TORONTO, March 9,
2023 /CNW/ - Denison Mines
Corp. ('Denison' or the 'Company') (TSX: DML) (NYSE
American: DNN) today filed its Condensed Consolidated Financial
Statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis ('MD&A')
for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Both documents will be available on the Company's website at
www.denisonmines.com, SEDAR (at www.sedar.com) and EDGAR (at
www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml). The highlights provided below are derived
from these documents and should be read in conjunction with them.
All amounts in this release are in Canadian dollars unless
otherwise stated. View PDF version.
David Cates, President and CEO of
Denison commented, "Our results from 2022 reflect an
incredibly successful year highlighted by significant de-risking
and regulatory milestones supporting the continued advancement of
our flagship Wheeler River project.
We made history with the successful permitting, procurement,
construction, commissioning and operation of the Feasibility Field
Test ('FFT') facilities at the high-grade Phoenix uranium deposit ('Phoenix') – where we achieved the first known
recovery of uranium bearing solution via in-situ recovery ('ISR')
mining in Saskatchewan's prolific
Athabasca Basin region. The FFT
was accomplished through the tireless efforts of our Saskatoon-based technical team over the past
four years to systematically de-risk the use of ISR mining through
extensive field and laboratory testing programs. The highly
successful results of the FFT clearly demonstrate that the
Phoenix deposit is amenable to ISR
mining and that the Company can move confidently ahead with its
plans to complete a feasibility study for the project during the
first half of 2023.
In parallel to our technical de-risking efforts, we achieved
a notable milestone in the permitting process for the planned
Phoenix ISR project with the submission of a draft Environmental
Impact Statement ('EIS'), which follows from several years of
baseline environmental data collection, technical assessments, and
extensive engagement and consultation with Indigenous and
non-Indigenous interested parties. The draft EIS demonstrates that
the project can be constructed, operated, and decommissioned in a
manner that has fewer residual effects remaining after mitigation
than conventional open pit or underground mining and milling
operations – potentially achieving a superior standard of
environmental sustainability and re-shaping the future of uranium
mining in Saskatchewan.
I'm proud of the exceptional efforts of our growing and
highly motivated team to challenge the norm and achieve what others
may have previously considered impossible – with the result
positioning Denison as an industry leader on the cusp of deploying
the world's lowest cost uranium mining method at one of the world's
highest grade uranium deposits. Our timing is excellent, as our
success comes while we are observing sustained improvements in both
global sentiment towards nuclear energy's necessity in the battle
against climate change and the underlying uranium market."
Highlights
- Successfully completed 2022 ISR field work, including
permitting, constructing, and completing the leaching and
neutralization phases of the Feasibility Field Test at Phoenix
The Company's ambitious 2022 evaluation plan for the
Wheeler River project ('Wheeler River' or the 'Project') was
designed to further de-risk the technical elements of the ISR
mining project planned for the high-grade Phoenix uranium deposit. Central to this plan
was the FFT, which was designed to use the existing
commercial-scale ISR test pattern to perform a
combined assessment of Phoenix's
hydraulic flow properties along with the leaching characteristics
that have been assessed through the metallurgical core-leach
testing program. Overall, the FFT is intended to
provide further verification of the permeability,
leachability, and containment parameters needed for the
successful application of the ISR mining method at
Phoenix.
During 2022, the Company received approval to construct and operate
a pollutant control facility from the Saskatchewan Minister of Environment ('SKMOE')
and a License to Possess, Use, Store and Transfer a Nuclear
Substance ('Nuclear Substance License') from the Canadian Nuclear
Safety Commission ('CNSC'). With the receipt of these approvals,
the Company was fully permitted to operate the ISR FFT for
Phoenix. The Company completed the
construction and commissioning of the lixiviant injection system
for the FFT and commenced the leaching phase of the FFT in
September 2022.
In November, the Company announced the highlights of the
highly successful leaching phase, which:
-
- Recovered approximately 14,400 pounds of
U3O8 over ten days of
active leaching following completion of initial acidification of
the leaching area;
- Returned maximum uranium head grade of recovered solution
of 43 grams per litre
('g/L') when the leaching phase of
the FFT was completed, with grades still rising
(indicative of the ramp-up segment of a well production
profile);
- Achieved suitable acidification for ISR
mining within 7 days post initial injection at 5 metre
well spacing (GWR-041) and within 17 days for 10 metre
well spacing (GWR-038);
- Demonstrated the ability to achieve and maintain uranium
mass flow rate consistent with the assumptions in the
Pre-Feasibility Study ('PFS') prepared for the Project
in 2018;
- Further demonstrated hydraulic control of injected
solution during the FFT, reporting no responses in the
monitoring wells outside of the designed FFT test
area; and
- Confirmed breakthrough times between injection and recovery
wells, consistent with the Project's hydrogeological model
and the previously completed tracer test.
The Company then successfully completed the
neutralization phase of the FFT, after which sampling of monitoring
wells around the FFT site confirmed the successful restoration of
the leaching zone to environmentally acceptable pH conditions, as
outlined in the applicable regulatory approvals for the FFT. The
neutralization phase was designed to confirm certain environmental
assessment assumptions and verify the efficiency and effectiveness
of the neutralization process planned for ISR mining at
Phoenix.
The final phase of the FFT, which involves
management of the recovered solution, is expected to commence in
the spring of 2023.
Other ISR field work completed in 2022 included
the installation of additional test wells in multiple three-spot
test patterns at the Phoenix site
in order to assess the ISR mining conditions in additional areas of
Phoenix, as well as the completion
of extensive hydrogeologic test work and a substantial borehole
geophysics program.
The results of the FFT and additional test work
completed in 2022 are expected to inform and support the completion
of the Feasibility Study ('FS') initiated for Phoenix in late 2021.
- Exceeded 97% recovery from long-term Phoenix ISR core leach
test
In December 2022, Denison
announced the results from long-term core leach metallurgical
testing designed to support the establishment of ISR
production and recovery curves to be used in the
FS. The Company completed a long-term test of a
representative intact core sample ('Core 4A') using specialized
equipment to replicate the in-situ leaching conditions of the
Phoenix deposit.
The results from long-term core leach testing of Core 4A
were highlighted by the following:
-
- Overall recovery of uranium in excess of 97% –
demonstrating excellent recovery of uranium from intact high-grade
core, without the use of permeability enhancement;
- Average recovered solution uranium head grade of
18.3 g/L – exceeding the assumed
15 g/L uranium head grade being used
in FS plant designs (see news release dated
August 4, 2021);
- Continuous intact core leach testing over a period of 377
days, with uranium recovery head grades consistently maintained
above 5 g/L during the final stages of
the production curve and then declining during the ramp-down stage;
and
- Maximum recovered solution uranium head grade of
49.8 g/L achieved using similar
lixiviant concentrations as to those used during the
FFT.
- Achieved significant regulatory milestone for Wheeler River
with the submission of the draft EIS
In October 2022, Denison
announced a significant regulatory milestone for Wheeler
River with the submission of the draft EIS to
the SKMOE and the CNSC. The EIS
submission outlines the Company's assessment of the potential
effects, including applicable mitigation measures, of the
proposed ISR uranium mine and processing plant planned
for Wheeler River, and reflects several years of baseline
environmental data collection, technical assessments, plus
extensive engagement and consultation with Indigenous and
non-Indigenous interested parties.
In November 2022, the
Company announced that the CNSC completed its conformity
review of the draft EIS and determined that the
draft EIS met the requirements for the advancement of
the Environmental Assessment ('EA') process.
Denison also reported that the federal technical review of
the EIS, which is being completed under the provisions
of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012
('CEAA 2012'), had commenced.
- Executed agreements with Indigenous and non-Indigenous
communities of interest in the Athabasca Basin
In 2022, Denison entered into an exploration
agreement with Kineepik Métis Local #9
('KML') and an exploration agreement with the
Ya'thi Néné Lands and Resources Office
('YNLRO'), Hatchet
Lake Denesułiné First Nation, Black Lake Denesułiné First
Nation, Fond du Lac Denesułiné First Nation
(collectively, the 'Athabasca Nations') and the Northern
Hamlet of Stony Rapids, the
Northern Settlement of Uranium
City, the Northern Settlement of Wollaston Lake
and the Northern Settlement of Camsell Portage
(collectively, the 'Athabasca Communities') in respect
of Denison's exploration and evaluation activities
within the KML's land and occupancy area and within
the traditional territories of the Athabasca Nations and
Athabasca Communities.
Each exploration agreement expresses the respective
parties' intentions to build a long-term relationship and that
Denison wishes to conduct and advance its exploration
activities in a sustainable manner that respects the rights and
interests of KML and the Athabasca Nations' Indigenous rights,
advances reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, and provides
economic opportunities and other benefits to the communities in an
authentic, cooperative and respectful way.
Denison also entered into a participation and
funding agreement with KML, which expresses
Denison's and KML's mutual commitment to
co-develop an agreement supporting the advancement of Wheeler
River.
Finally, Denison entered into a capacity and
funding agreement with the Métis Nation – Saskatchewan ('MN-S'), which expresses
Denison's commitment to ensure the MN-S' participation in the
regulatory process and associated documents for Wheeler River.
- Expanded high-grade uranium mineralization at McClean Lake
South
In September 2022, Denison
announced that assays received from exploration drilling
completed at the Company's 22.5% owned McClean Lake
Joint Venture ('McClean Lake' or 'MLJV')
during the winter of 2022 resulted in a significant expansion of
the high-grade unconformity-hosted zone of uranium
mineralization discovered in 2021 between the McClean
South 8W and 8E pods (see news release dated April 14, 2021). Ten drill holes completed during
2022 by Orano Canada Inc. ('Orano
Canada'), 77.5% owner and
operator of the MLJV, returned notable uranium
mineralization, including drill hole MCS-58, which returned
2.96% U3O8 over
15.5 metres, including 24.49%
U3O8 over 1.5
metres, located approximately 54 metres to the southeast of drill
hole MCS-34, which was completed in 2021 and returned a mineralized
interval of 8.67% U3O8
over 13.5 metres. Overall, the results from 2022 have
successfully expanded the footprint of the mineralized zone to
approximately 180 metres in strike length.
- Intersected additional high-grade uranium mineralization at
Waterfound
In March 2022, multiple
high-grade intercepts of unconformity-hosted uranium mineralization
were discovered in the final three drill holes completed
during the winter 2022 exploration program at the Orano
Canada-operated
Waterfound Joint Venture ('Waterfound'). The
results were highlighted by drill hole WF-68, which returned a
broad zone of uranium mineralization, including a peak
interval of 5.91% eU3O8
over 3.9 metres (0.05%
eU3O8 cut-off) with
a sub-interval grading 25.30%
eU3O8 over
0.7 m, located approximately 800 metres west, along
the La Rocque conductive corridor, of the previously
discovered high-grade mineralization (including 4.49%
U3O8 over 10.53
metres) at the Alligator Zone.
In September 2022, Denison
announced that uranium mineralization was
encountered in three of the seven drill holes completed during the
summer exploration program at Waterfound, highlighted
by drill hole WF-74A, which intersected 4.75%
eU3O8 over 13.3
metres, including a sub-interval grading 25.23%
eU3O8 over 0.5
metres. The mineralized intersection from WF-74A represents the
best mineralized hole drilled on the Waterfound
property to date, and highlights the potential for the
discovery of additional high-grade uranium mineralization
further along strike to the west of the Alligator
Zone. Denison holds an effective 24.68% ownership
interest in Waterfound through its direct interest in
the joint venture and its 50% ownership of JCU
(Canada) Exploration Company
Limited ('JCU').
- Completed the sale of 40,000 pounds of
U3O8 from MLJV production at a sales price
of $74.65 (US$59.25) per pound
U3O8.
In April 2022, Denison
completed the sale of 40,000 pounds of
U3O8, representing
the Company's share of production from the SABRE test mining
program completed by the MLJV in 2021. The uranium was
sold at a price of $74.65
(US$59.25) per
pound U3O8 for
gross proceeds of $2,986,000.
- Obtained regulatory approval for the expansion of the
McClean Lake Tailings Management Facility
In January 2022, the CNSC
approved an amendment to the operating license for the
MLJV and Midwest Joint Venture ('MWJV')
operations, which allows for the expansion of the McClean
Lake Tailings Management Facility ('TMF"), along
with the associated revised Preliminary Decommissioning Plan
('PDP') and cost estimate. The McClean
Lake mill is a strategically significant asset in the
Athabasca Basin region and
the approval of the TMF expansion ensures the facility
will be well positioned to serve as a regional milling centre for
current and future uranium mining projects in the eastern portion
of the Athabasca
Basin for many years to come.
As a result of the updated PDP, the Company's pro
rata share of the financial assurances required to be provided to
the Province of Saskatchewan
decreased from $24,135,000 to
$22,972,000. Accordingly, in
April 2022, the pledged amount of
cash required under the Company's 2022 Credit Facility was
decreased to $7,972,000, and the
additional cash collateral of $135,000 was released – resulting in the return
of $1,163,000 in previously
restricted cash to the Company.
- Received US$4.8 million from
Uranium Industry a.s ('UI') pursuant to a Repayment Agreement
During 2022, the Company received US$4.8 million from UI pursuant to the terms of a
Repayment Agreement ('RA') that was executed in January 2022.
Under the RA, UI has agreed to make scheduled payments on account
of an arbitration award in favour of Denison
(with respect to the arbitration proceedings between the
Company and UI related to the 2015 sale by Denison to
UI of its mining assets and operations located in Mongolia), plus additional interest and fees.
The total amount due to Denison under the RA,
including amounts already received in 2022, is approximately
US$16 million, which is payable over
a series of quarterly installments and annual milestone payments
ending on December 31,
2025.
About Denison
Denison Mines Corp. was formed under the laws of Ontario and is a reporting issuer in all
Canadian provinces and territories. Denison's common shares are
listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol 'DML' and on
the NYSE American exchange under the symbol 'DNN'.
Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with
interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern
Saskatchewan, Canada. The
Company has an effective 95% interest in its flagship Wheeler River
Uranium Project, which is the largest undeveloped uranium project
in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region of northern
Saskatchewan. A Pre-Feasibility
Study ('PFS') was completed for Wheeler River in late 2018,
considering the potential economic merit of developing Phoenix as an ISR operation and the Gryphon
deposit as a conventional underground mining operation.
Denison's interests in Saskatchewan also include a 22.5% ownership
interest in the MLJV, which includes several uranium deposits and
the McClean Lake uranium mill, which is contracted to process the
ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement, plus a
25.17% interest in the Midwest Main and Midwest A deposits and a
67.41% interest in the Tthe Heldeth Túé ('THT',
formerly J Zone) and Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake
property. The Midwest Main, Midwest A, THT and Huskie deposits are
located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake
mill.
Through its 50% ownership of JCU, Denison holds additional
interests in various uranium project joint ventures in Canada, including the Millennium project (JCU,
30.099%), the Kiggavik project (JCU, 33.8118%) and Christie Lake (JCU, 34.4508%).
Denison's exploration portfolio includes further interests in
properties covering approximately 300,000 hectares in
the Athabasca Basin
region.
Denison is also engaged in post-closure mine care and
maintenance services through its Closed Mines group, which manages
Denison's reclaimed mine sites in the Elliot Lake region and provides related
services to certain third-party projects.
Technical Disclosure and Qualified
Person
The technical information contained in this press release has
been reviewed and approved by Chad
Sorba, P.Geo., Denison's Director, Technical Services, and
Andy Yackulic, P.Geo., Denison's
Director, Exploration, who are both Qualified Persons in accordance
with the requirements of NI 43-101.
Follow Denison on Twitter
@DenisonMinesCo
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain information contained in this press release constitutes
'forward-looking information', within the meaning of the applicable
United States and Canadian
legislation concerning the business, operations and financial
performance and condition of Denison.
Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by
the use of forward-looking terminology such as 'plans', 'expects',
'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts', 'intends',
'anticipates', or 'believes', or the negatives and/or variations of
such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or
results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will be taken',
'occur', 'be achieved' or 'has the potential to'.
In particular, this press release contains forward-looking
information pertaining to the following: projections with respect
to exploration, development and expansion plans and objectives,
including the scope, objectives and interpretations of the
Feasibility Study process for the proposed ISR operation for the
Phoenix deposit, including the FFT
and metallurgical testing programs described herein and the
interpretation of the results therefrom; expectations regarding
regulatory applications and approvals and the elements thereof,
including the EIS; expectations regarding the performance of the
uranium market and global sentiment regarding nuclear energy;
expectations regarding Denison's joint venture ownership interests;
and expectations regarding the continuity of its agreements with
third parties. Statements relating to 'mineral reserves' or
'mineral resources' are deemed to be forward-looking information,
as they involve the implied assessment, based on certain estimates
and assumptions that the mineral reserves and mineral resources
described can be profitably produced in the future.
Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and
estimates of management as of the date such statements are made,
and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity,
performance or achievements of Denison to be materially different
from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
For example, the results and underlying assumptions and
interpretations of the PFS as well as de-risking efforts such as
the ISR field programs discussed herein may not be maintained after
further testing or be representative of actual conditions within
the applicable deposits. In addition, Denison may decide or
otherwise be required to extend its evaluation activities and/or
the FS and/or otherwise discontinue testing, evaluation and
development work if it is unable to maintain or otherwise secure
the necessary approvals or resources (such as testing facilities,
capital funding, etc.). Denison believes that the expectations
reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, but
no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be
accurate and results may differ materially from those anticipated
in this forward-looking information. For a discussion in respect of
risks and other factors that could influence forward-looking
events, please refer to the factors discussed in the Management's
Discussion and Analysis dated March 9,
2023 under the heading 'Risk Factors'. These factors are
not, and should not be, construed as being exhaustive.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information
contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this
cautionary statement. Any forward-looking information and the
assumptions made with respect thereto speaks only as of the date of
this press release. Denison does not undertake any obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the
date of this press release to conform such information to actual
results or to changes in Denison's expectations except as otherwise
required by applicable legislation.
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SOURCE Denison Mines Corp.