NYSE
American:EU
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www.encoreuranium.com
FUELING THE FUTURE
CORPUS
CHRISTI, Texas, March 20,
2023 /CNW/ - enCore Energy Corp.
("enCore" or the "Company") (NYSE: EU) (TSXV: EU)
today announced 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.
Dewey
Burdock
Project
ISR
Mineral
Resource
Estimate1
|
Measured
Resources
|
Indicated
Resources
|
Measured
plus
Indicated
Resources
|
Inferred
Resources
|
Tons
|
5,419,779
|
1,968,443
|
7,388,222
|
645,546
|
Average grade
(%U3O8)
|
0.132
|
0.072
|
0.116
|
0.055
|
Average
thickness
(feet)
|
5.56
|
5.74
|
5.65
|
5.87
|
Average
grade-
thickness
("GT")
|
0.733
|
0.413
|
0.655
|
0.324
|
Uranium
(pounds) at
a
0.20 GT
cut-off
|
14,285,988
|
2,836,159
|
17,122,147
|
712,624
|
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
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.
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
|
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements: Certain information contained in this news
release, including: any information relating to the Company being a
leading uranium company; and any other statements regarding future
expectations, beliefs, goals or prospects; may constitute
"forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation
(collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements in
this news release that are not statements of historical fact
(including statements containing the words "expects", "is
expected", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not
anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects",
"potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar
expressions or variations (including negative variations) of such
words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or
results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken) should
be considered forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking
statements are subject to important risk factors and uncertainties,
many of which are beyond the companies' ability to control or
predict. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and
unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with
general economic conditions; adverse industry events; future
legislative and regulatory developments; that results of past
mining operations at the Alta Mesa and Rosita sites are indicative
of the results of proposed mining activities at those sites; that a
production decision will result in actual production commencing and
that such production will be economically viable over time; the
ability of enCore to implement its business strategies; and other
risks. A number of important factors could cause actual results or
events to differ materially from those indicated or implied by such
forward-looking statements, including without limitation
exploration and development risks, changes in commodity prices,
access to skilled mining personnel, the results of exploration and
development activities; production risks; uninsured risks;
regulatory risks; defects in title; the availability of materials
and equipment, timeliness of government approvals and unanticipated
environmental impacts on operations; risks posed by the economic
and political environments in which the Company operates and
intends to operate; increased competition; assumptions
regarding market trends and the expected demand and desires for the
Company's products and proposed products; reliance on industry
equipment manufacturers, suppliers and others; the failure to
adequately protect intellectual property; the failure to adequately
manage future growth; adverse market conditions, the failure to
satisfy ongoing regulatory requirements and factors relating to
forward looking statements listed above which include risks as
disclosed in the companies' annual information form filings. Should
one or more of these risks materialize, or should assumptions
underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual
results may vary materially from those described herein as
intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.
The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this
communication, except as required by law. Additional information
identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings by the
Company with the various securities commissions which are available
online at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com.
Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of
providing information about the current expectations, beliefs and
plans of management. Such statements may not be appropriate for
other purposes and readers should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, that speak only as of the date
hereof, as there can be no assurance that the plans,
intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur.
Such information, although considered reasonable by management at
the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual
results may differ materially from those anticipated.
Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are
expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
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SOURCE enCore Energy Corp.