enCore Energy's NRC Source Materials License for Dewey-Burdock Project Now Final and Effective NYSE American:EU
enCore Energy's NRC Source Materials License for Dewey-Burdock
Project Now Final and Effective
NYSE American:EU
TSXV:EU
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 U
3
O
8
market prices.
Dewey Burdock
Project ISR
Mineral
Resource
Estimate
1
Measured
Resources
Indicated
Resources
Measured plus
Indicated
Resources
Inferred
Resources
Tons
5,419,779
1,968,443
7,388,222
645,546
Average grade
(%U
3
O
8
)
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 U
3
O
8
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 U
3
O
8
, 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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%SEDAR: 00029787E
For further information:
William M. Sheriff, Executive Chairman, 972-333-2214, [email protected], www.encoreuranium.com
CO: enCore Energy Corp.
CNW 07:00e 20-MAR-23