Westwater Reports Increasing Strength in Uranium Market
21 September 2018 - 10:00PM
Westwater Resources, Inc. (“Westwater,” or the “Company”)
(Nasdaq: WWR), an energy materials development company, is
pleased to share a message from Christopher Jones, its President
and CEO.
Dear Fellow Shareholders –Our analysis of the
current uranium market has brought several positive developments to
light – supporting our belief that a continued rise in uranium
prices can be expected. This is an exciting development for
Westwater, and something we believe you will find
interesting.
Market Conditions: (From Ux Consulting)
- Spot market prices for uranium concentrate are up from $17/lb.
to $27.50/lb. since 2016, and up almost $5/lb. so far in 2018.
- Spot market volumes for uranium concentrate are almost 57
million pounds so far in 2018, already the highest spot market
volume since 1992. For perspective, the next highest
whole-year spot market volume was just under 45 million pounds in
2013. This shows positive interest in securing uranium
supplies at lower prices as a hedge to rising prices.
- Spot market five-year futures are higher by several dollars at
$34/lb. over just the last quarter.
- Forward looking uranium concentrate price indicators are the
highest seen since 2011 when the price was approximately
$60/lb.
Support for these Market Conditions:
- Reduced production by companies in Kazakhstan, as well as by
Paladin and Cameco has put fewer pounds of uranium concentrate into
the market.
- Reduced underfeeding of low-grade uranium tails is putting less
uranium into the market.
- Reduced sales of uranium by the U.S. Department of Energy also
puts less uranium into the market.
- Heavy investor purchasing by firms apparently intent on holding
physical uranium suggests a coming price rise.
At the same time that the uranium industry is
reducing concentrate production, nuclear power generating
facilities continue to come on line worldwide with, now, 451
operable power plants including 8 recent Japanese
restarts. Additionally, 58 nuclear plants are under
construction at this time according to the World Nuclear
Association. This growth will increase demand for uranium
concentrate by an estimated 13% as these plants come on line.
As a result, we see improving uranium prices in
the nearer term.
What does this mean for
Westwater? We hold one of the largest uranium
mineralization positions in the United States – and simply put,
this can mean higher valuations for WWR. Our properties
in New Mexico and Texas, including two licensed processing
facilities, as well as our royalty portfolio and our investments in
other uranium firms, make WWR ideally positioned to enjoy the
fruits of any rise in the price of uranium.
Watch Westwater as we take full advantage of our
uranium holdings, continue to explore our lithium properties in the
American West, and further develop our Alabama-based graphite
business. In the meantime, thanks for your support.
About Westwater ResourcesWWR is focused on
developing energy-related materials. WWR’s uranium projects
are located in Texas and New Mexico. In Texas, the Company
has two licensed and currently idled uranium processing facilities
and approximately 11,000 acres (4,400 ha) of prospective in-situ
recovery uranium projects. In New Mexico, the Company controls
mineral rights encompassing approximately 188,700 acres (76,394 ha)
in the prolific Grants Mineral Belt, which is one of the largest
concentrations of sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in the world.
Incorporated in 1977 as Uranium Resources, Inc., WWR also owns an
extensive uranium information database of historic drill hole logs,
assay certificates, maps and technical reports for the Western
United States. The Company’s battery materials projects
include the Coosa Graphite Project, located across 41,900 acres
(17,000 ha) in east-central Alabama, and lithium mineral properties
in three prospective lithium brine basins in Nevada and Utah. For
more information, visit www.westwaterresources.net.
Cautionary StatementThis 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,” 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 statements relating to the
future demand for and price of uranium, the Company’s growth,
developments at the Company’s projects, and the Company’s liquidity
and cash demands, including future capital markets financing and
disposition activities, 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
integrate Alabama Graphite Corporation’s business into its own, and
the risk that additional analysis of the Coosa Graphite Project may
result in revisions to the findings of WWR’s initial optimization
study; (b) the Company’s ability to raise additional capital in the
future; (c) spot price and long-term contract price of graphite,
lithium and uranium; (d) risks associated with our domestic
operations; (e) operating conditions at the Company’s projects; (f)
government and tribal regulation of the graphite industry, the
lithium industry, the uranium industry, and the power industry; (g)
world-wide graphite, lithium and uranium supply and demand,
including the supply and demand for lithium-based batteries; (h)
maintaining sufficient financial assurance in the form of
sufficiently collateralized surety instruments; (i) 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, Texas, New
Mexico, Utah, and Nevada; (j) the ability of the Company to enter
into and successfully close acquisitions or other material
transactions; (k) the results of the Company’s lithium brine
exploration activities at the Columbus Basin, Railroad Valley, and
Sal Rica projects, and the possibility that future exploration
results may be materially less promising than initial exploration
result; (I) any graphite, lithium or uranium discoveries not being
in high-enough concentration to make it economic to extract the
metals; (m) currently pending or new litigation or arbitration; and
(n) 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. The results of the initial optimization study
are preliminary in nature and subject to revision following WWR’s
further analysis of the Coosa project.
Westwater Resources Contact: |
Investor Relations Contact: |
Christopher M. Jones, President & CEO |
Michael Porter |
Phone: 303.531.0480 |
Porter, LeVay and Rose |
Jeff Vigil, VP Finance & CFO |
Phone: 212.564.4700 |
Phone: 303.531.0481 |
|
Email: Info@WestwaterResources.net |
Email: Westwater@plrinvest.com |
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