VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Anfield Energy, Inc. (TSX.V: AEC; OTCQB: ANLDF; FRANKFURT: 0AD) (“Anfield” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has received an affirmative completeness review from the State of Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ) with respect to its Shootaring Mill production restart application. This affirmation allows for the detailed technical review of the mill application to proceed, which represents a critical step towards the restart of uranium production at Shootaring. The comprehensive application is designed to both update the mill’s radioactive materials license from its current standby status to operational status and increase both throughput capacity and licensed output capacity at the mill. Following both the approval of the restart application and subsequent mill refurbishment, the Company will be well-positioned to recommence uranium production and commence vanadium production in 2026, joining a small number of its peers as a U.S.-based uranium producer.
Corey Dias, Anfield CEO states, “We at Anfield are pleased with Utah DEQ’s finding of a complete production restart application for Shootaring, an application which has taken over a year of engineering and design input to complete. The application addresses two goals: first, an upgrade to our current radioactive materials license to operational status, and second, a change in mill throughput capacity to 1,000 tons per day from 750 tons per day and our proposed increase in our licensed annual uranium production capacity to 3 million pounds from 1 million pounds.
“We have seen significant technical advancement with regard to our assets over the last few months: the submittal of the mill restart application in April; the submittal of a Plan of Operations for the Velvet-Wood mine in May; the receipt of approval for a drill program at Slick Rock in June; and now, the confirmation of the completeness review of the mill restart application.
“Since acquiring the Shootaring Canyon mill in 2015, we have maintained the facility with an eye to the right market conditions which that would allow us to make the most of the opportunity and return the mill to production-ready status. Following this announcement, we expect to commence early-stage refurbishment of Shootaring during the next review phase of the restart application, positioning the Company to complete refurbishment as soon as the restart application is approved, with the Company targeting a 2026 mill restart date.”
About Anfield
Anfield is a uranium and vanadium development and near-term production company that is committed to becoming a top-tier energy-related fuels supplier by creating value through sustainable, efficient growth in its assets. Anfield is a publicly traded corporation listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (AEC-V), the OTCQB Marketplace (ANLDF) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (0AD). Anfield is focused on its conventional asset centre, as summarized below:
Arizona/Utah/Colorado – Shootaring Canyon Mill
A key asset in Anfield’s portfolio is the Shootaring Canyon Mill in Garfield County, Utah. The Shootaring Canyon Mill is strategically located within one of the historically most prolific uranium production areas in the United States, and is one of only three licensed uranium mills in the United States.
Anfield’s conventional uranium assets consist of mining claims and state leases in southeastern Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, targeting areas where past uranium mining or prospecting occurred. Anfield’s conventional uranium assets include the Velvet-Wood Project, the Slick Rock Project, the West Slope Project, the Frank M Uranium Project, the Findlay Tank breccia pipe as well as an additional 12 U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) leases in Colorado. A combined NI 43-101 PEA has been completed for the Velvet-Wood Project and the Slick Rock Project. The PEA is preliminary in nature, and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment would be realized. All conventional uranium assets are situated within a 200-mile radius of the Shootaring Mill.
See table and footnote below for additions.
Technical Disclosure
Table 1. Anfield’s existing conventional uranium-vanadium project portfolio resources.
| Project | Location | Classification | Tons (kt) | Uranium Grade (% U3O8) |
Contained Uranium (Mlbs U3O8) |
Vanadium Grade (% V2O5) |
Contained Vanadium (Mlbs V2O5) |
| Velvet-Wood | Utah | M & I | 811 | 0.29% | 4.6 | – | – |
| Inferred | 87 | 0.32% | 0.6 | 0.404% | 7.3 | ||
| West Slope | Colorado | Indicated | 1,367 | 0.197% | 5.4 | – | – |
| Inferred | 1,367 | – | – | 0.984% | 26.9 | ||
| Historic* | 630 | 0.31% | 3.9 | 1.59% | 20.0 | ||
| Slick Rock | Colorado | Inferred | 1,760 | 0.224% | 7.9 | 1.35% | 47.1 |
| Frank M | Utah | Historic* | 1,137 | 0.101% | 2.3 | – | – |
| Findlay Tank | Arizona | Historic* | 211 | 0.226% | 1.0 | – | – |
| Date Creek/Artillery Peak | Arizona | Historic* | 2,602 | 0.054% | 2.8 | ||
| Marquez-Juan Tafoya | New Mexico | Historic* | 7,100 | 0.127% | 18.1 |
* The Company’s Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify these historic estimates as current mineral resources and Anfield is not treating such historical resources as current mineral resources.
Velvet-Wood: The PEA for Velvet-Wood/Slick Rock was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer, of BRS Inc., Harold H. Hutson, P.E., P.G., Carl D. Warren, P.E., P.G., and Terence P. (Terry) McNulty, P.E., D. Sc., of T.P. McNulty and Associates Inc. (May 6, 2023). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability in accordance with CIM standards. GT cut-off varies by locality from 0.25%-0.50%.
West Slope: NI 43-101 resource estimate for the JD-6, JD-7, JD-8 and JD-9 properties, completed by BRS Inc. (effective March 2022); Historic resource estimate for the SR-11, SR-13A, SM-18 N, SM-18 S, LP-21 and CM-25 properties, completed by Behre Dolbear for Cotter Corporation (August 2007). Indicated and Inferred resources using GT cut-off of 0.1 ft% eU3O8; historic resources using cut-off of 0.05% U3O8.
Slick Rock: The PEA for Velvet-Wood/Slick Rock was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer, of BRS Inc., Harold H. Hutson, P.E., P.G., Carl D. Warren, P.E., P.G., and Terence P. (Terry) McNulty, P.E., D. Sc., of T.P. McNulty and Associates Inc. (May 6, 2023). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability in accordance with CIM standards. GT cut-off varies by locality from 0.25%-0.50%.
Frank M: Historic Technical Report for Frank M, prepared for Uranium One Americas, was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer of BRS Inc., and Andrew C. Anderson, P.E., P.G. Senior Engineer/Geologist of BRS Inc., dated June 10, 2008. Frank M historic resource used a GT cut-off of 0.25%.
Findlay Tank: Historic Technical Report for Findlay Tank, prepared for Uranium One Americas, was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer of BRS Inc., dated October 2, 2008. Findlay Tank historic resource used a grade cut-off of 0.05% eU3O8.
Artillery Peak: Artillery Peak Exploration Project, Mohave County, Arizona, 43-101 Technical Report, authored by Dr. Karen Wenrich, October 12, 2010. GT cut-off varies by locality from 0.01%-0.05%.
Marquez-Juan Tafoya: The Historical Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment, for Marquez-Juan Tafoya, prepared for Uranium Energy Corporation, was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G., Principal Engineer of BRS Inc., and Terence P. McNulty, P.E., PhD, McNulty & Associates, dated June 9, 2021. The mineral resources are reported at a 0.60 GT cut-off.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
ANFIELD ENERGY INC.
Corey Dias, Chief Executive Officer
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contact:
Anfield Energy, Inc.
Clive Mostert
Corporate Communications
780-920-5044
contact@anfieldenergy.com
www.anfieldenergy.com
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