Alliance has the potential to develop
commercial technologies and sources of isotopes needed for a new
domestic medical supply chain
LAKEWOOD, Colo., July 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Energy Fuels Inc.
(NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR) ("Energy Fuels" or the
"Company") is pleased to announce the execution of a Strategic
Alliance Agreement ("Alliance") with RadTran, LLC
("RadTran") to evaluate the recovery of thorium, and
potentially radium, from the Company's existing rare earth
carbonate ("RE Carbonate") and uranium process streams for
use in the production of medical isotopes for emerging targeted
alpha therapy ("TAT") cancer therapeutics. This initiative
will complement the Company's existing uranium and RE Carbonate
businesses, as it will investigate the recovery of isotopes in
existing process streams at Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill in
Utah (the "Mill") for
medical purposes. RadTran is a Denver,
Colorado-based technology development company focused on
closing critical gaps in the procurement of medical isotopes for
these applications.
Uranium and thorium are long-lived (long "half life"), naturally
occurring radioactive elements that decay into a series of
different elements through the successive loss of alpha or beta
particles. Certain elements in or derived from the uranium and
thorium decay chains have short half-lives and emit alpha
particles. These alpha emitting isotopes are currently being
studied by major pharmaceutical companies developing therapies to
treat cancer on a cellular level, while minimizing damage to
surrounding healthy tissue. However, existing domestic and global
supplies of these isotopes are in short supply, and existing
methods of production are costly and currently unable to scale-up
to meet widespread demand as new drugs are developed and approved
in the U.S., Europe and around the
World. These are major roadblocks in the research and development
of new TAT drugs, as pharmaceutical companies wait for scalable and
affordable production technologies to become available.
The Mill can represent a possible solution to this medical
supply chain issue. The Mill is the only licensed and operating
conventional uranium mill in the U.S., and it recently began
production of RE Carbonate from natural monazite sands. Monazite
sands, natural uranium ores, and certain other feed sources for the
Mill contain thorium-232 ("Th-232") and radium-226
("Ra-226"), which would normally be disposed of permanently
in the Mill's tailings impoundments following processing for
uranium and RE Carbonate recovery. As an initial step in this
medical isotope initiative, Energy Fuels and RadTran will evaluate
the technical and economic feasibility of recovering Th-232, and
potentially Ra-226, from the Mill's natural monazite and other
existing feeds, subject to receipt of any required licenses,
permits and regulatory approvals. These isotopes are a necessary
precursor to the specific medical isotopes needed by pharmaceutical
companies for their emerging TAT cancer therapeutics, making this
initiative the potential beginning of an important new domestic
medical supply chain.
If this initial step is feasible, and subject to receipt of any
required licenses, permits and regulatory approvals, Energy Fuels
and RadTran will then evaluate the feasibility of recovering
radium-228 ("Ra-228") from the Th-232 and thorium-228
("Th-228") from the Ra-228 at the Mill using RadTran
technologies, with the backing of the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory ("PNNL") in Richland,
Washington. The recovered Ra-228, Th-228, and potentially
Ra-226, would then be sold to pharmaceutical companies and others
to produce the short-lived isotopes which are the leading medically
attractive TAT isotopes for the treatment of cancer, including
lead-212 ("Pb-212"), actinium-225 ("Ac-225"),
bismuth-213 ("Bi-213"), radium-224 ("Ra-224"), and
radium-223 ("Ra-223").
"The Alliance between Energy Fuels and RadTran is remarkable as
it aims to alleviate the major bottleneck in the targeted alpha
therapy market. Upon the successful production of these isotopes at
the Mill, this Alliance will allow pharmaceutical companies who are
devoping targeted alpha therapies to progress through clinical
trials and deploy therapeutics commercially without the hinderance
of isotope supply," stated Dr. Saleem
Drera, Founder and CEO of RadTran.
If successful, this Alliance has the potential to generate
significant future cashflow for Energy Fuels in the medical isotope
industry. In addition, Energy Fuels can support cancer research and
the creation of a new, U.S.-based medical supply chain that adheres
to the highest global standards for human rights, sustainability,
safety and environmental protection. This initiative is also highly
complementary to the Company's existing businesses, as the uranium
and rare earth feeds Energy Fuels currently processes contain the
required thorium and radium. Energy Fuels is seeking to put these
isotopes to beneficial human use, rather than losing them to
permanent disposal.
"At its heart, the Energy Fuels' Alliance with RadTran is about
maximizing the value and human benefit of our existing uranium and
rare earth feeds at the White Mesa Mill," stated Mark S. Chalmers, President and CEO of Energy
Fuels. "Energy Fuels has a long track record of ethically and
responsibly processing a wide variety of naturally occurring
radioactive materials at the White Mesa Mill for the recovery of
uranium, and more recently, rare earths. In our view, recovering
medical isotopes from these same streams, that would otherwise be
lost to direct disposal, is a great way to maximally use all of our
feeds. Indeed, we are essentially replicating China's 'monazite plan.' China purchases monazite from around the
globe, recovers the uranium for use in their nuclear industry,
recovers the thorium presumably for use in their nuclear and
pharmaceutical industries, and recovers the rare earths for
processing into advanced materials needed for various clean energy
and advanced technologies. Our White Mesa Mill is a facility unique
to the United States that has the
potential to do the same thing at world standards.
"We believe Energy Fuels has the potential to create a domestic
supply of thorium and possibly radium that can be harvested using
RadTran's technologies for use in the production of the next
generation of cancer therapies, a potentially multi-billion dollar
industry. And we would be accomplishing this in a way that is
environmentally beneficial and highly congruent with Energy Fuels'
recycling and sustainability goals. We look forward to working with
RadTran on this important initiative."
ABOUT ENERGY FUELS
Energy Fuels is a leading U.S.-based uranium mining company,
supplying U3O8 to major nuclear
utilities. Energy Fuels also produces vanadium from certain of its
projects, as market conditions warrant, and is ramping up to
commercial-scale production of REE carbonate in 2021. Its corporate
offices are in Lakewood, Colorado, near Denver, and all of its
assets and employees are in the United States. Energy Fuels holds three of
America's key uranium production centers: the White Mesa Mill
in Utah, the Nichols Ranch in-situ recovery ("ISR") Project
in Wyoming, and the Alta Mesa ISR Project in Texas. The
White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in
the U.S. today, has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of
U3O8 per year, has the ability to produce
vanadium when market conditions warrant, as well as REE carbonate
from various uranium-bearing ores. The Nichols Ranch ISR Project is
on standby and has a licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of
U3O8 per year. The Alta Mesa ISR Project
is also on standby and has a licensed capacity of 1.5 million
pounds of U3O8per year. In addition to the
above production facilities, Energy Fuels also has one of the
largest NI 43-101 compliant uranium resource portfolios in the U.S.
and several uranium and uranium/vanadium mining projects on standby
and in various stages of permitting and development. The primary
trading market for Energy Fuels' common shares is the NYSE American
under the trading symbol "UUUU," and the Company's common shares
are also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading
symbol "EFR." Energy Fuels' website
is www.energyfuels.com.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This news release contains "forward-looking information"
within the meaning of applicable securities laws in Canada and the
United States. Forward-looking information may relate to
future events or future performance of Energy Fuels. All statements
in this release, other than statements of historical facts, with
respect to Energy Fuels' objectives and goals, as well as
statements with respect to its beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates, and intentions, are
forward-looking information. Specific forward-looking statements in
this discussion include, but are not limited to, the following: any
expectation that the Company's evaluation of thorium and
potentially radium recovery at the Mill will be successful; any
expectation that the potential recovery of any other isotopes from
any thorium and radium recovered at the Mill will be feasible; any
expectation that any thorium, radium and other isotopes can be
recovered at the Mill and sold on a commercial basis; any
expectation that this initiative will alleviate the major
bottleneck in the targeted alpha therapy market; any expectation
that, upon the successful production of these isotopes at the Mill,
this initiative will allow pharmaceutical companies who are
devoping targeted alpha therapies to progress through clinical
trials and deploy therapeutics commercially without the hinderance
of isotope supply; any expectation that this initiative has the
potential to generate significant future cashflow for Energy Fuels
in the medical isotope industry, or that this next generation of
cancer therapies could be a potentially multi-billion dollar
industry; any expectation that all required licenses, permits and
regulatory approvals will be obtained on a timely basis or at all;
and any expectation that this initiative may result in the creation
of a new, U.S.-based medical supply chain that adheres to the
highest global standards for human rights, sustainability, safety
and environmental protection. Often, but not always,
forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words
such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled",
"estimates", "continues", "forecasts", "projects", "predicts",
"intends", "anticipates" or "believes", or variations of, or the
negatives of, such words and phrases, or state that certain
actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should",
"might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. This information
involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from
those anticipated in such forward-looking information.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include
risks associated with: processing difficulties and upsets;
available supplies of monazite sands; the capital and operating
costs associated with the recovery of thorium, radium and other
isotopes at the Mill; licensing, permitting and regulatory delays;
litigation risks; competition from others; and market factors,
including future demand for and prices realized from the sale of
radium, thorium or other isotopes produced at the Mill.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date
of this news release, and Energy Fuels disclaims, other than as
required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, results, future
events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions
should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that
forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Energy Fuels assume no obligation to update the
information in this communication, except as otherwise required by
law.
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SOURCE Energy Fuels Inc.