$946 Million Post-Tax NPV
Strong Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 40%, with 1.4 Year Payback
All-in-Sustaining Costs (AISC) of $20.48 per Pound
Average Life of Mine Production of 6.8 Million Pounds per Year
Situated in the Infrastructure Rich Eastern Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada
Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE American: UEC, the “Company” or “UEC”) is pleased to report the filing of an initial assessment technical report summary that includes an economic analysis and mineral resource estimate for its 100% owned Roughrider Project, located in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. All currency references are in United States dollars.
Amir Adnani, President, and CEO stated: “This Initial Economic Assessment marks a pivotal milestone for Roughrider, validating it as a top-tier, high-margin operation with a clear path to development into a world-class mine and mill. With a post-tax estimated net present value of $946 million, today’s results underscore the strength of our 2022 decision to acquire Roughrider from Rio Tinto for $150 million, consistent with our strategy to acquire accretive assets at opportune points in the uranium price cycle.
Key competitive advantages that position Roughrider as an elite underground development project include:
- high grade operation with 2.36% U3O8 Life of Mine feed grade,
- one of the lowest capex profiles in Canada and
- location in the Eastern Athabasca Basin, where future development will benefit from proximity to power, roads, and the Points North Landing airport and construction facility.
Additionally, we see significant potential for further value creation as we advance the project through the prefeasibility stage, supported by recent exploration drill results and the discovery of the Roughrider North Deposit.
Roughrider is poised to benefit from uranium and nuclear energy’s growing prominence to address North America’s rising electricity demand for safe, reliable, economic, and clean energy sources. Given UEC’s capabilities as an established uranium producer, we are uniquely positioned to leverage our operational expertise and financial strength to advance and de-risk Roughrider, maximizing value for our shareholders, stakeholders, and rightsholders.”
Key Highlights:
- Estimated post-tax NPV8 of $946 million, IRR of 40%, post-tax payback period of 1.4 years based on a long-term uranium price of $85/lb U3O8 and utilizing an 8% discount rate (NPV 8%), Table 1.
- Expected Life of Mine (“LOM”) production of 61.2 million lbs U3O8 produced over nine years with an average annual production rate of 6.8 million lbs U3O8. Initial capex estimated at $545 million including mill and underground mine. See Table 2.
- AISC of $20.48/lb U3O8. See Table 3.
- Average Annual LOM earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“Average EBITDA”) of $395 million. See Table 4.
- The Roughrider Project is in the well-established infrastructure of eastern Athabasca Basin, with an adjacent high-voltage 138 kV transmission line, hydroelectric power generation, 7 km north of the commercial airport at Points North Landing, and highway system. See Figure 4.
The economic analysis is included in a technical report summary titled “S-K 1300 Initial Assessment Report – Roughrider Uranium Project, Saskatchewan, Canada” issued on November 5, 2024 and prepared for UEC by Tetra Tech Canada Inc., Understood Mineral Resources Ltd., Snowden Optiro, Terracon Geotechnique Ltd. and Clifton Engineering Group Inc.; in accordance with Item 1302 of SEC Regulation S-K 1300 (“S-K 1300”) a copy of which is available under UEC’s profile at www.sec.gov (the “Technical Report Summary”). The Technical Report Summary has now been filed through EDGAR on Form 8-K and is also available as a Material Document on SEDARplus. The economic analysis included therein and summarized in this news release is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have modifying factors applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that this economic assessment will be realized.
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