(Image via Anfield Energy Inc.)
The Athabasca Basin is perhaps best known as the world’s leading source of high-grade uranium and currently supplies about 20% of the world’s uranium. It is a region in the Canadian Shield that encompasses northern Saskatchewan to Alberta across its 100,000 km2 area.
The basin is the home of both uranium producers and explorers such as
Anfield Energy Inc. (TSX-V: AEC, OTCQB: ANLDF, Forum).
This uranium and vanadium development Company is involved in near-term production that working to become one of the top-tier energies-related fuel suppliers as it creates value through the sustainable and efficient growth.
Anfield’s flagship uranium operation is the Charlie Project located in the Pumpkin Buttes Uranium District in Johnson County, Wyoming. Charlie consists of a 2.9 sq. km. (720-acre) uranium lease, which had a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) completed in 2019.
The Company’s other key asset is 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, permitted and constructed conventional uranium mills in the United States. Stretching from Arizona, to Colorado, and Utah, its conventional assets include the Velvet-Wood Project, the Frank M Uranium Project, the West Slope Project as well as the Findlay Tank breccia pipe. An NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment has been completed for the Velvet-Wood Project.
2021 has seen a banner start for uranium equities as positive business fundamentals have seemed to combine with the Reddit - fuelled market calamity that has paid off for companies involved in mining this mineral.
Anfield Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, Corey Dias, sat down with Stockhouse Editorial to dig a little deeper into the Company’s wide array of assets and offerings ….
Thank you for taking the time to join us today. To begin, let’s talk about the definitive agreement your Company signed with Southwest Exploration Inc. to acquire a 100% interest in the Newsboy Gold Project, what are the terms of the deal and what benefits does it pose to AEC shareholders?
While uranium remains our core focus, we are also opportunistic with regard to acquisitions in all sectors. We continue to pursue assets with similar characteristics as the assets currently within our portfolio, that is, assets with a historic resource, located in a safe jurisdiction, with a low-cost and near-term path to production. Newsboy ticks all of these boxes. We believe that the advancement of this asset in the current positive gold price environment will improve the Company’s valuation, and a potential exits via sale or spinout will provide a significant benefit Anfield shareholders.
Can you give us an update on your recently acquisition, the Charlie Uranium Project, which had been expected would give Anfield a solid footing for potential future production? Where does the project sit now and where is it headed?
We are poised to advance Charlie once the Biden Administration signals its plans to move forward with regard to the US Uranium Reserve. Clearly the Administration has a few other pressing items on its agenda at the moment, so we are waiting patiently for further news. In the interim, we continue to update plans for well field development. Of note: Charlie has a Preliminary Economic Assessment in place, which outlines the associated low fixed costs of moving forward to production.
In December, the Company closed its $2.7 million private placement, with funds earmarked for the development of your projects and property-related costs. Can you expand a bit further on how far these funds can go and how they have been used?
Yes. Some of our funds are to be used to initiate work on the Newsboy Gold project. Part of our acquisition agreement with Southwest include a commitment to spend $2 million within the first 12 months to advance the project, and we are reviewing all of the data associated with the project in order to assess what we have, the potential expansion targets, and what form our drill program will take. Funds will also be required for advancing or updating resource estimates for our uranium portfolio, in addition to meeting landholding costs associated with our uranium portfolio, along with license costs associated with Shootaring.
When last we spoke, you mentioned that your next-term focus on ISR projects in Wyoming, in partnership with Uranium One, along with the “blue sky” opportunity with the conventional mine-and-mill complex in Utah and Colorado, which is underpinned by Anfield’s Shootaring Canyon Mill. Should uranium prices continue to climb, it would present an opportunity to turn the mill on and create another production hub for the Company, is this still a relevant and feasible option for the Company?
Our near-term focus remains on our ISR projects and, specifically, Charlie. This is a low-cost, current-cycle uranium project which we believe will allow us to participate in near-term opportunities which are likely to come in the uranium sector. While very important, our conventional asset base – including Shootaring – is more likely to fall under a future-cycle uranium market, much like other conventional uranium assets. That said, should we see a sustained, multi-year uranium bull market, Shootaring would be an essential part of the company’s production mix.
2020 was a challenging year in the uranium sector for mining companies, now that the US election has passed, do you see further market clarity in the near future?
We do. We believe that the acknowledgment of climate change by the new Administration, along with the push to phase out fossil fuels and embrace a clean energy agenda, is a positive for the uranium sector as nuclear must be part of a clean energy initiative due to its ability to provide reliable baseload power.
What do you predict for investment in this space over the rest of 2021?
I believe that more and more interest will be afforded to this sector, especially given what just transpired in Texas. The combination of low-emission, baseload power cannot be found elsewhere, and so I feel that investors will look at assets which will help to combat climate change.
But then, the COVID-19 pandemic wrought a recovery in uranium stocks, while recent jumps in the share price of many companies in this space suggests there might be a new reason for the chemical element’s rally?
Climate change is the key. The US has returned to the Paris Accord, and has signaled its belief in climate change. It is moving forward on facilitating a path to cleaner energy, and this bodes well for uranium.
For more information, visit
anfieldenergy.com.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.