Impact: Very Positive
Energy Fuels (EFR) announced very positive production and exploration updates from its 2.3 M lb Pinyon Plain uranium mine in Arizona, where mining began in 2024 and is ramping up. Monthly production has ramped up to 151.4k lbs U3O8 in April, the highest in its history, with a record mined grade of 1.64%. Additionally, gamma ray logging of holes completed at the deeper Juniper Zone (not yet included in reserves) returned up to 7.02% eU3O8 over 13.4’ and 7.5% over 7.5’. This type of grade in US uranium mines is very rare. You often only see grades above 1% U3O8 in Arizona breccia pipe type deposits, and Pinyon Plain is one of these. While they are also typically relatively small at 1-3-5 M lbs U3O8 in size, they often occur in clusters. Furthermore, with these kinds of grades, we anticipate very low operating costs when those are announced as we await Q1/25 production figures and operating and financial results next week. Q1/25 results may not matter that much anyway, as hauling of the Pinyon Plain ore to the White Mesa Mill only resumed in late January after a deal with the Navajo Nation (read note).