WESTERN SAN JUANS – In its latest acquisition, Energy Fuels Inc., the Canadian mining company planning to build the Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill in the West End of Montrose County, announced on Aug. 22 that it has agreed to purchase interests in a uranium mining project located 15 miles northwest of Monticello, Utah.

Energy Fuels and Aldershot Resources Ltd. had been in a 50-50 joint venture called Colorado Plateau Partners, LLC, which held a number of properties in the Sage Plain Project area including three uranium mining leases, four Utah State leases, and 94 unpatented mining claims on Bureau of Land Management lands.

After the acquisition, Energy Fuels now owns 100 percent of the Sage Plain Project. According to Energy Fuels officials, the Sage Plain Project, as a whole, contains nearly three million pounds of uranium and 17 million pounds of vanadium.

This latest acquisition comes after Energy Fuels announced earlier this year that it had acquired all of Denison Mines Corporation’s mining assets in the U.S., including the White Mesa uranium and vanadium mill in Blanding, Utah. Once that acquisition was finalized, Energy Fuels became the largest pure-play uranium producer in the U.S. and one of the largest holders of uranium resources in the U.S.

Permitting the uranium mines on the Sage Plain Project has been initiated by Energy Fuels and company representatives anticipate receiving approvals for the project sometime over the next year and a half.

“The Sage Plain Project has two historic mines that were in operation in the 70s and 80s,” Energy Fuels spokesman Curtis Moore said. “The vanadium content in them is actually really high – as high as eight to one vanadium to uranium. We are in the early stages of permitting those mines to put them into production.”

Energy Fuels purchased the interests of the Sage Plain Project from Aldershot Resources for $750,000 in cash, forgiven debt, and 3,518,182 shares of Energy Fuels common stock. Energy Fuels will also acquire Aldershot's interest in a number of additional uranium properties in Arizona, which are held by Arizona Strip Partners LLC, a second joint venture with Aldershot.

“This transaction represents another step in Energy Fuels’ ongoing strategy of value-added consolidation in our core area of interest, and will potentially provide more feed for our White Mesa Mill,” Energy Fuels President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Antony said.

As for the planned Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill in Paradox Valley, after its first hearing was declared unlawful by a Denver district judge in June, Energy Fuels Inc.’s next public hearing to acquire a radioactive materials license for the new uranium mill is set to begin in October. A public hearing in Nucla is scheduled for the week of Nov. 7.

At the new hearing, exhibits will be offered for admission and written testimony will be filed, in order to provide an opportunity for parties to cross-examine expert witnesses.

Public comment will not be received at the Oct. 15 hearing but the hearing officer in the process will determine when public comment will be received when the hearing is reconvened on Nov. 7 in Nucla.





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