ores. The Nichols Ranch ISR Project is on standby and has a licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of U3O8 per year. The Company recently acquired the Bahia Project in Brazil, which is believed to have significant quantities of titanium (ilmenite and rutile), zirconium (zircon) and REE (monazite) minerals. In addition to the above production facilities, Energy Fuels also has one of the largest NI 43-101 compliant uranium resource portfolios in the US 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 Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: 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 are not limited to, statements with respect to: any expectation that the Company will maintain its position as a leading U.S.-based critical minerals company or as the leading producer of uranium in the U.S.; any expectation with respect to timelines to production; any expectation as to rates of production; any expectation as to quantities of uranium, NdPr oxides or other products to be produced in 2024 or in any subsequent years; any expectation that production rates will increase in 2025 or in any future years; any expectation that the Company's permitting efforts will be successful and as to any potential future production from any mines that are in the permitting or development stage; any expectation that the Company will purchase uranium and uranium/vanadium ores from third party miners in 2024 or at all; any expectation as to future uranium sales, the price of any such sales or the gross profits or gross margins from any such sales; any expectations with respect to the Company's planned exploration programs; any expectation that the Mill's REE production will not diminish the Mill's uranium production profile in any way; any expectation that Energy Fuels will be successful in developing U.S. separation, or other value-added U.S. REE production capabilities at the Mill, or otherwise, including the timing of any such Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 or other initiatives and the expected production capacity or capital costs associated with any such production capabilities; any expectation that the Company's Phase 1 separation facility will position the Company as one of the world's leading producers of NdPr outside of China; any expectation as to the quantity of U3O8, RE Carbonate and V2O5 the Company may hold as raw material and work-in-progress inventory or solubilized in tailings solution and the Company's ability to recover any such inventories in the future; any expectation with respect to the quantities of monazite to be acquired by Energy Fuels, or the quantities of RE Carbonate or REE oxides to be produced by the Mill; any expectation that the Company is well-stocked to capture market opportunities; any expectation that the Company may sell its separated NdPr oxide to electric vehicle manufacturers; any expectation that the Bahia Project will be a cost-effective and reliable supply of monazite ore for the Mill; any expectation that the Company will complete an S-K 1300 and NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate for the Bahia Project during 2024, or otherwise; any expectation that the Company's due diligence will be satisfactory and that the Company will enter into definitive agreements to jointly develop the Donald Project, the expected production levels associated with the Donald Project if it progresses and that, if developed, the Donald Project would be expected to be a low-cost source of feed for the Company's REE production at the Mill; any expectation that the Scheme will be completed or if completed, completed on the terms and time proposed; any expectation as to production levels or timing or duration of production from the Toliara Project or any of the Company's other mines or projects; any expectations as to costs of production at the Toliara Project, the Mill or any of the Company's mines or other projects; any expectations as to the net present value of the Toliara Project; any expectation that any production at the Toliara Project or Mill will be world or globally competitive; any expectation that the addition of the Base Resources team will allow the Company to maximize the value of the Company's projects; any expectation that Energy Fuels' Phase 1 REE separation facility will be commissioned successfully; any expectation that the Phase 2 separation facility will complete engineering design or will receive all required permits and licenses; any expectation that Energy Fuels will construct its Phase 2 REE separation facility; the estimates and projections contained in the Toliara DFS2, Toliara Monazite PFS and Mill PFS, including, without limitation, any estimates of mineral resources and reserves; any expectation that the Company will upgrade and re-issue the Toliara DFS2, Toliara Monazite PFS and Mill PFS in conformity with NI-43-101 and S-K 1300; any expectation that the Company will generate positive cash flows in the event of fluctuations in REE prices; any expectation that Energy Fuels is well-capitalized and will be able to meet its working capital, project financing and other financial commitments; any expectation that Energy Fuels will be successful in its discussions with numerous U.S. government agencies and other offices; any expectation that Energy Fuels will be successful in agreeing on fiscal terms with the Government of Madagascar or in achieving sufficient fiscal and legal stability; any expectation that the current suspension relating to the Project will be lifted in the near future or at all; any expectation that the additional permits for the recovery of Monazite at the Project will be acquired on a timely basis or at all; any expectation that the Company will be successful in entering the REE metal, alloy, and magnet-making space, in order to fully-integrate the entire REE magnet supply chain; any expectation as to the success of the Company's permitting programs, including any permitting required for the construction and operation of the planned Phase 2 separation facility at the Mill; any expectation that Toliara will become a world-class HMS project; any expectation that the Company will be successful in securing monazite from additional sources on satisfactory commercial terms or at all; any expectation about the long-term opportunity in REEs; any expectation that, if developed and operating, the Toliara Project will generate significant cash flows independent of the prices of uranium and REEs; any expectation that diversification into three commodity markets (uranium, REEs and HMS) will allow the Company to withstand fluctuations in the various commodity prices; any expectation that the Company will be successful in building a diversified, U.S.-based critical minerals company, centered on our core uranium processing and proven capabilities; any expectation that the Company will be successful in creating a profitable company able to withstand the business cycles associated with many critical minerals; any expectation that the Company will be globally competitive in its markets, offering commercial and government customers a reliable, low-cost U.S. alternative; any expectation that the Company will complete engineering on its R&D pilot facility for the production of Ra-226 at the Mill, will set up the first stage of the pilot facility, and produce R&D quantities of Ra-226 at the Mill for testing by end-users of the product or at all; any expectation that the Company's evaluation of radioisotope recovery at the Mill will be successful; any expectation that the potential recovery of medical isotopes from any radioisotopes recovered at the Mill will be feasible; any expectation that any radioisotopes that can be recovered at the Mill will be sold on a commercial basis; any expectation as to the quantities to be delivered under existing uranium sales contracts; any expectation that the Company will be successful in completing any additional contracts for the sale of uranium to U.S. utilities on commercially reasonable terms or at all; any expectation that the Company will continue to selectively capitalize on spot market sales opportunities; and any expectation as to future uranium, vanadium, HMS or REE prices or market conditions. 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: commodity prices and price fluctuations; engineering, construction, processing and mining difficulties, upsets and delays; permitting and licensing requirements and delays; changes to regulatory requirements; legal challenges; the availability of feed sources for the Mill; competition from other producers; public opinion; government and political actions; the failure of the Government of Madagascar to agree on fiscal terms for the Toliara Project or provide the approvals necessary to achieve sufficient fiscal and legal stability on acceptable terms and conditions or at all; the failure of the current suspension affecting the Toliara Project to be lifted on a timely basis or at all; the failure of the Company to obtain the required permits for the recovery of Monazite from the Toliara Project; the failure of the Company to provide or obtain the necessary financing required to develop the Toliara Project; available supplies of monazite; the ability of the Mill to produce RE Carbonate, REE oxides or other REE products to meet commercial specifications on a commercial scale at acceptable costs or at all; market factors, including future demand for REEs; the estimates and projections in the updated technical reports to be prepared in compliance with NI 43-101 and S-K 1300 may differ from the estimates and projections contained in the Toliara DFS2, Toliara Monazite PFS and Mill PFS; actual results may differ from all such estimates and projections; the ability of the Mill to recover radium or other radioisotopes at reasonable costs or at all; market prices and demand for medical isotopes; 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, on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, 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.
1 This estimated production capability is based on the Company's preliminary calculations using the grades and quantities estimated in 16 different Exploration Reports prepared by the previous owner and filed with the Brazilian Government's National Agency of Minerals (ANM) over several years (2011-2019). These grades and quantities should be considered historical in nature since there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify this historical estimate as current, and Energy Fuels is not treating this historical estimate as current – see disclosure under "Qualified Person." |
2 The financial and production information relating to the Toliara Project's mineral sands is based on the Toliara Monazite PFS prepared on December 14, 2023, which relies in part on the Toliara DFS2 prepared on September 27, 2021. The Toliara Monazite PFS constituted a "Pre- Feasibility Study" and the Toliara DFS2 constituted a "Feasibility Study" in each case for the purposes of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, 2012 Edition ("JORC"), and the Ore Reserves underpinning those studies were estimated in accordance with JORC. The results from those studies may not be comparable to (as the case may be) data or estimates under either NI 43-101 or S-K 1300– see disclosure under "Qualified Person." |
3 The information relating to the Donald Project's estimated monazite production is based on the Donald DFS prepared on June 27, 2023. This study constituted a "Feasibility Study" for the purposes of JORC, and the Ore Reserves underpinning this study were estimated in accordance with JORC. The results from this study may not be comparable to (as the case may be) data or estimates under either NI 43-101 or S-K 1300– see disclosure under "Qualified Person." |
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