Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp. (CSE:WUC) (OTCQX:WSTRF) (“Western” or ”Company”) would like to provide the following update:
Mine Standby: The Company’s temporary cessation (standby) request for the five mine permits comprising the Sunday Mine Complex (SMC) was approved by the Mined Land Reclamation Board (MLRB) in a unanimous vote. Under Colorado Rules and Regulations, an operator is required to apply for temporary cessation after a lapse of mining activities for a period of 180 days. Western had hoped to restart the SMC prior to the end of the 180-day window; however, the direct and indirect impacts of the COVID pandemic have prevented that from happening. The SMC Mines can be started on short notice when COVID restrictions are lifted and market conditions improve.
With respect to market conditions, the Company continues to closely follow a number of potential key catalysts driving improvements in the vanadium and uranium markets including:
Vanadium Section 232: United States Department of Commerce (“DOC”) is reviewing a petition by industry participants that requests a 40% tariff on vanadium imports from all sources and the establishment of a stockpiling program. Separate tariff rate quotas were requested for refined vanadium products. Western has submitted survey data and continues to support this investigation and remedies that level the playing field for U.S. domestic producers versus foreign state sponsored competitors.
Uranium – Nuclear Fuel Working Group and related Industry Developments: The American nuclear industry had its best month in decades during October. The United States Department of Energy gave awards to TerraPower and X-energy to build demonstration models of their advanced reactor designs and NuScale to deploy the first U.S. small modular reactor plant (12 modules) at the Idaho National Laboratory. The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. signed a letter of intent to finance NuScale’s development of 2,500 megawatts of electricity generation in South Africa (42 modules). The DOC finalized a 20-year extension to the Russian Suspension Agreement to reduce U.S. imports of uranium from Russia. The measure offering the greatest support for U.S. uranium miners and the U.S. uranium converter is the annual $150 million strategic uranium reserve which will be determined in 2021 congressional budget deliberations after the U.S. election.
Uranium Market: Due to mine closures of the past few years and recent COVID related uranium supply disruptions, uranium markets are set for recovery from almost a decade of oversupply in the post-Fukushima era. The largest uranium companies in the world are purchasing nuclear fuel on the spot market to fulfill supply contract deliveries. On the supply side of the market, both primary and secondary supplies are declining. On the demand side of the market, utility uncovered requirements are at a cycle high, worldwide about 50 nuclear reactor new builds are scheduled to come online in the next 5+ years, and additional Japanese nuclear reactor restarts have received approvals.
As a result of these many positive macro factors, multiple analysts are projecting a repricing of uranium in the 2022/2023 timeframe. Western remains positioned to quickly reinitiate production once fundamentals are better reflected in market pricing.
About Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp.
Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp. is a Colorado based uranium and vanadium conventional mining company focused on low cost near-term production of uranium and vanadium in the western United States, and development and application of kinetic separation.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information: Certain information contained in this news release constitutes “forward-looking information” or a “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”). Statements of that nature include statements relating to, or that are dependent upon: the Company’s expectations, estimates and projections regarding exploration and production plans and results; the timing of planned activities; whether the Company can raise any additional funds required to implement its plans; whether regulatory or analogous requirements can be satisfied to permit planned activities; and more generally to the Company’s business, and the economic and political environment applicable to its operations, assets and plans. All such forward-looking statements are subject to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s ability to control or predict. Please refer to the Company’s most recent Management’s Discussion and Analysis, as well as its other filings at www.sec.gov and/or www.sedar.com, for a more detailed review of those risk factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the Company’s forward-looking statements, and that these statements are made as of the date hereof. While the Company may do so, it does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements at any particular time, except as and to the extent required under applicable laws and regulations.
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