A new independent mineral resource estimate for uranium junior Energy Fuels’ Canyon Mine project, in Arizona, has increased the uranium oxide (U3O8) resource by one-million pounds, and for the first time outlined a copper resource.
The TSX-V- and NYSE MKT-listed miner said on Wednesday that the bulk of the resource growth was a function of upgrading inferred resources to the measured and indicated categories.
Energy Fuels now boasts total measured and indicated resources of 139 000 t, with an average grade of 0.88% U3O8containing 2.43-million pounds of U3O8. Further, the resource estimate identifies another 134 000 lbs of U3O8 in the inferred category.
Meanwhile, the Lakewood, Colorado-based company revealed about 12-million pounds of measured and indicated copper resources identified in the main zone of the deposit, with an average grade of 5.9% copper.
The Canyon Mine is a fully permitted, conventional uranium/copper mine, with all upfront development construction, including a production shaft, substantially completed.
The company’s 100%-owned White Mesa mill, the only operating conventional uranium mill in the US, is immediately available to recover uranium and has significant infrastructure in place that can potentially be used for copper recovery, the company advised.
Source: miningweekly.com
