Name of the Project
Wheeler River uranium project.

Location
Northern Saskatchewan, Canada.

Project Owner/s
Wheeler River Joint Venture (JV), comprising uranium project developer Denison Mines (90%), and exploration and development company JCU (Canada) Exploration Company (10%).

Project Description
The project is the biggest undeveloped uranium project in the eastern portion of the Athabasca basin.

A prefeasibility study (PFS) has evaluated the potential economic merit of co-developing the Phoenix and Gryphon deposits.

The Phoenix high-grade deposit has been designed as an in situ recovery (ISR) mining operation, with associated processing to a finished product occurring at a plant to be built on site at Wheeler River. The Gryphon deposit has been designed as an underground mining operation using a conventional longhole mining approach, with mine production processed at the McClean Lake mill.

The Phoenix ISR and Gryphon underground operations have combined probable mineral reserves of 109.4-million pounds of uranium from 1.39-million tonnes comprising 59.7-million pounds of uranium from 141 000 t at 19.1% uranium for Phoenix, and 49.7-million pounds of uranium from 1.26-million tonnes at 1.8% uranium for Gryphon.

The mine life is estimated at 14 years, with average yearly production estimated at 7.8-million pounds of uranium.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Wheeler River has a pretax net present value (NPV), at an 8% discount rate, of $1.31-billion and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 38.7%, with a payback of about 24 months.

Phoenix has a pretax NPV, at an 8% discount rate, of $930.4-million and an IRR of 43.3%.

Gryphon has a pretax NPV, at an 8% discount rate, of $560.6-million and an IRR of 23.2%.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital costs are estimated at $322.5-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Preproduction activities are estimated to begin in 2021, assuming receipt of required regulatory approvals, with first production from the Phoenix deposit expected in 2024.

Initial construction at Gryphon is expected to start by 2026, with first production expected to be achieved in 2030.

Latest Developments
Denison Mines has announced that it is advancing the Wheeler River project to feasibility stage for in situ leach mining of the Phoenix deposit, and has selected Wood PLC as independent lead author of the study.

The feasibility is intended to derisk the project.

“The in situ recovery (ISR) derisking activities we have completed since the publication of the PFS . . . have been designed to support the completion of a future feasibility study, and the results to date have further confirmed the technical viability of the project, leading to the decision to advance the project and initiate the formal feasibility study process,” Denison president and CEO David Cates has said.

“During this derisking phase, the JV has been able to verify orebody permeability and the leachability of high-grade uranium in conditions representative of an ISR mining setting. We've also engineered an improved containment design using a more conventional ground freezing approach.”

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Wood PLC (independent lead author of the study).

Contact Details for Project Information
Denison Mines, tel +1416 979 1991, fax +1416 979 5893 or email info@denisonmines.com.