VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Anfield Energy, Inc. (TSX.V: AEC; OTCQB: ANLDF; FRANKFURT: 0AD) (“Anfield” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce it has submitted its production reactivation plan for the Shootaring Canyon mill to the State of Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ). This major milestone is critical to restarting uranium production at Shootaring. The plan addresses the updating the mill’s radioactive materials license from its current standby status to operational status and the increasing of both throughput capacity and the tripling of licensed production capacity. Following approval of the reactivation plan and mill refurbishment, Anfield will be able to both recommence uranium production and start vanadium production in 2026 — joining a select group of North American and U.S. uranium producers meeting the resurgence in uranium demand.
The plan outlines an increase in mill throughput capacity to 1,000 tons per day from 750 tons per day and an increase in annual uranium production capacity to 3 million pounds from 1 million pounds. The Shootaring mill – one of only 3 licensed, permitted and constructed conventional uranium mills in the U.S. — is a significant differentiator between Anfield and its peers.
Corey Dias, Anfield’s CEO states, “We at Anfield are very proud of achieving the important milestone of submitting the production restart application for Shootaring. This is an achievement which has taken close to 18 months of engineering and design input to complete and caps a decade of methodical and strategic progression in asset development. Since acquiring the Shootaring Canyon mill in 2015, we have maintained the facility, waiting for the right market conditions to return the mill to production status. With uranium reaching highs of greater than US$100 per pound earlier this year, and a global environment in which demand is expected to continue outstripping supply, we believe this is the ideal time to advance our uranium assets to production.”
“We believe that it is important to highlight the challenges related to starting this process from a greenfield position to reaching Anfield’s current production position. For example, a company with no existing radioactive materials license or mill site would need: 1) to secure an appropriate site for mill construction and tailings buildout; 2) to complete baseline environmental studies regarding potential environmental impacts of mill operations to satisfy NEPA requirements (typically a two to three-year undertaking); 3) access to infrastructure – roads and power; and 4) the radioactive materials license itself, which requires the submittal of a comprehensive application that incorporates not only the previous items, but also a mill facility and tailings construction, operation and reclamation and decommissioning plan, including confirmatory studies outlining emissions related to mill operations, as well as other ancillary permits.
“Finally, the installation of Doug Beahm as Chief Operating Officer (COO), bringing with him a wealth of experience in progressing assets to production, means Anfield will have the right permitted assets in the right place, at the right time, with the right production-focused leadership. The uprating of Anfield’s status to production-ready will also be a strong case for an uprating in Anfield’s valuation and share price to be much more in line with Anfield’s peers.”
Next Steps
Early-stage refurbishment of Shootaring will take place during the review of the restart application, preparing the Company to complete refurbishment as soon as the restart application is approved. The Company is targeting the mill restart in 2026.
With the application submitted to the UDEQ, the Company can prepare for uranium mill and tailings refurbishment and vanadium circuit construction. Steps include: the rough grading of the tailings pond cell area in advance of cell design approval; the moving of ore stockpiles and remediation of sections of the restricted area to establish a new radiation control boundary; the building of a new ore dump wall and transportation roads, along with a truck wash station; the demolition of all infrastructure to be replaced (e.g., electrical, controls, leach tanks); the installation of new generators, acid tanks and fuel tanks; the construction of the vanadium circuit building and counter-current decantation (CCD) circuit footers; the building of new ore pads where Velvet-Wood ore can be stockpiled in anticipation of mill restart; and the ordering of tanks and vessels needed for processing circuits, having equipment onsite and ready to install once the license is approved.
Uranium Market Outlook
The nuclear renaissance remains robust, with no shortage of positive news entering the market daily. The continued buildout of new reactors in disparate regions such as Asia, Europe, North America and Africa truly underscores the global nature of the nuclear embrace. At the same time, the Japanese reactor restarts and life extensions reflect the continued confidence of Japan’s reengagement of nuclear power, post-Fukushima. The U.S.’s commitment to nuclear is reflected in not only life extensions of existing nuclear reactors and commissioning of new reactors, but also the return of a recently-decommissioned nuclear plant. Finally, China’s accelerated buildout of nuclear reactors continues unabated.
While the demand side of the uranium market is rapidly growing, the supply side continues to face challenges to meet demand. Recent concerns regarding Kazatomprom’s ability to meet its production targets, coupled with recent floods in Kazakhstan, has created unexpected challenges for the world’s largest uranium producer. Supply chain logistics for access to Western consumers have also weakened due to war in Ukraine, exacerbated by China’s aggressive pursuit of Kazakh uranium supplies. Moreover, the U.S. government’s push to ban the sale of Russian enriched uranium is likely to lead to a division between western-derived nuclear fuel supply – including uranium – and eastern-derived material.
While these challenges are likely to remain in the near term, the US government’s recognition of these issues has led to the creation of a 200GW energy roadmap to expand domestic milling and mining operations by 500,000MT per year – 110 million pounds of uranium per year – is a significant catalyst for US-based producers. This is taking place while U.S. uranium production fell to essentially zero in the fourth quarter of 2023. Anfield’s milestone takes it one step closer to full participation in domestic uranium production.
About Anfield
Anfield is a uranium and vanadium development and near-term production company that is committed to becoming a top-tier energy-related fuels supplier by creating value through sustainable, efficient growth in its assets. Anfield is a publicly traded corporation listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (AEC-V), the OTCQB Marketplace (ANLDF) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (0AD). Anfield is focused on its conventional asset centre, as summarized below:
Arizona/Utah/Colorado – Shootaring Canyon Mill
A key asset in Anfield’s portfolio is the Shootaring Canyon Mill in Garfield County, Utah. The Shootaring Canyon Mill is strategically located within one of the historically most prolific uranium production areas in the United States, and is one of only three licensed uranium mills in the United States.
Anfield’s conventional uranium assets consist of mining claims and state leases in southeastern Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, targeting areas where past uranium mining or prospecting occurred. Anfield’s conventional uranium assets include the Velvet-Wood Project, the Slick Rock Project, the West Slope Project, the Frank M Uranium Project, the Findlay Tank breccia pipe as well as an additional 12 U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) leases in Colorado. A combined NI 43-101 PEA has been completed for the Velvet-Wood Project and the Slick Rock Project. The PEA is preliminary in nature, and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment would be realized. All conventional uranium assets are situated within a 200-mile radius of the Shootaring Mill.
See table and footnote below for additions.
Technical Disclosure
Table 1. Anfield’s existing conventional uranium-vanadium project portfolio resources.
| Project | Location | Classification | Tons (kt) | Uranium Grade (% U3O8) |
Contained Uranium (Mlbs U3O8) |
Vanadium Grade (% V2O5) |
Contained Vanadium (Mlbs V2O5) |
| Velvet-Wood | Utah | M & I | 811 | 0.29% | 4.6 | – | – |
| Inferred | 87 | 0.32% | 0.6 | 0.404% | 7.3 | ||
| West Slope | Colorado | Indicated | 1,367 | 0.197% | 5.4 | – | – |
| Inferred | 1,367 | – | – | 0.984% | 26.9 | ||
| Historic* | 630 | 0.31% | 3.9 | 1.59% | 20.0 | ||
| Slick Rock | Colorado | Inferred | 1,760 | 0.224% | 7.9 | 1.35% | 47.1 |
| Frank M | Utah | Historic* | 1,137 | 0.101% | 2.3 | – | – |
| Findlay Tank | Arizona | Historic* | 211 | 0.226% | 1.0 | – | – |
| Date Creek/Artillery Peak | Arizona | Historic* | 2,602 | 0.054% | 2.8 |
| Marquez-Juan Tafoya | New Mexico | Historic* | 7,100 | 0.127% | 18.1 |
* The Company’s Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify these historic estimates as current mineral resources and Anfield is not treating such historical resources as current mineral resources.
Velvet-Wood: The PEA for Velvet-Wood/Slick Rock was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer, of BRS Inc., Harold H. Hutson, P.E., P.G., Carl D. Warren, P.E., P.G., and Terence P. (Terry) McNulty, P.E., D. Sc., of T.P. McNulty and Associates Inc. (May 6, 2023). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability in accordance with CIM standards. GT cut-off varies by locality from 0.25%-0.50%.
West Slope: NI 43-101 resource estimate for the JD-6, JD-7, JD-8 and JD-9 properties, completed by BRS Inc. (effective March 2022); Historic resource estimate for the SR-11, SR-13A, SM-18 N, SM-18 S, LP-21 and CM-25 properties, completed by Behre Dolbear for Cotter Corporation (August 2007). Indicated and Inferred resources using GT cut-off of 0.1 ft% eU3O8; historic resources using cut-off of 0.05% U3O8.
Slick Rock: The PEA for Velvet-Wood/Slick Rock was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer, of BRS Inc., Harold H. Hutson, P.E., P.G., Carl D. Warren, P.E., P.G., and Terence P. (Terry) McNulty, P.E., D. Sc., of T.P. McNulty and Associates Inc. (May 6, 2023). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability in accordance with CIM standards. GT cut-off varies by locality from 0.25%-0.50%.
Frank M: Historic Technical Report for Frank M, prepared for Uranium One Americas, was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer of BRS Inc., and Andrew C. Anderson, P.E., P.G. Senior Engineer/Geologist of BRS Inc., dated June 10, 2008. Frank M historic resource used a GT cut-off of 0.25%.
Findlay Tank: Historic Technical Report for Findlay Tank, prepared for Uranium One Americas, was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer of BRS Inc., dated October 2, 2008. Findlay Tank historic resource used a grade cut-off of 0.05% eU3O8.
Artillery Peak: Artillery Peak Exploration Project, Mohave County, Arizona, 43-101 Technical Report, authored by Dr. Karen Wenrich, October 12, 2010. GT cut-off varies by locality from 0.01%-0.05%.
Marquez-Juan Tafoya: The Historical Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment, for Marquez-Juan Tafoya, prepared for Uranium Energy Corporation, was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G., Principal Engineer of BRS Inc., and Terence P. McNulty, P.E., PhD, McNulty & Associates, dated June 9, 2021. The mineral resources are reported at a 0.60 GT cut-off.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
ANFIELD ENERGY INC.
Corey Dias, Chief Executive Officer
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contact:
Anfield Energy, Inc.
Clive Mostert
Corporate Communications
780-920-5044
contact@anfieldenergy.com
www.anfieldenergy.com
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