TORONTO, July 12,
2022 /CNW/ - Denison Mines
Corp. ("Denison" or the "Company") (TSX: DML) (NYSE: DNN)
is pleased to announce that it has received approval from the
Province of Saskatchewan to prepare,
construct, and operate the facilities required to carry
out the In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") Feasibility Field Test
("FFT") planned for the Phoenix
deposit at the Company's 95% owned Wheeler River project. View PDF
version
The approval was granted by the Saskatchewan Minister of
Environment (the "Minister") and authorizes Denison
to operate "pollutant control facilities" – which is typical
for mining operations and allows for the management of material
recovered from mineral extraction through to waste water treatment,
discharge, and storage (as applicable). The
approval followed the completion of a process involving
the review of and consultation on the Company's permit
application and supporting materials related to the
FFT.
Kevin Himbeault, Denison's Vice
President of Plant Operations & Regulatory Affairs,
commented "We are pleased to have
received approval from the
Province of Saskatchewan to
prepare and operate the Phoenix
FFT. This is a
significant advancement
for the FFT, which
is a key step in the process of de-risking the
proposed Phoenix
ISR uranium mining operation and
is expected to provide important details to support the
ongoing Feasibility Study. Overall, Denison was
pleased with the permit
submission, review, and
community consultation process –
as it reflected a shared objective of all
interested parties to ensure the safe and
environmentally responsible operation of the
facilities required to complete the
FFT."
David Cates, Denison's President
& CEO, added "The permitting of the
FFT is an excellent demonstration of our
team's technical and regulatory
capabilities. The FFT represents a
first-of-its-kind test of a uranium mining method that is new to
Canada. Successfully
navigating the
regulatory environment in Saskatchewan to
develop conditions for the oversight
of a novel advanced field test is a
notable accomplishment for both the
Denison team and the
regulatory team from the Ministry of the
Environment."
With receipt of the Approval to Operate Pollutant Control
Facilities from the Minister, preparation and construction of
the FFT facilities, described below, are now fully authorized and
are expected to commence shortly.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has determined that a
Nuclear Substance License is also required for Denison to
possess and store a nuclear substance (mineralized solution
containing uranium) resulting from the operation of the FFT. The
process to obtain this license is well advanced, and the
licence is expected to be received before the site preparation and
commissioning activities are completed.
This press release constitutes
a "designated news
release" for the purposes of the
Company's prospectus supplement dated September 28, 2021, to its short form base shelf
prospectus dated September 16,
2021.
Feasibility Field Test
The FFT is designed to use the existing commercial-scale
ISR test pattern ("Test Pattern"), installed at Phoenix in 2021 (see news releases
dated July 29, 2021 and October 28,
2021), to facilitate a combined assessment of the
Phoenix deposit's hydraulic flow
properties with the leaching characteristics that have been
assessed through the metallurgical core-leach testing
program. Overall, the FFT is intended to provide further
verification of the permeability, leachability, and containment
parameters needed for the successful application of the ISR mining
method at Phoenix and is expected to validate and inform
various feasibility study design elements – including the
production and remediation profiles expected for the
project.
The operation of the FFT is planned to occur in three phases:
(1) the leaching phase, (2) the neutralization phase, and (3) the
recovered solution management phase.
The majority of the test activities (leaching and neutralization
phase) will occur within an estimated 60-day operating time
frame, with the construction and placement of temporary facilities
commencing approximately two months prior to the commissioning
of the test facilities and initiation of the leaching
phase.
The leaching phase is designed to assess the effectiveness and
efficiency of the leaching process in the mineralized zone, at a
depth of approximately 400m below the
surface. The leaching phase includes the controlled injection
of an acidic solution into a portion of the existing
Test Pattern within the mineralized zone (the "Leaching Zone") and
the recovery of the solution back to the surface using
existing test wells. The recovered solution from the
leaching phase is expected to contain dissolved minerals,
including uranium, copper, iron, molybdenum, and zinc. Once on
surface, the recovered solution (up to a maximum of 500 cubic
metres) will be stored temporarily in tanks in accordance
with approved environmental
protection containment measures.
The neutralization phase includes the recovery of the
remainder of the leached mineralized solution from the
Leaching Zone and is intended to verify the efficiency and
effectiveness of the process for returning the Leaching
Zone to near baseline conditions. During this phase,
a mild alkaline (basic) solution will be injected into the
Leaching Zone to neutralize the area and reverse the residual
effects of the acidic solution injected during the
leaching phase. The recovered solution from the neutralization
phase (up to a further maximum of 500 cubic metres) will also
be stored temporarily on surface in tanks in accordance
with approved containment measures.
The recovered solution management phase involves separating the
solution recovered from both the leaching phase and the
neutralization phase into (i) mineralized precipitates and
(ii) a neutralized treated solution. The mineralized precipitate
will be temporarily stored on surface in steel tanks and
the neutralized treated solution will be re-injected into a
designated subsurface area.
FFT Facilities
Temporary surface facilities required to complete the
FFT are planned to be installed at the Phoenix site during the third quarter of
2022. The procurement of necessary materials,
equipment, and supplies, as well as detailed engineering
of the facilities are already well advanced.
The FFT site is planned to include the following facilities
and infrastructure:
- Tanker pad – for storage of tanker trucks used for
delivery of reagents to site.
- Injection solution preparation module – a modular unit
where groundwater will be mixed with reagents to prepare the
injection solution.
- Test pattern coverall building – a tension-fabric
building to be built over the test area.
- Recovered solution surge tank – the surge tank will
receive recovered solution from the test wells.
- Solution storage tanks – six (6) tanks are expected to
be installed to provide a total of 1,000 cubic metres of solution
storage. These tanks are designed to receive solution pumped from
the recovered solution surge tank for temporary storage before
separating the recovered solution into mineralized precipitates and
a neutralized treated solution during the recovered solution
management phase of the FFT.
- Piping – double-walled transfer piping will run from the
recovered solution surge tank (next to the test wells) to the
solution storage tanks.
- Recovered solution management modules – two modular
units will be mobilized to site that contain equipment for managing
the recovered solutions.
- Mineralized precipitate storage tanks – during the
recovered solution management phase, the mineralized precipitate
will be transferred into fully enclosed and lockable storage tanks.
The mineralized precipitate storage tanks will be placed in a
secure fenced area for temporary storage.
- Laboratory – a mobile laboratory will be located on site
and equipped for bench-scale testing of samples.
- Construction / Operations Centre – a mobile office will
serve as a construction office and operations centre as well as the
main gate entry point for the site.
- Wash car and change room – a mobile facility will
allow staff to change and wash before and after each shift at the
Phoenix site.
- Perimeter fence – the entire area (~8,820 square meters)
will be fenced and gated to control access and minimize
interactions with wildlife.
All civil earthworks required for the FFT site are expected
to occur on previously disturbed areas and no additional land
clearing is planned.
Figure 1 provides a plan view of the expected FFT
site layout. Figures 2 and 3 provide
isometric schematics of the site facilities.
Approval to Operate
Pollutant Control Facilities
Under the terms of the Approval to Operate Pollutant Control
Facilities obtained from the Minister, Denison is authorized
to construct and operate various regulated elements associated with
the FFT, including pollutant control facilities, mineralized
precipitate facilities, radon air pollution abatement
equipment, and hazardous substances and waste dangerous
goods storage facilities.
The approval includes specific operating conditions related to
(a) mineralized precipitate, recovered solution and drill cuttings,
handling, and transportation, (b) hazardous substances
material storage, handling, and transportation, (c) air management,
(d) water/wastewater management, and (e) waste handling,
transportation, and disposal. Additionally, the approval
includes provisions related to inspections, monitoring, reporting,
and decommissioning and reclamation.
About Wheeler
River
Wheeler River is the largest undeveloped uranium project in
the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region, in northern
Saskatchewan – including combined
Indicated Mineral Resources of 132.1 million pounds
U3O8 (1,809,000
tonnes at an average grade of 3.3%
U3O8), plus
combined Inferred Mineral Resources of 3.0 million pounds
U3O8 (82,000
tonnes at an average grade of 1.7%
U3O8). The
project is host to the high-grade Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits,
discovered by Denison in 2008 and 2014, respectively, and is a
joint venture between Denison (operator) and JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited
("JCU"). Denison has an effective 95% ownership interest in
Wheeler River (90% directly, and 5% indirectly through a 50%
ownership in JCU).
A PFS was completed for Wheeler River in 2018, considering
the potential economic merit of developing the Phoenix deposit as an ISR operation and the
Gryphon deposit as a conventional underground mining operation.
Taken together, the project is
estimated to have mine production of 109.4 million pounds
U3O8 over a
14-year mine life, with a base case pre-tax NPV of $1.31 billion (8% discount rate), Internal Rate
of Return ("IRR") of 38.7%, and initial
pre-production capital expenditures of $322.5 million. The Phoenix ISR operation is
estimated to have a stand-alone base case pre-tax NPV of
$930.4 million (8% discount rate),
IRR of 43.3%, initial pre-production capital expenditures of
$322.5 million, and industry-leading
average operating costs of US$3.33/lb
U3O8. The
PFS is prepared on a project (100% ownership) and pre-tax basis, as
each of the partners to the Wheeler River Joint Venture are subject
to different tax and other obligations.
Further details regarding the PFS, including additional
scientific and technical information, as well as after-tax results
attributable to Denison's ownership interest, are described in
greater detail in the NI 43-101 Technical Report titled
"Pre-feasibility Study for the Wheeler River Uranium
Project, Saskatchewan,
Canada" dated October 30, 2018, with an effective date of
September 24, 2018. A copy of
this report is available on Denison's website and under its profile
on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at
www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
Denison suspended certain activities at Wheeler River during
2020, including the EA process, which is on the critical path to
achieving the project development schedule outlined in the
PFS. While the EA process has resumed, the Company is not
currently able to estimate the impact to the project development
schedule outlined in the PFS, and users are cautioned against
relying on the estimates provided therein regarding the start of
pre-production activities in 2021 and first production in
2024.
About Denison
Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with
interests focused in the Athabasca
Basin region of northern Saskatchewan,
Canada. In addition to its effective 95% interest in the
Wheeler River project, Denison's interests in the Athabasca Basin include a 22.5% ownership
interest in the McClean Lake joint venture, which includes several
uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill that is
contracted to process the ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll
milling agreement, plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest Main and
Midwest A deposits, and a 66.90% interest in the Tthe Heldeth Túé
("THT", formerly J Zone) and Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake
property. The Midwest Main, Midwest A, THT and Huskie deposits are
each located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill.
Through its 50% ownership of JCU, Denison holds additional
interests in various uranium project joint ventures in Canada, including the Millennium project (JCU
30.099%), the Kiggavik project (JCU 33.8123%) and Christie Lake (JCU 34.4508%). Denison's
exploration portfolio includes further interests in properties
covering ~280,000 hectares in the Athabasca Basin region.
Denison is also engaged in post-closure mine care and
maintenance services through its Closed Mines group (formerly
Denison Environmental Services), which manages Denison's reclaimed
mine sites in the Elliot Lake
region and provides related services to certain third-party
projects.
Qualified Persons
The disclosure of scientific or technical information related
to the FFT or Wheeler River project contained in this release has
been reviewed and approved, as applicable, by Mr. David Bronkhorst, P.Eng, Denison's Vice
President, Operations or Mr. Andrew
Yackulic, P. Geo., Denison's Director, Exploration, who are
Qualified Persons in accordance with the requirements of NI
43-101.
Cautionary Statement Regarding
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information contained in this news release
constitutes 'forward-looking information', within the meaning of
the applicable United States and
Canadian legislation, concerning the business, operations and
financial performance and condition of Denison. Generally,
these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as 'potential', 'plans',
'expects', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts',
'intends', 'anticipates', or 'believes', or the negatives and/or
variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain
actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or
'will' 'be taken', 'occur' or 'be
achieved'.
In particular, this news release contains forward-looking
information pertaining to the following: expectations with respect
to the FFT program, scope, timing and the anticipated
results thereof; the expectation that Denison will receive all
required permitting for the FFT, including CNSC approvals;
and expectations regarding its joint venture ownership interests
and the continuity of its agreements with its partners and third
parties.
Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and
estimates of management as of the date such statements are made,
and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity,
performance or achievements of Denison to be materially different
from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
For example, the modelling and assumptions upon which the work
plans for exploration and/or the Wheeler River Project are based
may not be maintained after further work is completed. In
addition, Denison may decide or otherwise be required to
discontinue exploration, testing, evaluation and development work
if it is unable to maintain or otherwise secure the necessary
resources (such as testing facilities, capital funding, regulatory
approvals, etc.). Denison believes that the expectations
reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable but no
assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be
accurate and results may differ materially from those anticipated
in this forward-looking information. For a discussion in respect of
risks and other factors that could influence forward-looking
events, please refer to the factors discussed in Denison's
Annual Information Form dated March 25,
2022 or subsequent quarterly financial reports under the
heading 'Risk Factors'. These factors are not, and should not be
construed as being exhaustive.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information
contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this
cautionary statement. Any forward-looking information and the
assumptions made with respect thereto speaks only as of the date of
this news release. Denison does not undertake any obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the
date of this news release to conform such information to actual
results or to changes in Denison's expectations except as otherwise
required by applicable legislation.
Figure 1: Plan map showing location
of FFT facilities
Figure 2: Isometric view of the
planned FFT site and associated facilities
Figure 3: Isometric view of the
coverall building on the FFT site, including test wells,
injection solution preparation module, and recovered solution surge
tank
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SOURCE Denison Mines Corp.