Energy Fuels Inc. (TSE:EFR, NYSEMKT:UUUU) has intercepted additional high-grade areas of uranium mineralization at its Canyon mine, a fully permitted conventional underground mine being developed in northern Arizona, the company said on Wednesday.
These new intercepts, including 28.5 feet of mineralization with an average grade of 2.41% triuranium octoxide equivalent (eU3O8), further expand the mineralized zone at the mine. While dynamic in nature, the image depicts the current uranium envelope (at greater than 0.15% eU3O8), along with the status of the eight-foot-by-20-foot production shaft currently being constructed at the Canyon mine.
The company previously announced drilling results from the first mine level (1,000 feet below surface) in August and October, including the discovery of high-grade copper.
Drilling from the second mine level (1,230 feet below surface) started in November, and to date 5,922 feet of drilling have been completed in a total of 35 holes (25 percussion and 10 core holes) up to the current pause during the holidays.
On Jan. 3, core drilling is expected to resume, and the company plans to drill approximately 11,000 additional feet in the new year.
The company’s latest update focuses solely on certain eU3O8 results gathered through gamma analysis. Sampling and analysis are also continuing for the latest core drill holes, and the company expects to report on those results, including uranium, copper and silver mineralization, later in January, 2017. The company is currently awaiting assay results for over 860 samples, representing two- and four-foot core intercepts, taken from both the first and second mine levels.
The assay analysis is being performed at the company's White Mesa mill near Blanding, Utah, with a portion of these samples being verified by an independent third party laboratory. The company is also evaluating the potential to process copper and silver mineralization currently being identified in the deposit into marketable products at the White Mesa mill, as co-products of uranium recovery.
Gamma analysis from the current round of drilling at the Canyon mine continues to confirm and expand the zones of known uranium mineralization in the deposit. The company believes that drilling completed to date has expanded the envelope and increased the tonnage of the mineralization over what is described in the existing technical report from 2012. In addition to being larger than previously expected, the deposit is also appearing to be more continuous as underground drilling advances.
These drilling results continue to increase the company's level of confidence that production costs from the Canyon mine have the potential to be low-cost and competitive with the best underground uranium mines globally, including mines in Canada, based on industry-published cost estimates. In addition, the possibility of recovering copper and silver as co-products of uranium recovery has the potential to make the economics of the Canyon mine even better.
The company expects to file a new technical report in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 -- standards for disclosure for mineral projects -- in mid-2017 describing the uranium mineralization, and potentially copper and silver mineralization.
On Aug. 18, the company reported 10 individual high-grade uranium intercepts drilled from the first mine level (1,000 feet below the surface).
All holes were logged for gamma by trained company personnel to calculate eU3O8 percentage. Gamma logging tools were calibrated prior to the drilling program and verified by an independent third party geophysicist. All mineralized core samples are also in process of being analyzed at the company's White Mesa mill laboratory for further verification.
"We continue to see excellent results from the underground drilling programs at the Canyon mine, which is the highest-grade uranium project being developed in the US today. The uranium grades, thicknesses and continuities we have encountered so far are continuing to confirm our high expectations for the deposit. As we extend core holes beyond the known zones of mineralization, we are identifying new areas of high-grade uranium and copper mineralization. As a result, we believe we are expanding the size of the deposit, including the tonnage that we expect to mine,” said Stephen P. Antony, president and chief executive officer of Energy Fuels.
"We have recently observed some small improvements in uranium prices, and US government policies seem to be turning in favour of US nuclear energy and uranium production. The Canyon mine is expected to be an important aspect of Energy Fuels' near- and midterm uranium production, in addition to our ongoing production from the Nichols Ranch ISR project in Wyoming and the potential to place our Alta Mesa ISR project back into production in Texas. We look forward to providing more updates on the uranium, copper and silver mineralization at the Canyon mine as the drill program advances."