Westwater Resources Applauds the President’s Executive Order on America’s Supply Chains
March 01 2021 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Supports the Development of the Coosa
Graphite Project
Westwater Resources, Inc. (“Westwater”) (Nasdaq: WWR), a
battery graphite development company, applauds the President’s
Executive Order signed on February 24, 2021, that seeks to provide
for more resilient supply chains to revitalize and rebuild domestic
manufacturing capacity and maintain America’s competitive edge in
research and development.
The President’s declaration asks the Secretary of Energy, as
part of a larger study involving several branches of the U.S.
government, to submit a report within 100 days identifying risks to
the supply chain for high-capacity batteries including those that
power electric vehicles. This effort could be important to
Westwater’s plans to develop its battery graphite business in the
United States. The new order builds upon the prior Administration’s
Executive Order issued on September 30, 2020, related to critical
minerals. See the Westwater news release dated October 5, 2020.
The U.S. is 100% dependent on imports for battery-grade
graphite, which is currently the primary anode material in the
Lithium-Ion batteries that power smartphones, laptops, electric
vehicles, and store power generated from intermittent renewable
energy sources. Westwater’s Coosa Graphite Deposit is located in
Alabama and the Company plans to develop the deposit to supply
natural flake graphite for beneficiation into battery-grade
graphite for all types of batteries.
Christopher M. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Westwater, said, “The President’s Executive Order could open up new
avenues for financing and permitting for our project – this is good
news for Westwater Resources and the Coosa Graphite Project.”
Further details on the Executive Order on America’s Supply
Chains can be found at
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/02/24/executive-order-on-americas-supply-chains/.
Graphite is specifically named as one of the critical minerals
in which the U.S. is heavily dependent on China for its supply.
Westwater is uniquely positioned to benefit from the action the
U.S. government is taking to ensure America and its technology
manufacturers can rely on a safe and secure source of graphite to
power our next generation of power and technology needs. The action
by the President orders the Assistant to the President for National
Security Affairs and the Assistant to the President for Economic
Policy to coordinate the executive branch actions necessary to
implement the Order with the Office of Science and Technology, the
Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of
the Interior, among other agencies, to provide reports within 100
days on risks to the supply chain, work completed thus far since
Executive Order 13952 (signed September 30, 2020) and possible
actions the Administration might take to reduce these risks.
Westwater will work to support the efforts by the relevant
agencies in the U.S. government and to ensure that they remain
aware of the importance of battery-grade graphite, its importance
to the nation’s security, and how the Coosa Graphite Project fits
into the critical minerals-equation.
About Westwater Resources
Westwater Resources (NASDAQ: WWR) is focused on developing
battery-grade graphite. The Company’s projects include the Coosa
Graphite Project — the most advanced natural flake graphite project
in the contiguous United States — and the associated Coosa Graphite
Deposit located across 41,900 acres (~17,000 hectares) in
east-central Alabama. Ongoing operation of the pilot program is
producing ULTRA-PMG™, ULTRA-DEXDG™ and ULTRA-CSPG™ in quantities
that facilitate qualification testing at potential customers. For
more information, visit www.westwaterresources.net.
Cautionary Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and
assumptions and are identified by words such as "expects,"
"estimates," "projects," "anticipates," "believes," "could,"
“scheduled,” and other similar words. All statements addressing
events or developments that WWR expects or anticipates will occur
in the future, including but not limited to the contents of the
report produced as a result of the Executive Order; future
government support for domestic graphite production, including the
Company’s Coosa Graphite Project; and future production of
battery-grade graphite, are forward-looking statements. Because
they are forward-looking, they should be evaluated in light of
important risk factors and uncertainties. These risk factors and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, (a) the Company’s
ability to successfully operate a pilot plant capable of producing
battery-grade materials in quantities and on schedules consistent
with the Coosa Graphite Project business plan; (b) the Company’s
ability to raise additional capital in the future including the
ability to utilize existing financing facilities; (c) spot price
and long-term contract price of graphite and vanadium; (d) risks
associated with our operations and the operations of our partners
such as Samuel Engineering, Dorfner Anzaplan and others, including
the impact of COVID-19 and its potential impacts to the capital
markets; (e) operating conditions at the Company’s projects; (f)
government regulation of the graphite industry and the vanadium
industry; (g) world-wide graphite and vanadium supply and demand,
including the supply and demand for lithium-based batteries; (h)
unanticipated geological, processing, regulatory and legal or other
problems the Company may encounter in the jurisdictions where the
Company operates or intends to operate, including in Alabama and
Colorado; (i) any graphite or vanadium discoveries not being in
high-enough concentration to make it economically feasible to
extract the minerals; (j) currently pending or new litigation or
arbitration; and (k) other factors which are more fully described
in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties
materialize or should any of the Company’s underlying assumptions
prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those
currently anticipated. In addition, undue reliance should not be
placed on the Company’s forward-looking statements. Except as
required by law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update or
publicly announce any revisions to any of the forward-looking
statements contained in this news release.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210301005270/en/
Westwater Resources Christopher M. Jones, President &
CEO Phone: 303.531.0480
Jeff Vigil, VP Finance & CFO Phone: 303.531.0481 Email:
Info@WestwaterResources.net
Product Sales Jay Wago, Vice President – Sales and
Marketing Phone: 303.531.0472 Email:
Sales@westwaterresources.net
Investor Relations Porter, LeVay & Rose Michael
Porter Phone: 212.564.4700 Email: Westwater@plrinvest.com
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