The Dewey-Burdock Project is an Advanced stage ISR uranium project located in the Edgemont uranium district of South Dakota, USA and is comprised of 12,613 surface acres and 16,962 net mineral acres. According to publicly available information, the property is owned and operated by Powertech Uranium (USA), Inc. (“Powertech”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of enCore Energy Corp. (“enCore”), which has announced that the Dewey-Burdock Project is its initial development priority. Access and mineral rights are currently held by a combination of 53 private surface use, access and mining lease agreements, two purchase agreements and 370 federal mineral claims in and surrounding the Dewey Burdock Project area. Private lease renewals range from an annual basis to a long-term basis.
EnCore completed a technical report for the project titled "Dewey Burdock Project, South Dakota, USA, National Instrument 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report" with an effective date of October 8, 2024 (the "Dewey Burdock Technical Report"), which included a mineral resource estimate and a preliminary economic assessment for the project.
Unless otherwise stated, all information herein has been derived from the Dewey Burdock Technical Report, a copy of which is available under enCore's profile at www.sedarplus.com.
The Dewey Burdock Technical Report included a mineral resource estimate of 17.1 Mlbs of U3O8 in the measured and indicated categories (7.4 million short tons, or 6.7 million tonnes, at an average grade of 0.116% U3O8). The stated resources did not change from the previously stated mineral resources disclosed in 2019.
The preliminary economic assessment of the Dewey-Burdock project states all values in U.S. dollars and enCore is using a uranium sales price ranging from $82.00 to $89.00, with an average sales price of $86.34. Less Federal Tax, the Dewey Burdock Project’s cash flow is estimated at $476.8 M or $52.56 per pound U3O8. Using an 8% discount rate, the Project’s NPV is $180.1 M with an IRR of 39%. The Project’s after-tax cash flow is estimated at $363.4 M for a cost per pound U3O8 of $60.60. Using an 8.0% discount rate, the Project’s NPV is $133.6 M and has an IRR of 33%. The economic analysis assumes that 80% of the mineral resources are recoverable.
Estimated capital costs are $264.2 M and includes $2.2 M for pre-construction permitting and licensing, $178.0 M for wellfield development, $84.0 M for the CPP, Satellite and associated infrastructure. Operating costs are estimated to be $23.81 per pound of U3O8. The basis for operating costs is planned development and production sequence and quantity, in conjunction with past production knowledge.
| Mineral Resources – As of October 8, 2024 (100% Basis) | |||||||||
| Measured | Indicated | Inferred | |||||||
| Tons (Mt) | Grade (% U3O8) | Content (MLbs. U3O8) | Tons (Mt) | Grade (% U3O8) | Content (MLbs. U3O8) | Tons (Mt) | Grade (% U3O8) | Content (MLbs. U3O8) | |
| 5.42 | 0.13 | 14.28 | 1.97 | 0.07 | 2.84 | 0.65 | 0.06 | 0.71 | |
Note that mineral resources:
Uranium Royalty Corp. holds two royalties on the Dewey Burdock Project, summarized below:
The 30% Net Proceeds Royalty
The 30% Net Proceeds Royalty is equal to 30% of net proceeds received by the payor from the sale of minerals, less certain deemed production costs. Until the project has produced 6,250,000 pounds of uranium oxide, the deemed production costs are US$40.50 per pound of uranium and thereafter are US$27.05 per pound of uranium, adjusted for inflation in each case.
The 30% Net Proceeds Royalty was created pursuant to a quitclaim deed and assignment between Neutron Energy, Inc. (acquired by Westwater Resources Inc. in 2012) and Powertech (USA) Inc., dated January 12, 2009. This agreement also includes certain rights of the royalty holder to require any of the underlying property rights to be re-conveyed to it to the extent that, among other things, the payor determines to abandon, not maintain in good standing or not renew any such rights or fails to hold, maintain and operate any such property as a diligent and prudent operator.
The 30% Net Proceeds Royalty does not apply to the entire Dewey-Burdock Project area. The royalty currently applies to approximately 1,700 acres, or approximately 16%, of the currently proposed Dewey Burdock Project NRC permit area total of 10,580 acres, with an additional 1,227 acres of coverage outside such permitted area. The net minerals rights disclosed in the Dewey-Burdock Technical Report(1) is 16,962 acres. The area subject to the Dewey-Burdock Royalty represents 10% of such aggregate acreage.
Note 1: NI 43-101 Technical Report, Preliminary Economic Assessment, Dewey-Burdock Uranium ISR Project, South Dakota, U.S.A., with an effective date of December 3, 2019, prepared for Azarga and authored by Steve Cutler, P.G. and Douglass H. Graves, P.E.
The 2 – 4% Sliding Scale Royalty
The 2 – 4% Sliding Scale Royalty is equal to between a 2% and 4% production royalty determined by the market price at the time of production. On commencement of commercial production, URC is entitled to receive payments based on the pounds of uranium produced calculated per pound as follows:
The 2 – 4% Sliding Scale Royalty was created pursuant to two quitclaim deeds and assignments between Energy Metals Corporation (US) (acquired by Uranium One Inc. in 2007) and Powertech (USA) Inc. (a subsidiary of Azarga Uranium Corporation and subsequently enCore Energy Corp.), dated November 16, 2006. The royalty acquired by Uranium One Inc. was transferred as part of a larger transaction with Anfield Resources Inc. (now Anfield Energy Inc.) in 2014.
The 2 – 4% Sliding Scale Royalty does not apply to the entire Dewey-Burdock Project area. The royalty currently applies to approximately 1868 acres, or approximately 18%, of the currently proposed Dewey Burdock Project NRC permit area total of 10,580 acres, with an additional 590 acres of coverage outside such permitted area. The net minerals rights disclosed in the Dewey-Burdock Technical Report (1) is 16,962 acres. The area subject to the Dewey-Burdock Royalty represents 11% of such aggregate acreage.
With both royalty coverages, URC’s royalty covers approximately 34% of the total permit area.
In a news release dated September 12, 2024, enCore provided an update on the regulatory progress for the Dewey Burdock project. The Dewey-Burdock Project has received its Source Material License from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC"), its Aquifer Exemption and its Class III and V Underground Injection Control ("UIC") Permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") Region 8. These three Federal approvals have been subject to appeal by the Oglala Sioux Tribe ("OST"). EnCore announced on March 20, 2023 that the NRC Source Material License was final when the OST chose not to appeal the decisions by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. On September 3, 2024, the Environmental Appeals Board ("EAB") of the EPA issued its ruling on the OST appeal regarding the Dewey- Burdock Class III and V UIC Permits. The EAB decision is consistent with the ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals where both appeals involved similar issues.
enCore completed a technical report for the project titled "Dewey Burdock Project, South Dakota, USA, National Instrument 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report" with an effective date of October 8, 2024, which included a mineral resource estimate and a preliminary economic assessment for the project. The report results are discussed in the Project Summary.
On January 4th, 2022, enCore Energy announced the closure of the previously announced plan of arrangement, acquiring all the shares of Azarga Uranium Corp. EnCore subsequently announced on February 14, 2022, that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) had accepted the change of control over the Dewey Burdock Source and By-Product Materials License.
Azarga announced that on July 20, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the "DC Circuit Court") ruled on the Oglala Sioux Tribe's motion for summary disposition and its request to stay or revoke the NRC licence issued in relation to the Dewey-Burdock Project. Azarga's disclosure stated that the DC Circuit Court supported the NRC's decision to maintain the licence, though indicated that the NRC must ensure it complies with the requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act to complete the licence application and that the primary point of contention was the lack of sufficient archeological surveying on the project to identify potential impacts to the Oglala Sioux Tribe's cultural and historical resources.
Azarga announced that the NRC issued a decision on January 31, 2019, upholding the effectiveness of the Dewey-Burdock Project NRC licence in consideration of the remand from the DC Circuit Court. Azarga's disclosure stated that the NRC reasoned that the radioactive materials and waste licence may remain in place, while proper historical preservation measures are being explored, because other permits from the state of South Dakota and the EPA have not been granted.
In May 2019, Azarga announced that the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board issued an order granting the NRC staff's motion to set a schedule for an evidentiary hearing pertaining to the final contention for the Dewey-Burdock Project NRC licence and that such decision provided the NRC staff and Azarga with an opportunity to resolve such final contention. Azarga further announced that the timeline established by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board set November 29, 2019, as the decision date on the matter. In its management’s discussion and analysis for the six months ended June 30, 2019, Azarga disclosed that its NRC licence remained in good standing.
On August 28, 2019, Azarga disclosed that the EPA had issued revised draft permits. The revised draft EPA permits pertain to the Azarga's planned Class III and Class V Underground Injection Control ("UIC") activities. The Class III and Class V UIC EPA permits represent one of the three major regulatory agency approvals required for the Dewey-Burdock Project.
On November 25, 2020, Azarga announced that the EPA had issued the final permits for the Company’s Class III and Class V Underground Injection Control activities. The third and remaining major regulatory agency approval is required by the South Dakota DENR, whose staff have previously recommended the approval of the state permits.
On December 15, 2022, enCore Energy Corp. announced that the DC Circuit Court denied the request of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the group “Aligning for Responsible Mining” for a full panel review of this decision by a three-judge panel of that court. On March 20, 2023, enCore announced that the Sioux confirmed its decision not to seek review by the United States Supreme Court of the NRC license, and that the NRC license is now final and fully effective. Confirmation of the NRC license clears the way for the resumption of proceedings in two additional legal challenges to the Dewey-Burdock Project final EPA Class III and V Underground well permits and aquifer exemption. Those challenges are based on some of the same issues decided in the NRC case.
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