Uranium Energy adds Rio Tinto’s exploration projects to Athabasca portfolio
Uranium Energy (NYSE: UEC) has expanded its landholdings in the Athabasca basin of Saskatchewan with the acquisition of exploration-stage projects held by Rio Tinto Exploration Canada, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO).
Included in the portfolio are a 60% equity stake in the Henday Lake joint venture, 100% of the Milliken project, and a 50% equity stake in the Carswell joint venture project. Total consideration paid to Rio Tinto was $1.5 million, fully funded with UEC’s cash on hand.
With the latest asset purchase, UEC has added roughly another 180 sq. km of prospective ground in the Athabasca basin to its existing portfolio of more than 4,400 sq. km.
The transaction follows UEC’s October 2022 acquisition of the Roughrider project, located 13 km west of the McClean Lake uranium mill, from Rio Tinto for $150 million. The project has a historic resource of 58 million lb. uranium oxide (U3O8) at an average grade of 4.73% U3O8 in all categories.
It also follows the company’s successful acquisition of UEX and its portfolio of 29 uranium projects covering key areas of the producing eastern side and development western side of the prolific Athabasca basin.
“This is our third acquisition in the Athabasca Basin in the last 12-months and builds on the landmark acquisitions of UEX and the Roughrider project,” Amir Adnani, CEO of UEC, said in Tuesday’s news release.
According to Adnani, this acquisition represents an important component in the company’s strategy to assemble a premier North American uranium portfolio, featuring near-term U.S. production, Canadian development-stage projects including joint ventures, and a pipeline of exploration projects with excellent growth potential.
The Henday project is less than 5 km north of the Roughrider project and close to support infrastructure, offering regional synergies with the projects in the Eastern Athabasca Hub that UEC has assembled over the last 12 months as part of the UEX acquisition, the company said.
Carswell is located just north of the past-producing Cluff Lake operation, and is in close proximity to Shea Creek where the company has a 49.075% interest. The Carswell property hosts uranium showings in drill holes, trenches, outcrop and boulders that are consistent with the mineralization types found at the former Cluff Lake mine.
Milliken represents the western extension of UEC’s Hidden Bay project’s Wolf Lake trend that has multiple uranium showings over 19 km.
“All three projects exhibit the features we seek when acquiring quality exploration assets, including uranium anomalism and hydrothermal alteration. In addition, these projects exhibit excellent prospective geology with minimal to no sandstone cover that will result in lower exploration costs and shorter timelines to discovery,” Chris Hamel, VP exploration, Canada, said.
UEC’s acquisitions over the past year have increased its total attributed current resources by 109.9 million lb. of indicated resources and 71 million lb. of inferred resources, which are attributed to the Roughrider, Christie Lake, Horseshoe-Raven, Shea Creek and Millennium projects.
UEC shares traded at US$4.09 apiece ($5.54) on Tuesday afternoon in New York, valuing the company at US$1.5 billion. Its shares traded in a 52-week window of US$2.30 and US$4.65.
