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How Supply & Demand is Likely Driving the Uranium Market to Reach a 16-Year Peak This Year

PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FN Media Group News Commentary - Experts predict that the global uranium market is likely to reach a 16 year peak in 2024. A recent article in Reuters headlined: “Supply risks fuel uranium's flight to more than 16-year peak.” The article said that Uranium prices have hit their highest in more than 16 years on a buying frenzy triggered after the world's largest miner of the nuclear fuel highlighted production risks, but the price surge is likely to mean the restart of mothballed capacity. It added: “Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom (KZAP) in January 2024 said it may cut its 2024 production plan due to difficulties with the availability of sulphuric acid needed to produce uranium. Uranium oxide prices, under pressure for years after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 battered demand, picked up momentum in August 2021 when disruptions caused by COVID lockdowns hit supplies and created shortages. They have since rocketed 250%, and are up 15% so far this month to their highest since November 2007 at $106 a lb. After a decade of dormancy, uranium suddenly came to life in mid-2021, rising above its long-standing cap at $30 a lb, which also happens to be the global industry’s marginal cost of mined production," said Liberum analyst Tom Price. Liberum forecasts a 300,000 lb deficit this year, down from a shortfall of 1.1 million lbs in 2023, and estimates 2024 demand at 174.7 million lbs, up from 170.4 million lbs last year.” Active mining companies in the markets this week include Stallion Uranium Corp. (TSX-V: STUD) (OTCQB: STLNF), IsoEnergy Ltd. (OTCQX: ISENF) (TSX-V: ISO), FISSION URANIUM CORP. (OTCQX: FCUUF), Denison Mines Corp (NYSE American: DNN) (TSX: DML), NexGen Energy Ltd. (NYSE: NXE).

The article continued: “However, while we recognize upside price risk, we also expect Kazatomprom and Cameco to eventually reactivate their dormant mine capability, as the price rallies – to secure market share and deter entrants," Price said. “He expects restarts from both companies this year and next. Toronto-listed Cameco is expected to be the world's second largest uranium producer this year after Kazatomprom. Uranium purchases by companies including the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust and Yellow Cake have contributed to the price surge in recent months, but this, industry sources say, would be due to demand from investors looking at supply/demand imbalances. Resistance to nuclear power after Fukushima remains, but the need to cut emissions and a growing belief that it would make the energy transition safer and cheaper is expected to drive uranium demand higher over the coming years.”

Stallion Uranium Corp. (TSX-V: STUD) (OTCQB: STLNF) Begins Mobilization Efforts for Maiden Drill Program - Stallion Uranium Corp. (FSE: HM40) is pleased to announce that it has begun mobilization efforts for its high priority Appaloosa Target in preparation for the Company’s maiden drill program on its 100% owned Coffer Project in the prolific Southwestern Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Highlights:

  • 3,300 meters across 3 holes in the Appaloosa Target Zone.
  • The objective of the 2024 program is the discovery of uranium mineralization associated with conductive electromagnetic (EM) anomalies.
  • Drill holes are targeting multiple stacked geophysical anomalies including conductive EM anomalies, gravity low anomalies and magnetic low anomalies.
  • Stallion holds a 100% ownership of the project.

“We are incredibly excited to be starting the preparations for our maiden drill program, a key milestone for the company. The Appaloosa target is incredibly compelling and is born from our efforts over the past year. Our strategy is to find multiple high potential tier one targets by completing effective regional surveys that map key conductive corridors that we prioritize for follow up surveys in preparation for drill testing,” stated Drew Zimmerman, CEO. “This pragmatic approach gives our team high confidence in the Appaloosa target, while our strategy will continue to develop additional tier one targets for drill testing.”

Drill Program - The program will be the first diamond drill program initiated on Stallion’s 100% owned Coffer Project. The Company will utilize one drill to complete a 3,300-meter program on the Appaloosa target. The target area hosts a ~6 km long EM conductor located on the contact between the Beaverlodge and Taltson geological domains. The contact between two domains is an optimal location for uranium bearing fluid to concentrate. The drill targets are along the identified EM conductor and will focus on coincident gravity and magnetic lows associated with alteration which have the potential to host uranium mineralization. The results from the recent ground EM survey are being plate modeled which will be integrated into the final drill targeting models.

Stallion will be announcing any anomalous scintillometer results from the program as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive materials if they are encountered. Final assay results will be released when available and are expected in the summer of 2024 after lithogeochemical analysis is completed.

The Coffer Project is located 224 km north of the community of La Loche and is accessible via highway 955. The accommodations will be located 12 km away from the drill site and will be accessible by drill trails. The Company has secured all necessary permits and approvals for the Program.

“The 2024 drilling program on the Coffer Project is the result of the analysis of multiple geophysical surveys, ensuring that we have located the target area with the highest potential to intercept uranium mineralization,” commented Darren Slugoski, VP Exploration Canada. “The maiden drill program is the culmination and continuation of a multi-year exploration strategy to find one or more deposits across our large land package.” CONTINUED Read these full press releases and more news for Stallion Uranium at:
https://stallionuranium.com/news/press-releases/

Other recent developments in the mining industry of note include:

IsoEnergy Ltd. (OTCQX: ISENF) (TSX-V: ISO) recently announced that it has closed its previously announced "bought deal" brokered private placement announced on January 18, 2024, pursuant to which the Company sold 3,680,000 federal flow-through common shares of the Company (the "Premium FT Shares") at an offer price of C$6.25 per Premium FT Share, for aggregate gross proceeds of C$23,000,000 (the "Offering"), which includes the full exercise of the Underwriters' over-allotment option. The Offering was conducted by a syndicate of underwriters, co-led by Eight Capital and Haywood Securities Inc., as joint bookrunners, and including Canaccord Genuity Corp., PI Financial Corp., Red Cloud Securities Inc. and TD Securities Inc. (collectively, the "Underwriters").

The proceeds from the issuance of the Premium FT Shares are expected to be used to incur eligible "Canadian exploration expenses" ("CEE") as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "ITA") that will qualify as "flow-through critical mineral mining expenditures" as defined in the ITA, after the closing date and on or prior to December 31, 2025 in the aggregate amount of not less than the total amount of the gross proceeds raised from the issuance of Premium FT Shares. IsoEnergy will renounce the CEE (on a pro rata basis) to the applicable subscriber of Premium FT Shares with an effective date of no later than December 31, 2024, in accordance with the ITA. The proceeds from the Offering are expected to be used for exploration of the Company's Athabasca Basin Portfolio, including the Larocque East Project and Hawk Project, and for exploration of the Company's Quebec properties.

FISSION URANIUM CORP. (OTCQX: FCUUF) recently announced that preparations are underway to commence its ~6,000m winter regional exploration program (see News Release December 06th, 2023) at the PLS high-grade uranium project in Canada's Athabasca Basin. Bryson Drilling Ltd. of Archerwill SK, has been contracted to conduct the drilling program. Two diamond drill rigs are now on site and being positioned with the first holes testing the Saloon and Holster target areas: DDH-A and DDH-B respectively.

Uranium mineralization of the Triple R deposit at PLS occurs within the Patterson Lake Conductive Corridor and has been traced by core drilling over ~3.18km of east-west strike length in five separated mineralized "zones", which collectively make up the Triple R deposit. From west to east, these zones are R1515W, R840W, R00E, R780E and R1620E. Through successful exploration programs completed to date, Triple R has evolved into a large, near-surface, basement-hosted, structurally controlled high-grade uranium deposit. The discovery hole was announced on November 05, 2012, with drill hole PLS12-022 from what is now referred to as the R00E zone.

NexGen Energy Ltd. (NYSE: NXE) recently announced the commencement of a 30,000-meter exploration drill program that will test priority targets on NexGen's 100% owned properties that dominate the boundary of the proven high-grade uranium district of the southwest Athabasca Basin. The Company's 2024 program builds on 2023 exploration results, which advanced the geological investigation of previously unexplored corridors and produced priority targets for this 2024 campaign.

NexGen's 2023 exploration program applied high-resolution geophysical surveys across all properties, and 22,114.4 meters of drilling dedicated to SW 2 (Rook I) (Figure 1) and SW1 (Gambit, Gartner and King) (Figure 2). The results yielded a more comprehensive understanding of the geology in the highly prospective R7 and Morrow targets on the SW2 property; including brittle-reactivated structure and hydrothermal alteration indicative of high-grade uranium-bearing systems. Further, the 2023 program identified high prospectivity in the SW1 property (Gartner and Gambit corridors) where hydrothermal alteration associated with structure was discovered. In 2024, NexGen is increasing its exploration effort with a 30,000-meter drill program to follow up on these results and continue to systematically test the large and prospective land package NexGen holds. By refining targets through purpose-built geophysical coverage and drill testing priority areas, this exploration program is designed to strategically capitalize on the increasing global demand for clean, sustainably produced Canadian uranium.

Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Nuclear power is critical to reliably achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and uranium is the fuel that will power this necessary transition with the industry forecasting a 200-million-pound annual supply deficit by 2040. With our priority focus on concluding Federal permitting and project engineering, the commencement of the 2024 exploration drilling to identify additional zones of mineralization is an exciting arm of NexGen's operations. The team are employing the same innovative target generation and cost efficiency approach that led to the discovery Arrow."

Orano Canada Inc. (“Orano Canada”), and Denison Mines Corp. (NYSE American: DNN) (TSX: DML), as joint-venture partners in the McClean Lake Joint Venture (“MLJV”), recently announced that the MLJV has approved a restart of uranium mining operations using the joint venture’s patented Surface Access Borehole Resource Extraction (“SABRE”) mining method. Orano Canada owns a 77.5% interest and is the operator of the MLJV and Denison owns a 22.5% interest.

Mining is planned to commence at the McClean North deposit in 2025, with 2024 activities expected to focus on preparations necessary to ready the existing SABRE mining site and equipment for continuous commercial operations, as well as the installation of eight pilot holes for the first mining cavities planned for excavation. The approved budget for this work in 2024 is $7 million (100% basis).

Approximately 800,000 lbs U3O8 (100% basis) are targeted for production from McClean North in 2025, with approximately 3,000,000 lbs U3O8 (100% basis) identified for potential additional production from a combination of the McClean North and Caribou deposits during the years 2026 to 2030.

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