TORONTO, July 05, 2024 – Premier American Uranium Inc. (“PUR”, the “Company” or “Premier American Uranium”) (TSXV: PUR) (OTCQB: PAUIF) is pleased to announce a shift from resource confirmation to focus primarily on growth and resource expansion following the recent set of milestones achieved by the Company including the NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate (“MRE”) for the Cebolleta Project in New Mexico (see press release dated June 24, 2024), 12 months ahead of schedule.
The Cebolleta Project holds potential for significant resource expansion, including at the Willie P target, which was not included in the MRE, the underexplored extension of mineralization remaining open along trend, and several other untested areas. The Westwater Canyon Member, the principal host rock for several large historic uranium mines in the Grants Mineral Belt, which contains over 400 million pounds of uranium1, remains largely unexplored on the Cebolleta property, where the current mineral resources are hosted within the shallower Jackpile sandstone.
With several untested and underexplored targets at Cebolleta providing a clear path for resource growth, we are excited to initiate next steps well ahead of timelines previously expected by the market. Our technical team is currently assessing future work programs and permitting requirements with a focus on leveraging the momentum gained towards adding pounds in the prolific Grants Mineral Belt district. With +347 million pounds of uranium produced, (37% of all U.S. historical production) the Grants district is 4th largest uranium district in the world.1 The Company will focus on adding pounds near to the past producing Jackpile and Paguate mine complex with historical production of 100 million pounds of uranium, see Figure 1.2
_____________________________
1 Uranium resources in the Grants uranium district, New Mexico: An update Virginia T. McLemore, Brad Hill, Niranjan Khalsa, and Susan A. Lucas Kamat 2013
2 The Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine, Grants Uranium District: Changes in perspectives from production to superfund site Virginia T. McLemore, Bonnie A. Frey, Ellane El Hayek, Eshani Hettiarachchi, Reid Brown, Olivia Chavez, Shaylene Paul, and Milton Das
Figure 1: Plan View Map of the Cebolleta Uranium Project and Uranium Deposits
Colin Healey, CEO of PUR shares the following message with shareholders:
Dear Shareholders,
As we enter a new period of growth following the completion of our acquisition of American Future Fuel Corporation (the “Arrangement”) in late June 2024, I wanted to take a moment to substantiate our significant progress over the last few months and set out our objectives for the remainder of the year and beyond.
Executing the Business Model
PUR was established to acquire, explore, and develop uranium projects in the US to address a structural supply shortfall, particularly evident in the domestic supply chain, which is undergoing a marked renaissance as the US prioritizes energy independence, climate and emissions targets. This consolidation strategy was successfully executed in prior cycles by the same teams that have created and backed PUR, which previously resulted in outstanding shareholder returns. With the Arrangement now complete, we believe PUR is poised to generate value in the next step of its strategy: exploring and developing its key projects. PUR now has a strong foothold in three of the top uranium districts in the US, including New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado. Going forward, we expect to focus much of our efforts on project-level work, while continuing to evaluate opportunistic M&A to compliment our portfolio.
Preparing for Advanced Exploration with Bolstered Uranium Inventory
Last week, we announced an NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate (“MRE”) for the Cebolleta Project in New Mexico (see press release dated June 24, 2024). The MRE details 18.6 million pounds of eU3O8 (6.6 million short tons at an average grade of 0.14% eU3O8) in Indicated Resources and 4.9 million pounds of eU3O8 (2.6 million short tons at an average grade of 0.10% eU3O8) in Inferred Resources, effective as of April 30, 2024. Compared to the historic 2014 estimate, the new MRE has increased in both size and quality, with 80% of the previous Inferred Resources upgraded to Indicated Resources. Importantly, the updated MRE came at minimal cost, and we believe the early achievement of this milestone positions PUR to fast track, focusing efforts on resource expansion and priority target testing, rather than extensive confirmation work as previously anticipated.
Additionally, we are gearing up to commence exploration and drilling at the Cyclone Project in Wyoming, where we hold a significant land position with in-situ recovery potential. Previous drilling at the Cyclone Project from 2007 to 2008 encountered typical grades and thicknesses of uranium deposits found elsewhere in the Great Divide Basin.
Strong Ability to Lever Assets Enhanced by Additions to Board and Technical Team
The addition of Jon Indall and Michael Henrichsen to PUR’s board of directors adds significant breadth and depth of experience in advancing the flagship Cebolleta in New Mexico, Cyclone in Wyoming and the Uravan properties in Colorado.
Jon Indall’s experience as an attorney specializing in uranium mining in New Mexico, his success in lobbying for the uranium industry in the US and his foundational involvement with Uranium Producers of America, positions him as a key pathfinder in successfully navigating the various regulatory processes and guiding approaches to ESG across the portfolio.
The PUR technical and regulatory advisory group led by Ted Wilton and Mike Neumann bring new strength to the team that has advanced Cebolleta to the recently announced MRE. As the Company shifts its focus to exploration and resource growth, the bolstered team, with their previous involvement with the asset, is expected to maximize PUR’s opportunity to add pounds and advance Cebolleta toward a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the project.
Strong Uranium Fundamentals to Drive Continued Success
The US continues to position itself for a resurgence in nuclear power. Home to the world’s largest civil nuclear reactor fleet, which provides about 20% of domestic baseload energy, the US, alongside 21 other countries, has recently committed to triple nuclear power by 2050 to meet emissions targets. The US remains highly reliant on foreign suppliers to fuel its reactor fleet, with uranium production falling to almost nothing in the post Fukushima era, and critical domestic conversion and enrichment capacity well below domestic needs, the US is now taking decisive action to reestablish civil nuclear energy leadership on all fronts. With the recent passage into law of the ban on the import of Russian-produced low-enriched uranium (LEU), the US unlocked US$2.7 billion in funding, which, along with Canada, France, Japan and the U.K., have committed a total of US$4.2 billion to invest in the development of a secure and reliable global nuclear energy supply chain3. In addition, we have just seen a separate US$2.7 billion RFP issued by the US Department of Energy (“DOE”) for the purchase of LEU from domestic sources, specifically designed to jumpstart domestic nuclear fuel production, with the goal of displacing reliance on foreign sources. The DOE intends to sell the purchased LEU to utilities operating U.S. reactors and sever reliance on Russian imports4. While the US focuses efforts on reestablishing nuclear technology leadership, energy independence and climate goals, the global uranium market currently sits in a substantial supply deficit that requires higher prices for an extended period to ensure the global reactor fleet has access to the fuel it requires. There remains substantial concentration of global uranium supply among a small number of mines and jurisdictions, which itself, is a risk. It is expected that all of these factors create extremely robust uranium sector fundamentals that will exert further upward pressure on uranium price, and we believe that Premier American Uranium is well positioned to provide investors with leverage to this opportunity.
In closing, we believe PUR presents a strong investment case, providing the following:
- PUR has an unparalleled team, which together boasts decades of uranium, M&A, exploration, and development experience within the US
- PUR has strong backing and offers an opportunity to invest alongside known uranium corporate and institutional investors, including Sachem Cove Partners, IsoEnergy Ltd., Mega Uranium Ltd., and EnCore Energy, among others
- PUR has a demonstrated track record and has successfully executed its consolidation strategy with its first M&A transaction within six months of going public and continues to adopt an opportunistic approach
- PUR is ready to explore and develop its assets with two work programs anticipated at the Cyclone Project in Wyoming and Cebolleta Project in New Mexico
Qualified Person Statement
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release was reviewed and approved by Dean T. Wilton, PG, CPG, MAIG, a consultant of PUR who is a “Qualified Person” (as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Data verification related to certain scientific and technical information with respect to the Cebolleta Project can be found in the Company’s technical report entitled “Technical Report on the Cebolleta Uranium Project, Cibola County, New Mexico, USA” dated June 17, 2024, which is available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
