Name of the Project
Wheeler River uranium project.

Location
The project is located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada.

Project Owner/s
The project is a joint venture (JV) between Denison (90%) and JCU (Canada) Exploration Company (10%).

Project Description
The Wheeler River project is the largest undeveloped uranium project in the eastern portion of the Athabasca basin.

A prefeasibility study (PFS) on the project 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 combined have 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 project has a mine life estimated at about 14 years, with average yearly production estimated at 7.8-million pounds of U3O8.

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 43.3%.

Gryphon has a pretax NPV, at an 8% discount rate, of $560.6-million and an IRR of return 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 reported positive initial test results at the Wheeler River uranium project, as part of the ongoing ISR field test programme.

The additional fieldwork is required to increase the confidence and reduce the risks associated with the application of ISR mining at the Phoenix deposit, as outlined in the PFS for Wheeler River.

The field testing programme is focused on in situ testing within the Phoenix orebody using water to evaluate hydrologic conditions that could be used to assess the hydraulic connection and potential mining solution flow between a series of test wells. The information collected through this process should increase the overall confidence of the application of ISR mining and facilitate detailed mine planning as part of the feasibility study process.

The initial test results reported have confirmed hydraulic connectivity between multiple test wells completed in Test Area 1 of the Phoenix deposit – providing significant preliminary indications of the suitability of Test Area 1 for the application of ISR mining.

“The programme is the first-of-its-kind for the Athabasca basin – assessing the suitability of the ISR mining method to the unique Phoenix deposit. The initial results from Test Area 1 are quite encouraging – with initial pump and injection tests confirming hydraulic connectivity between all of the test wells within the ore zone. We are looking forward to further results from Test Area 1 and Test Area 2, as well as the results from two large-diameter commercial-scale wells planned for these test areas later this summer," president and CEO David Cates has said.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

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