Uranium that’s produced in Wyoming is, at present, in-situ—which means in place—uranium, which is dissolved into solution, pumped to the surface and then processed into yellowcake.
Azarga Uranium (
TSX:AZZ,
OTCQB:AZZUF, Forum) is one company currently focused on Wyoming through several projects in the state, including its 100 per cent-owned Gas Hills Uranium Project, which has a deep mining history.
The company
recently announced that it had completed an updated National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) resource estimate on the project after additional uranium mineralization had been identified.
Key highlights
- Measured and indicated uranium resources rose from 4.73 million pounds to 10.77 million pounds, representing a 128 per cent increase
- Measured and indicated in-situ recovery (“ISR”) uranium resources totalling 7.71 million pounds (72% of the overall measured and indicted resources) at an average grade of 0.101 per cent U3O8
- The Gas Hills Project having the potential to be a significant satellite deposit for the company’s flagship Dewey Burdock Project
“We are extremely pleased with the results of our Gas Hills Project resource update. The scale and confidence of our ISR amenable Gas Hills Project resource estimate has established it as a significant deposit in the USA,” Blake Steele, president and CEO of Azarga Uranium, said in a press release. “We have conducted numerous hydrology studies on our Gas Hills Project, and they have all confirmed that the resources located below the water table are ideally suited to ISR mining techniques.”
The Gas Hills Uranium District
The Gas Hills Uranium District has a deep legacy, with significant uranium being produced between the 1950’s and 1980’s. Azarga’s Gas Hills Uranium Project is located in the historic Gas Hills uranium district roughly 45 miles east of Riverton, Wyoming.
The project is made up of roughly 1,280 surface acres and 12,960 net mineral acres of unpatented lode mining claims, a mineral lease from the state of Wyoming and private mineral leases, among other things.
Between 2007 and 2013, the Gas Hills Uranium Project was owned and operated by Strathmore Minerals. URZ Energy, which Azarga Uranium
acquired in 2018, bought the project in late 2016 from Energy Fuels and the project is now 100 per cent owned by Azarga Uranium.
“We look forward to completing a preliminary economic assessment for our Gas Hills Project and evaluating its potential as a standalone deposit as well as a significant satellite deposit to the Company's flagship Dewey Burdock Project. Utilization of planned infrastructure at our Dewey Burdock Project also has the potential to considerably reduce the capital cost profile of our Gas Hills Project,” Steele said in the statement.
In November 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued Azarga Uranium their final permits for the Company’s Class III and Class V underground injection control activities at its flagship Dewey Burdock in-situ recovery uranium project in South Dakota, USA. The major federal permits, being the EPA permits and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license, have now been issued for the Dewey Burdock Project. As a result, the Company is focused on obtaining the required state permits, which have already been recommended for approval by the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources staff.
Moving forward
As the uranium spot price continues to hover near the US$30 mark, many companies in the market are gearing up for a uranium bull run this year on the back of strengthening market fundamentals, which should be pleasing to investors in the space.
Now that Azarga Uranium has updated its NI 43-101 resource estimate for its Gas Hills Uranium Project, investors can look forward to a PEA study evaluating how this project can fare as a potential standalone deposit or significant satellite deposit to its flagship Dewey Burdock Project.
For more information, please visit
www.azargauranium.com
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.