South Texas Alta Mesa ISR Uranium Central Processing Plant Update

DALLAS, TX - enCore Energy Corp. reported on the South Texas Alta Mesa In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Uranium Central Processing Plant (CPP) and Wellfield. Upgrades and refurbishments continue to advance on schedule for the planned 2024 resumption of uranium production1. The Company also announces continuing positive results from the wellfield delineation drill program. Further, planned production for the Rosita CPP continues to advance as projected.

At the Alta Mesa CPP, enCore continues work on the refurbishment of the processing circuits. The elution circuit, used to strip uranium from the ion exchange beads, has been completed, and represents a significant milestone in the pathway for production restart. All of the process pumps for the startup IX circuit have been rebuilt and replaced, including the main injection pumps. We anticipate completing the refurbishment of the startup portion of the IX circuit before the end of 2023.

The yellowcake processing circuit refurbishment has started with the rebuilding of key components of the yellowcake storage systems and ordering of long lead time items such as the filter press and yellowcake transfer pumps. Refurbishment work commenced on the yellowcake drying system, and that work is expected to be completed just prior to the anticipated production restart date.

Within Production Authorization Area 7 (PAA-7), enCore is installing injection and production wells in the wellfield and has received and staged the equipment to install the pipelines to connect the wellfield to the Alta Mesa CPP. All of the necessary equipment for the start-up of production in the PAA-7 wellfield has been received or has been ordered with a confirmed delivery schedule.

Paul Goranson, Chief Executive Officer, said, "The uranium spot market is presenting prices that have not been seen since prior to 2011. The driving force for the market is increased demand as supply continues to be constrained, principally due to uranium supply chain challenges created by geopolitical conditions and the projected rapid increase in demand for uranium and nuclear power. At enCore, we are leveraging our experience and resources toward the restart of the Alta Mesa CPP to become a domestic solution to the global uranium demand needs. I am pleased with the progress at Alta Mesa, we are continuing to build a competent team to get the Project to production and look forward to expansion."

There are currently six (6) drill rigs in full operation at the Alta Mesa CPP and Wellfield, with contracts pending for three (3) additional rigs. The wellfield drilling operations, delineating the roll front mineralization within PAA-7, which commenced in March 2023, are advancing rapidly with 92 holes drilled since the previous update. In total, 367 drill holes have been completed.  

Further refined delineation drilling within the PAA-7 continues to establish the exact pattern of injection and recovery wells from which to maximize production efficiency. To date, eighty-six (86) holes have been cased with seventeen (17) holes completed. Two (2) drill rigs are currently casing with one (1) drill rig focused on completion activities.  An additional drill rig will be moving to completion activities.