- Despite consuming 27% of the world’s uranium requirements, the U.S. produces virtually no uranium
- Texas-based Uranium Energy Corp. has more than 100 million pounds of uranium in the ground in its portfolio, in addition to 2.1 million pounds of warehoused physical uranium inventory
- UEC recently completed 40 development holes at its flagship Burke Hollow project, adding data to what potentially is the largest Goliad Formation deposit ever discovered in the South Texas Uranium Trend
Currently, U.S. uranium production is practically nonexistent: Most of the country’s requirements are from foreign sources with almost half coming from Former Soviet Union countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan state owned enterprises. This is a supply/demand imbalance of epic proportion, considering the U.S. operates the largest fleet of nuclear reactors in the world and consumes about 27% of the world’s uranium requirements. For the first time in 48 years, politicians on Capitol Hill are lending bipartisan support to nuclear energy. Coupling national security exposures with federal mandates to implement additional clean energy, Uranium Energy (NYSE American: UEC) is further advancing its portfolio of uranium projects in the U.S.
In December, an omnibus spending bill passed by Congress provided what UEC Chairman and former U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham called a “shot in the arm to the uranium mining sector” (https://ibn.fm/3C1QR). The bill put in motion an unprecedented 10-year, $1.5 billion program to establish a Strategic Uranium Reserve derived from domestic production.
UEC, the owner of the largest resource base of fully permitted In-Situ Recovery (“ISR”) uranium projects of any U.S.-based producer in Texas and Wyoming, has more than 100 million pounds of uranium in the ground at its properties, as well as 2.1 million pounds of physical uranium inventory. As detailed recently by UEC President and CEO Amir Adnani at the H.C. Wainwright Spring Mining Conference, the strategic purchase of drummed uranium at approximately $30 per pound is expected to reap several benefits:
bolstering the balance sheet as uranium prices appreciate; providing strategic inventory to support future marketing efforts with utilities that could compliment production and accelerate cashflows; and increasing the availability of our Texas and Wyoming production capacity for emerging U.S. origin-specific opportunities which may command premium pricing due to scarcity of domestic uranium.
This month, the Corpus Christi, Texas-based company completed 40 development holes in the first production area – dubbed “PAA-1” – at its Burke Hollow ISR project in the South Texas Uranium Trend (https://ibn.fm/s1Emn). PAA-1 is the newest and largest ISR wellfield being developed in the U.S. The U.S. Geological Survey has recognized southern Texas as one of the least explored uranium belts in the country with the greatest potential, especially for low-cost ISR mining.
Burke Hollow is part of the hub-and-spoke strategy utilized by UEC, including other permitted projects called Palangana and Goliad as well as two other projects (Salvo and Longhorn), all anchored by its fully licensed 2-million-pound per annum Hobson Processing Plant. All of UEC’s South Texas projects are located within relatively short trucking distances from the Hobson plant.
The latest drilling at the 19,335-acre property provided insight as to the continuity of the uranium roll fronts and exceptional uranium grades within PAA-1. Several drill intercepts returned 2.45 – 4.48 grade thickness (“GT”), a level significantly above the 0.3 GT cut-off mark used in ISR resource estimation and wellfield development.
Furthermore, the drilling program helped bracket the mineralization, which is critical in ISR, as monitor wells are drilled along perimeters outside injection and production wells. Of the 40 holes, 35% resulted in intercepts exhibiting GT values equal to or greater than 0.3, utilizing a cutoff parameter of 0.02% grade (pU308), highlighted by a cut of 27.5 feet grading 0.163 pU3O8 (4.483 GT).
“The development of Burke Hollow, the only recent uranium discovery in the United States, continues to exhibit the potential to be the largest Goliad Formation deposit ever discovered in the South Texas Uranium Trend,” said UEC VP of Resource Development Andy Kurrus at UEC, in a press release on the results.
The company’s drilling will continue with additional resource delineation test holes, followed by installation of approximately 45 additional exterior monitoring wells to accommodate the trend extensions, complementing the 76 monitor wells previously installed.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.UraniumEnergy.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to UEC are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/UEC
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