Titan owns 100% of the Sheep Mountain uranium deposit in Fremont County, Wyoming. A preliminary feasibility study has recently been completed.
The project area covers approximately 3,625 surface acres (approximately 5.7 sq. miles) of mixed ownership including 2,313 acres of federal surface, 768 acres under state ownership, and 544 acres of fee lands. Approximately 2,836 acres of federal mineral estate is included in the project area.
The Sheep Mountain mine hosts a NI 43-101 compliant Indicated Resource of 30.4 million pounds eU3O8 (13.8 million tons at an average grade of 0.110% eU3O8). The mine is a past-producer of uranium. The company plans to develop the project with both conventional underground and open pit mining, followed by heap leach extraction of the uranium with an ion exchange recovery plant producing up to 1.5M pounds of U3O8 per year.
Permits and Approvals required:
- Mine Permit (Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality) – permit issued; permit is current and fully bonded;
- Source Material License (US Nuclear Regulatory Commission) – application being developed, to be submitted by mid-2011. It is anticipated that the review and approval process will take approximately two years (complete mid 2013);
- Plan of Operation/Environmental Impact Statement (US Bureau of Land Management) – The POO being developed to be submitted by mid-2011. This will trigger an EIS. This full process is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.
On October 1, 2009 the company commenced a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) on the project. The results of this study were announced on April 12, 2010, and are highlighted below:
- Preliminary Feasibility Study estimates are based on estimated capital and operating costs for a 1.5 million lb./yr uranium mine using conventional open pit and underground mining methods and heap leach recovery;
- The financial model is based on the long term uranium price of $60.00/lb. as projected by The Ux Consulting Company March 2010;
- Probable Mineral Reserve of 6,393,000 tons at an average grade of 0.111% eU3O8, containing 14,186,000 lbs eU3O8;
- Initial mine life: 11 years
- Estimated capital cost: $116 million including allowances for contingency, risk and escalation;
- Estimated operating cost: $28.67 per pound recovered;
- Estimated pre-tax Net Present Value (NPV) at a 7% discount rate: $101 million;
- Estimated pre-tax Internal Rate of Return (IRR): 25%
- Estimated pre-tax payback period: 4.5 years
On completion of the license and permit submissions in mid-2011, Titan will undertake a review and update of the PFS, using all the new data, including the larger resource, developed in the past year. This update is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2011. |
