Nuclear energy company Eagle Nuclear Energy has signed a binding letter of intent (LoI) to acquire 100% of TSX-V-listed Noble Plains Uranium in an all-stock transaction, subject to the negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement and customary closing conditions.

Noble Plains is a US-focused uranium exploration and development company advancing two in-situ recovery- (ISR-) amenable projects located within two of the uranium districts in Wyoming.

Eagle posits that ISR provides the most capital-efficient and environmentally responsible method of uranium extraction, while also offering faster development times and lower capital intensity than conventional mining.

Noble Plains’ ISR portfolio combines brownfield projects covering about 5 965 acres of demonstrated ISR geology in close proximity to established operators, it adds.

Noble Plains has an option to acquire an 80% interest in its flagship Duck Creek project located in the uranium-rich Powder River basin of Wyoming that hosts a triuranium octoxide (U₃O₈) resource, reported on a 100% basis, containing 5.32-million pounds in the indicated category and an additional 1.04-million pounds in the inferred category.

Eagle’s technical team believes this current resource estimate represents a relatively small portion of the total resource potential at Duck Creek, as it covers only 2.5 miles of a total 5.25-mile trend, and sits entirely in the shallower of two prospective mineralised formations.

Eagle says it plans to unlock significantly more value at Duck Creek through the execution of a systematically phased exploration programme over the next 12 to 18 months.

Noble Plains’ Shirley Central is an earlier-stage uranium project that represents additional prospectivity for developing U₃O₈ resources in the Shirley basin of Wyoming.

Eagle notes that the acquisition diversifies the company’s uranium resource footprint within the US to include Wyoming in addition to its own assets in Oregon.

It also enables entry into two historically prolific uranium districts.

“This transaction gives Eagle greater scale at a time when demand for US uranium is growing. Noble Plains adds established resources in Wyoming and strengthens our portfolio with favourable ISR geology.

“We believe we can move these assets forward efficiently while we continue to work towards development of an integrated nuclear energy platform combining domestic uranium resources with advanced small modular reactor technology,” says Eagle CEO Mark Mukhija.

“We’ve proven we can acquire uranium assets with historical data, move them forward quickly and add value without having to recreate decades of work. Combining with Eagle gives us more scale and the capital to keep executing that strategy. We have a strong resource at Duck Creek, more opportunity across the portfolio and existing uranium infrastructure all around us.

“Today’s announcement is a significant inflection point in the development of our assets and we look forward to further building alongside the team at Eagle,” adds Noble Plains CEO Drew Zimmerman.