Published: September 24, 2024 | Share This

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Uranium Energy Corp. has entered into an agreement with Rio Tinto America to acquire 100 percent of Rio Tinto’s Wyoming assets, comprised of the wholly-owned and fully-licensed Sweetwater Plant and a portfolio of uranium mining projects with approximately 175 million pounds of historic resources. The purchase price payable at closing is $175 million and expected to close in the fourth quarter of the calendar year 2024

“Expanding our production capabilities with the acquisition of highly sought after and fully licensed uranium assets in the U.S. is an important and timely milestone, especially in Wyoming, where we have recently restarted ISR production,” said Uranium Energy President and CEO, Amir Adnani.

“With this transaction, we are building upon our transformative acquisition of Uranium One Americas in 2021, which added a large portfolio of holdings in the Great Divide Basin of Wyoming. We recognized early on that there are meaningful development synergies with the Rio Tinto assets, particularly the Sweetwater Plant. These assets will unlock tremendous value by establishing our third hub-and-spoke production platform and cement UEC as the leading uranium developer in Wyoming and the U.S.,” added Adnani.

“We’re witnessing unprecedented global growth in nuclear energy and demand for uranium as demonstrated by the recently proposed Three Mile Island restart in support of Microsoft’s AI growth. With our fourth acquisition since 2021, UEC is continuing to execute towards building the premier and fastest growing North American uranium company,” concluded Adnani.

”In my 46 years of operating experience in Wyoming, this is the first time that such a large portfolio of assets has been consolidated with one company, offering a pathway to near-term production, development, and untapped exploration potential,” said Uranium Energy Vice President of Wyoming Operations, Donna Wichers.

The Red Desert Project is a development-stage uranium project, encompassing approximately 20,005 acres of exploration and mining rights in the Great Divide Basin, including 17,750 acres of unpatented mining claims, 1,975 acres of patented lands, and 1,280 acres of state uranium leases. Between three deposits, historic uranium resources are estimated at approximately 42 million pounds of U3O8. There is potential for further discoveries, particularly in the shallow mineralization adjacent to the Sweetwater Plant. The deposits are favorable for ISR mining.

The Green Mountain Project is a development-stage uranium project located 22 miles north of the Sweetwater Plant. The project spans approximately 32,040 acres of exploration and mining rights, including 29,400 acres of unpatented mining claims, 640 acres of patented lands, and 2,000 acres of state uranium leases. Between five deposits, historic uranium resources are estimated at approximately 133 million pounds of U3O8. Desert View and Whiskey Peak have large areas that have been identified as having good potential for ISR mining, whereas the other deposits are considered appropriate for conventional mining.

The Sweetwater Plant is a 3,000 ton per day conventional processing mill with a licensed capacity of 4.1 million pounds of U3O8. It is located approximately 40 miles northwest of Rawlins and 75 miles northeast of Rock Springs, Wyoming. Access to the mill is via 30 miles of paved road from US Highway 287 to the east of the site. The fully licensed mill operated from 1981 to 1983 and has been kept under care and maintenance since then. It is the only conventional processing mill in Wyoming.

The plant has considerable infrastructure in place, including well-maintained buildings and equipment, a wash bay, warehouse, workshop, offices, access road, and utilities. There is potential for the plant to be adapted for the recovery of uranium from loaded resins produced by ISR operations, subject to obtaining any necessary modifications to permits and licenses.

Uranium Energy (EUC) is the fastest growing supplier of the fuel for the green energy transition to a low carbon future. UEC is the largest, diversified North American focused uranium company, advancing the next generation of low-cost, environmentally friendly ISR mining uranium projects in the United States and high-grade conventional projects in Canada. The company has two production-ready ISR hub and spoke platforms in South Texas and Wyoming. These two production platforms are anchored by fully operational CPPs and served by seven U.S. ISR uranium projects with all their major permits in place. Additionally, the company has diversified uranium holdings including: (1) one of the largest physical uranium portfolios of U.S. warehoused U3O8; (2) a major equity stake in Uranium Royalty Corp., the only royalty company in the sector; and (3) a Western Hemisphere pipeline of resource stage uranium projects. The company’s operations are managed by professionals with decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining.

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