TORONTO,
May 25, 2017 /CNW/
- U3O8 Corp. (TSX: UWE), (OTCQB: UWEFF) ("U3O8
Corp." or the "Company") announces that Mr David Marsh has agreed to stand for election as
a director of the Company at its Annual and Special Meeting
scheduled to be held at 11am on
Thursday June 22 at 20 Toronto
Street, Second Floor, Toronto,
Ontario M5C 2B8.
"I am delighted that David is standing for election as a
director of the Company," said Mr David
Constable, Chairman of U3O8 Corp. "David's specific
experience with the design and construction of the processing plant
for Paladin Energy's Langer Heinrich uranium deposit will be
invaluable as U3O8 Corp. undertakes pilot plant test work in
preparation for a feasibility study at its Laguna Salada Deposit in
Argentina. David's experience with
the processing and extraction of rare earth elements and other
metals from multi-commodity ore, will also be key to advancing U3O8
Corp.'s Berlin Deposit. I would also like to thank
Darin Milmeister, who offered not to
stand for re-election so as to make his seat on the board available
for David Marsh, for his counsel and
guidance over the last year."
David Marsh commented: "I
had begun to think that the extensive design and operational
experience that I gained from many years' involvement with the
development and implementation of the alkaline leach plant for
Paladin Energy at Langer Heinrich would be a one-off in my
career. By becoming a director of U3O8 Corp. I have an
opportunity to bring that experience to the advancement of the
Laguna Salada Deposit that shares so many characteristics with
Langer Heinrich. This comes at a time that Argentina is accelerating its adoption of
nuclear to generate clean, base-load power."
Last week, an agreement was signed for the construction of
Argentina's 4th and
5th large nuclear power plants which will more than
double Argentina's uranium
requirement from the current 0.5 million pounds ("Mlbs") to 1.1Mlbs
per year. The Secretariat of Mines in Argentina lists U3O8 Corp.'s Laguna Salada
Deposit, along with the State's Cerro
Solo and past-producing Sierra Pintada deposits, as well as
Ur-America's Meseta Central project, as potential local sources of
uranium.
Argentina is reported to
have imported approximately 0.23Mlbs of uranium in 2016 at an
average price of US$58 per
pound. This price excludes insurance and transport of the
uranium to Argentina.
The 4th nuclear plant will be of Canadian Candu
design, a 700 megawatt ("MW") reactor, on which construction is
planned to start in early 2018. The 5th reactor
will be a 1,150MW Hualong One plant, on which construction is
scheduled to commence in 2020. The budget for the
construction of the two plants is US$14
billion, 85% of which is to be funded by Chinese
entities.
Uranium Extraction Experience: Mr
Marsh was involved with initial test work and development of
alkaline leach – a new technology at that time – for the treatment
of ore from the Langer Heinrich uranium deposit at GRD
Minproc. He subsequently joined Paladin Energy to manage the
team responsible for the implementation of this new technology,
including plant design and optimization, at the Langer Heinrich
Mine. Alkaline leach is the technology that current test work
shows to be most appropriate for the extraction of uranium and
vanadium from U3O8 Corp.'s Laguna Salada Deposit in Argentina.
Mr Marsh was also responsible for the test work, flow
sheet design and optimization of the acid leach processing facility
at Paladin Energy's Kayelekera uranium deposit. At Paladin
Energy, Mr Marsh also led the team that developed the flow sheet
for the scoping study of the Valhalla Uranium Deposit, which is of
the same type as U3O8 Corp.'s Kurupung Deposit in
Guyana.
Experience with Multi-Commodity Deposits:
Mr Marsh has extensive experience in the extraction of metals
from multi-commodity deposits including platinum group metals, base
metals, lithium and rare earth elements. He is currently
serving as Senior Vice President – Metallurgy and Technology
Development for Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. where his focus is
on the extraction of rare earth elements, lithium and
tin-copper-zinc from three different deposits. After developing
extraction technologies for each deposit, he has led teams that
optimized flow sheets for incorporation in economic studies of the
deposits. Mr Marsh's experience will be invaluable in the
further refinement of the extraction process for U3O8 Corp.'s
Berlin Deposit that contains uranium, phosphate, vanadium, nickel
and rare earth elements, and on the past-producing
uranium-cobalt-nickel mines that U3O8 Corp. has recently staked in
Argentina.
Technical Information
Dr. Richard Spencer,
P.Geo., CGeol., President and CEO of U3O8 Corp. and a Qualified
Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has approved the
technical information in this news release relating to the Laguna
Salada Deposit and the related PEA.
About U3O8 Corp.
U3O8 Corp. is focused on exploration and development of
deposits of uranium and associated commodities in South
America. Potential by-products from uranium production
include commodities used in the energy storage industry – in the
manufacture of batteries - such as nickel, vanadium and
phosphate. The Company's mineral resources estimates were
made in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, and are
contained in three deposits:
- Laguna Salada Deposit, Argentina – a PEA shows this
near surface, free-digging uranium - vanadium deposit has low
production-cost potential;
- Berlin Deposit, Colombia – a PEA shows that
Berlin also has low-cost uranium
production potential due to revenue that would be generated from
by-products of phosphate, vanadium, nickel, rare earths (yttrium
and neodymium) and other metals that occur within the deposit;
and
- Kurupung Deposit, Guyana – a uranium resource
has been estimated in four veins within a uranium-zirconium vein
system. Resources have been estimated on four veins, while
consistent mineralization of the same type has been intersected in
scout drilling of an additional six veins, while yet other veins
require first-time exploration drilling.
Information on U3O8 Corp., its resources and technical
reports are available at www.u3o8corp.com and on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. Follow U3O8 Corp. on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/u3o8corp, Twitter: www.twitter.com/u3o8corp and
YouTube: www.youtube.com/u3o8corp.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes certain "forward looking
statements" related with the development plans, economic potential
and growth targets of U3O8 Corp's projects. Forward-looking
statements consist of statements that are not purely historical,
including statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or
intensions for the future, and include, but not limited to,
statements with respect to: (a) the low-cost and near-term
development of Laguna Salada, (b) the Laguna Salada and Berlin
PEAs, (c) the potential of the Kurupung district in Guyana, (d)
impact of the U- pgradeTM process on
expected capital and operating expenditures, and (e) the price
and market for uranium. These statements are based on assumptions,
including that: (i) actual results of our exploration,
resource goals, metallurgical testing, economic studies and
development activities will continue to be positive and proceed as
planned, and assumptions in the Laguna Salada and Berlin PEAs prove
to be accurate, (ii) a joint venture will be formed with the
provincial petroleum and mining company on the Argentina project,
(iii) requisite regulatory and governmental approvals will be
received on a timely basis on terms acceptable to U3O8 Corp., (iv)
economic, political and industry market conditions will be
favourable, and (v) financial markets and the market for uranium
will improve for junior resource companies in the short-term. Such
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause
actual results, performance or developments to differ materially
from those contained in such statements, including, but not limited
to: (1) changes in general economic and financial market
conditions, (2) changes in demand and prices for minerals, (3) the
Company's ability to establish appropriate joint venture
partnerships, (4) litigation, regulatory, and legislative
developments, dependence on regulatory approvals, and changes in
environmental compliance requirements, community support and the
political and economic climate, (5) the inherent uncertainties and
speculative nature associated with exploration results, resource
estimates, potential resource growth, future metallurgical test
results, changes in project parameters as plans evolve, (6)
competitive developments, (7) availability of future financing, (8)
exploration risks, and other factors beyond the control of U3O8
Corp. including those factors set out in the "Risk Factors" in our
Annual Information Form available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation
of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of
preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance
should not be placed on forward-looking statements. U3O8 Corp.
assumes no obligation to update such information, except as may be
required by law. For more information on the above-noted PEAs,
refer to the September 18, 2014 technical report titled
"Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Laguna Salada
Uranium-Vanadium Deposit, Chubut Province, Argentina" and the
January 18, 2013 technical report titled "U3O8 Corp. Preliminary
Economic Assessment on the Berlin Deposit,
Colombia."
SOURCE U3O8 Corp.