Lost Creek
Click on map for larger viewThe Lost Creek uranium deposit is located in the Great Divide Basin, Wyoming. The Lost Creek Property comprises five projects covering a total of approximately 33,794 acres (13,676 hectares): Lost Creek Permit area, EN, LC South, LC North and Toby. Within this property area, the Company controls 1,753 unpatented mining claims and two State of Wyoming uranium leases. The Lost Creek Permit area is currently being advanced to licensure and construction. The Lost Creek uranium deposit is approximately three miles (4.8 kilometers) long with the mineralization occurring in four main sandstone horizons between 315 feer (96 meters) and 700 feet (213 meters) in depth.
As confirmed in the March 16, 2011 NI 43-101 "Preliminary Assessment Lost Creek Property Sweetwater County, Wyoming,"the reported mineral resources support the economic viability of Lost Creek. For the purpose of economic analysis, a GT contour method calculation of the mineral resources within a well-defined portion of the Lost Creek Project was used, as it is better suited to estimate resources for Lost Creek’s roll front type mineralization. Compliant resources using the GT contour method are as follows:
Development Program - Drilling, Planning and Procurement:
In addition to the historic drill data it owns with regard to Lost Creek (approximately 563 holes), Ur-Energy completed 1,096 drill holes totaling approximately 728,757 feet (222,125 meters) at Lost Creek prior to the beginning of the 2011 drilling campaign. The Company has completed necessary delineation drilling for the planning of the first and second mine units.
Mine Unit #1 is currently being permitted to recover uranium only within the HJ stratigraphic horizon, a unit that starts at a depth of approximately 325 feet (99 meters). Resources within the underlying KM stratigraphic horizon, with the top of the horizon at about 475 feet (145 meters), will be permitted and mined as a separate future mine unit. The Company anticipates submitting applications for amendment of its licenses and permits, after they are received, to allow for mineral recovery from the underlying KM horizon.
The 2011 drilling campaign began in July. The first stage of the seasonal program included the installation of 19 monitor wells within the KM horizon in preparation for the pump-test. Results of the pump-test will be used in the planned amendment to the mining permit for the KM horizon. Following installation of the monitor wells, the drilling program moved on to exploration drilling within a section of the Lost Creek Project. As of the end of September, 74 exploration holes were drilled for a total of 74,115 feet (22,290 meters).
The company has completed US$24 M CapEx having drilled and tested the Class I UIC Well, delineated mine units 1 & 2, and completed plant engineering and design. Fabrication of key plant equipment including 16 ion exchange columns, and two filter presses and construction of the prototype header house are complete and ready for installation. In addition, in– house instrumentation programming is ongoing.
In March 2011, the Company announced its first long-term uranium sales contract with a US utility. The agreement provides for deliveries over a three-year period at a defined sales price.
One Regulatory Approval Remaining:
Ur-Energy is focusing its efforts on the regulatory processes necessary to obtain all required authorizations to mine uranium by the in situ recovery method at the Lost Creek project. The required authorizations include permits and/or licenses from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
- The WDEQ Permit to Mine and approval for the first mine unit was issued October 2011.
- The NRC Source and Byproduct Materials License was issued August 2011.
- The WDEQ Class I UIC Permit (water disposal well) was issued May 2011.
The BLM is preparing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as required to satisfy its obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act. The BLM anticipates completion of the Record of Decision for the Lost Creek Plan of Operations to be early in the summer of 2012.
Other approvals, licenses and permits granted for Lost Creek:
- EPA Aquifer Exemption
- WDEQ Air Quality Permit
- State Engineer Holding Ponds Permit
- WY Game & Fish Department Wildlife Managment Plan approved
- Development Plan approved by Sweetwater County
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors: The terms “mineral resource,” “measured mineral resource,” “indicated mineral resource” and “inferred mineral resource,” as used on our website are Canadian mining terms that are defined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). These Canadian terms are not defined terms under United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Industry Guide 7 and are normally not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC by U.S. registered companies. The SEC permits U.S. companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. Accordingly, note that information contained on this website describing the Company’s “mineral resources” is not directly comparable to information made public by U.S. companies subject to reporting requirements under U.S. securities laws. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F which may be secured from us, or online at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
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