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Ur-Energy
Ur-Energy’s Lost Creek: Production on target for 2011
Headquartered in Littleton, Colorado, is a company dedicated to the exploration and development of uranium properties in the United States and Canada. Bill Boberg, President and CEO of Ur-Energy, is responsible for managing the company’s 40-plus-person team who all have the same vision: to stick to its prime focus of developing roll front style uranium development projects with In-Situ Recovery (ISR) potential.
Ur-Energy trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol URE and on the NYSE: Amex under the symbol URG. The company has capital and technical depth “unmatched among North American juniors,” and so sees itself as “well positioned to be the next uranium producer in Wyoming early 2011” (according to company statements).
Being a dynamic junior mining company has enabled Ur-Energy to adapt to changing market conditions and emerge as a leader in uranium exploration. The company’s most encouraging property is in Lost Creek—which is headed for full permitting and production in early 2011. Boberg says that although the company just started six years ago, it has a very focused and long-term approach: to leverage itself “as a pure play uranium company.”
Formed in 2004, Ur-Energy first acquired properties in Wyoming, and then in Canada. Permitting on the Lost Soldier and Lost Creek Projects began that same year, and the company completed its IPO (worth $10 million) and subsequently listed on the TSX. Boberg says that company has a strong management team, and “is probably staffed more like a mid-tier company rather than a junior company.” With its people power and exceptional Lost Creek project, Ur-Energy is poised for success.
Lost Creek
Ur-Energy is currently anticipating completing permitting activities to bring its Lost Creek Wyoming uranium deposit into production and to build a two-million-pounds-per-year processing facility.
Lost Creek’s potential was first defined in the 1970’s with 540 drill holes, and now has seen 1,048 drill holes totalling ~690,000 feet (~210,000 meters) drilled by Ur-Energy. At the Ur-Energy site, there have been 153 monitor/pump test wells installed with 298 holes totalling 213,040 feet (64,935 meters) drilled in 2009-2010 program. Progress is looking excellent in 2010, because of very prudent choices made by the UR-Energy management team to move things ahead.
Why is Lost Creek the right project for Ur-Energy? Boberg says that its location in the Great Divide Basin, and its situation in a favourable U.S. mining jurisdiction enables efficient growth. Boberg echoes the sentiments of many in the mining game when he explains that pushing projects through to production in the United States can sometimes be more expedient than doing so in Canada. He says that although Canada is extremely favourable to mining, “with Canadian projects, if we made a discovery, it would probably take over 20 years to get it into production”—so pushing Lost Creek just makes sense, for both the company and its stakeholders.
“Permits can take a long time. The type of in situ mine we have at Lost Creek is the sort of thing that is a lot more straightforward to get into production in the U.S.” When Ur-Energy decided where to put resources, “it made a lot more sense to be moving a project like this into production rather than putting a lot of money into exploration in Canada hoping for a discovery—considering that discoveries are never guaranteed.”
What’s more, Ur-Energy has come upon a project that has imminent potential—right where they are now. There is a potential for 24 to 28 U3O8 million pounds to be added to the Lost Creek Project area and adjacent lands. There are multiple roll fronts in four stratigraphic horizons in those areas. These are not yet included in the Lost Creek NI 43-101 resource. The company has a 200-hole program planned for LC South this year, and figures look promising. Although the company doesn’t have money planned for further grassroots exploration in Canada at the moment, Boberg says “we should be able to develop an additional project in the Lost Creek area—and we’re working on the adjacent properties.”
However, the focus is still very much on Lost Creek itself. “We’re so close to getting our permits in hand” Boberg says. “Between now and summer we expect to see all of our permits falling into place, so that we can start the construction activities probably in late summertime. We plan to break ground in the late summer, and commence construction for about six months. Then later on we’ll start the production process,” he adds.
Looking forward
Ur-Energy currently has no need to do any financing, with $40 billion in the bank, and $30 billion left after all the company’s permits are acquired for Lost Creek. “Our share price took enough of a hit [during the recession] so we’re not about to do any financing,” Boberg reasons.
As for the Canadian Ur-Energy properties, the company is not going to put a lot of resources into areas where imminent production isn’t possible, though Boberg says there is still lots of potential in Canada. Ur-Energy currently has projects in Screech Lake, Thelon Basin, in the Northwest Territories. Land withdrawals in the area have been settled between the Canadian Federal Government and Akaitcho First Nations, which opens the lines for exploration agreements—something that Boberg considers critical for any activity. “We have to first make sure we have the social license in that area before we start drilling, so we’re working with First Nations communities there,” he explains.
For now, the company has completed audio-magnetotelluric geophysical survey, and soil gas hydrocarbon and enzyme leach soil geochemistry analyses in order to better define drill targets, and time will tell how Screech Lake will pan out. Boberg says that though the focus is on Lost Creek for now, Ur-Energy has “no problem expanding our activities in Canada, U.S., or globally, as long as we would be operating in a jurisdiction that would be favourable to moving a project towards production.”
No matter what, things are moving along for the company. “We’ve got an outstanding staff, which puts us in a position where we can move forward on our projects, and we’ve got a very good scalable project that we can advance the regulatory process on. We also have money to get ourselves to production, and those are the key things that characterize our company.”
www.ur-energy.com
Headquartered in Littleton, Colorado, is a company dedicated to the exploration and development of uranium properties in the United States and Canada. Bill Boberg, President and CEO of Ur-Energy, is responsible for managing the company’s 40-plus-person team who all have the same vision: to stick to its prime focus of developing roll front style uranium development projects with In-Situ Recovery (ISR) potential.
Ur-Energy trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol URE and on the NYSE: Amex under the symbol URG. The company has capital and technical depth “unmatched among North American juniors,” and so sees itself as “well positioned to be the next uranium producer in Wyoming early 2011” (according to company statements).
Being a dynamic junior mining company has enabled Ur-Energy to adapt to changing market conditions and emerge as a leader in uranium exploration. The company’s most encouraging property is in Lost Creek—which is headed for full permitting and production in early 2011. Boberg says that although the company just started six years ago, it has a very focused and long-term approach: to leverage itself “as a pure play uranium company.”
Formed in 2004, Ur-Energy first acquired properties in Wyoming, and then in Canada. Permitting on the Lost Soldier and Lost Creek Projects began that same year, and the company completed its IPO (worth $10 million) and subsequently listed on the TSX. Boberg says that company has a strong management team, and “is probably staffed more like a mid-tier company rather than a junior company.” With its people power and exceptional Lost Creek project, Ur-Energy is poised for success.
Lost Creek
Ur-Energy is currently anticipating completing permitting activities to bring its Lost Creek Wyoming uranium deposit into production and to build a two-million-pounds-per-year processing facility.
Lost Creek’s potential was first defined in the 1970’s with 540 drill holes, and now has seen 1,048 drill holes totalling ~690,000 feet (~210,000 meters) drilled by Ur-Energy. At the Ur-Energy site, there have been 153 monitor/pump test wells installed with 298 holes totalling 213,040 feet (64,935 meters) drilled in 2009-2010 program. Progress is looking excellent in 2010, because of very prudent choices made by the UR-Energy management team to move things ahead.
Why is Lost Creek the right project for Ur-Energy? Boberg says that its location in the Great Divide Basin, and its situation in a favourable U.S. mining jurisdiction enables efficient growth. Boberg echoes the sentiments of many in the mining game when he explains that pushing projects through to production in the United States can sometimes be more expedient than doing so in Canada. He says that although Canada is extremely favourable to mining, “with Canadian projects, if we made a discovery, it would probably take over 20 years to get it into production”—so pushing Lost Creek just makes sense, for both the company and its stakeholders.
“Permits can take a long time. The type of in situ mine we have at Lost Creek is the sort of thing that is a lot more straightforward to get into production in the U.S.” When Ur-Energy decided where to put resources, “it made a lot more sense to be moving a project like this into production rather than putting a lot of money into exploration in Canada hoping for a discovery—considering that discoveries are never guaranteed.”
What’s more, Ur-Energy has come upon a project that has imminent potential—right where they are now. There is a potential for 24 to 28 U3O8 million pounds to be added to the Lost Creek Project area and adjacent lands. There are multiple roll fronts in four stratigraphic horizons in those areas. These are not yet included in the Lost Creek NI 43-101 resource. The company has a 200-hole program planned for LC South this year, and figures look promising. Although the company doesn’t have money planned for further grassroots exploration in Canada at the moment, Boberg says “we should be able to develop an additional project in the Lost Creek area—and we’re working on the adjacent properties.”
However, the focus is still very much on Lost Creek itself. “We’re so close to getting our permits in hand” Boberg says. “Between now and summer we expect to see all of our permits falling into place, so that we can start the construction activities probably in late summertime. We plan to break ground in the late summer, and commence construction for about six months. Then later on we’ll start the production process,” he adds.
Looking forward
Ur-Energy currently has no need to do any financing, with $40 billion in the bank, and $30 billion left after all the company’s permits are acquired for Lost Creek. “Our share price took enough of a hit [during the recession] so we’re not about to do any financing,” Boberg reasons.
As for the Canadian Ur-Energy properties, the company is not going to put a lot of resources into areas where imminent production isn’t possible, though Boberg says there is still lots of potential in Canada. Ur-Energy currently has projects in Screech Lake, Thelon Basin, in the Northwest Territories. Land withdrawals in the area have been settled between the Canadian Federal Government and Akaitcho First Nations, which opens the lines for exploration agreements—something that Boberg considers critical for any activity. “We have to first make sure we have the social license in that area before we start drilling, so we’re working with First Nations communities there,” he explains.
For now, the company has completed audio-magnetotelluric geophysical survey, and soil gas hydrocarbon and enzyme leach soil geochemistry analyses in order to better define drill targets, and time will tell how Screech Lake will pan out. Boberg says that though the focus is on Lost Creek for now, Ur-Energy has “no problem expanding our activities in Canada, U.S., or globally, as long as we would be operating in a jurisdiction that would be favourable to moving a project towards production.”
No matter what, things are moving along for the company. “We’ve got an outstanding staff, which puts us in a position where we can move forward on our projects, and we’ve got a very good scalable project that we can advance the regulatory process on. We also have money to get ourselves to production, and those are the key things that characterize our company.”
www.ur-energy.com
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