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Note 5 - Mineral Rights and Properties
12 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2019
Notes to Financial Statements  
Mineral Industries Disclosures [Text Block]
NOTE 
5
:
MINERAL RIGHTS AND PROPERTIES
 
Mineral Rights
 
At
July 31, 2019,
we had mineral rights in the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming, in Canada and in Paraguay. These mineral rights were acquired through staking and purchase, lease or option agreements and are subject to varying royalty interests, some of which are indexed to the sale price of uranium. At
July 31, 2019,
annual maintenance payments of approximately
$2,666,000
were required to maintain these mineral rights.
 
The carrying value of these mineral rights and properties are as follows:
  
   
July 31, 2019
   
July 31, 2018
 
Mineral Rights and Properties
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Palangana Mine
 
$
6,027,784
    $
6,285,898
 
Goliad Project
 
 
8,689,127
     
8,689,127
 
Burke Hollow Project
 
 
1,495,750
     
1,495,750
 
Longhorn Project
 
 
116,870
     
116,870
 
Salvo Project
 
 
14,905
     
14,905
 
Anderson Project
 
 
3,470,373
     
9,154,268
 
Workman Creek Project
 
 
699,854
     
1,657,500
 
Los Cuatros Project
 
 
257,250
     
257,250
 
Slick Rock Project
 
 
-
     
646,650
 
Reno Creek Project
 
 
31,527,870
     
31,527,870
 
Diabase Project
 
 
546,938
     
546,938
 
Yuty Project
 
 
11,947,144
     
11,947,144
 
Oviedo Project
 
 
1,133,412
     
1,133,412
 
Alto Paraná Titanium Project
 
 
1,433,030
     
1,433,030
 
Other Property Acquisitions
 
 
91,080
     
91,080
 
   
 
67,451,387
     
74,997,692
 
Accumulated Depletion
 
 
(3,929,884
)
   
(3,929,884
)
   
 
63,521,503
     
71,067,808
 
                 
Databases
 
 
2,410,038
     
2,410,038
 
Accumulated Amortization
 
 
(2,409,188
)
   
(2,405,192
)
   
 
850
     
4,846
 
                 
Land Use Agreements
 
 
404,310
     
404,310
 
Accumulated Amortization
 
 
(389,768
)
   
(354,388
)
   
 
14,542
     
49,922
 
   
$
63,536,895
    $
71,122,576
 
 
We have
not
established proven or probable reserves, as defined by the SEC under Industry Guide
7,
for any of our mineral projects. We have established the existence of mineralized materials for certain uranium projects, including the Palangana Mine. Since we commenced uranium extraction at the Palangana Mine without having established proven or probable reserves, there
may
be greater inherent uncertainty as to whether or
not
any mineralized material can be economically extracted as originally planned and anticipated.
 
The Palangana Mine has been the Company’s sole source for the uranium concentrates sold to generate sales revenues during Fiscal
2012,
Fiscal
2013
and Fiscal
2015,
with
no
sales revenues generated during any other fiscal years. The economic viability of the Company’s mining activities, including the expected duration and profitability of the Palangana Mine and of any future satellite ISR mines, such as the Burke Hollow and Goliad Projects, located within the South Texas Uranium Belt, and the Reno Creek Project in Wyoming, have many risks and uncertainties. These include, but are
not
limited to: (i) a significant, prolonged decrease in the market price of uranium; (ii) difficulty in marketing and/or selling uranium concentrates; (iii) significantly higher than expected capital costs to construct the mine and/or processing plant; (iv) significantly higher than expected extraction costs; (v) significantly lower than expected uranium extraction; (vi) significant delays, reductions or stoppages of uranium extraction activities; and (vii) the introduction of significantly more stringent regulatory laws and regulations. Our mining activities
may
change as a result of any
one
or more of these risks and uncertainties and there is
no
assurance that any ore body that we extract mineralized materials from will result in profitable mining activities.
 
During Fiscal
2019,
we completed a royalty purchase agreement (the "Royalty Purchase Agreement") with Uranium Royalty Corp. (“URC”), a private entity investing in the uranium sector which our Company has the ability to exercise significant influence over URC’s operating and financing policies. In connection with the purchase by URC from our Company of a
1%
net smelter return royalty, for uranium only, on each of our Slick Rock, Workman Creek and Anderson Projects, on
December 4, 2018,
we closed the Royalty Purchase Agreement and received
12,000,000
common shares of URC (the “Consideration Shares”) with a fair value of
$9,077,842.
 
The fair value of the Consideration Shares, net of transaction costs of
$55,787,
was allocated to the respective underlying projects based on their identified mineral resources as follows:
 
Fair value of Consideration Shares
          $
9,077,842
 
Transaction costs
           
55,787
 
Net consideration
          $
9,022,055
 
 
Net consideration allocation to:
 
Allocation %
   
Net Consideration Allocation
 
Anderson Project
   
63
%   $
5,683,895
 
Workman Creek Project
   
12
%    
1,082,646
 
Slick Rock Project
   
25
%    
2,255,514
 
     
100
%   $
9,022,055
 
 
The net consideration allocation amounts have reduced the carrying value of the Anderson Project by
$5,683,895,
the Workman Creek Project by
$1,082,646
and the Slick Rock Project by
$676,650.
The net consideration of
$2,255,514
allocated to the Slick Rock Project exceeded its carrying value of
$676,650
by
$1,578,864,
which was recorded as a gain on disposition of asset and included in the Consolidated Statement of Operations for Fiscal
2019.
 
During Fiscal
2017,
we abandoned the Nichols Project located in Texas and certain non-core mineral interests at projects located in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico with a combined acquisition cost of
$297,942.
As a result, an impairment loss on mineral properties of
$297,942
was reported on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss.
 
Mineral property expenditures incurred by major projects were as follows:
 
   
Year Ended July 31,
 
   
2019
   
2018
   
2017
 
Mineral Property Expenditures
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Palangana Mine
 
$
1,027,139
    $
1,047,635
    $
880,633
 
Goliad Project
 
 
96,789
     
105,264
     
114,286
 
Burke Hollow Project
 
 
1,616,601
     
675,605
     
1,020,965
 
Longhorn Project
 
 
45,848
     
14,401
     
32,796
 
Salvo Project
 
 
35,923
     
36,056
     
37,551
 
Anderson Project
 
 
81,414
     
68,167
     
68,303
 
Workman Creek Project
 
 
30,709
     
31,300
     
31,265
 
Slick Rock Project
 
 
53,843
     
52,218
     
44,231
 
Reno Creek Project
 
 
655,807
     
1,278,959
     
-
 
Yuty Project
 
 
102,882
     
425,298
     
365,517
 
Oviedo Project
 
 
288,324
     
119,082
     
331,798
 
Alto Paraná Titanium Project
 
 
168,956
     
175,768
     
800,023
 
Other Mineral Property Expenditures
 
 
557,497
     
522,398
     
580,275
 
Revaluation of Asset Retirement Obligations
 
 
(274,195
)
   
-
     
(187,255
)
   
$
4,487,537
    $
4,552,151
    $
4,120,388
 
 
 
Palangana Mine, Texas
 
We hold various mining lease and surface use agreements granting us the exclusive right to explore, develop and mine for uranium at the Palangana Mine, a
6,987
acre property located in Duval County, Texas, approximately
100
miles south of our Hobson Processing Facility. These agreements are subject to certain royalty and overriding royalty interests indexed to the sale price of uranium and generally have an initial
five
-year term with extension provisions.
 
During Fiscal
2019,
the asset retirement obligations (“ARO”) for the Palangana Mine was revised due to changes in the estimated timing of restoration and reclamation at the Palangana Mine. As a result, the corresponding mineral rights and properties was reduced by
$258,114
and a credit amount for re-valuation of the ARO totaling
$274,195
was recognized as a result of a downward adjustment to the fully depleted underlying mineral rights and properties, which was recorded against the mineral property expenditures for the Palangana Mine. Refer to Note
11:
Asset Retirement Obligations.
 
During Fiscal
2017,
the ARO for the Palangana Mine was revised due to changes in the estimated timing of restoration and reclamation of the Palangana Mine. As a result, a credit amount for re-valuation of the ARO totaling
$187,255
was recognized as a result of a downward adjustment to fully depleted underlying mineral rights and properties, which was recorded against the mineral property expenditures for the Palangana Mine.
 
During Fiscal
2019,
Fiscal
2018
and Fiscal
2017,
we continued with reduced operations at the Palangana Mine to capture residual uranium only. As a result,
no
depletion for the Palangana Mine was recorded on our consolidated financial statements.
 
At
July 31, 2019,
capitalized costs of the Palangana Mine were
$6,027,784
(
July 31, 2018:
$6,285,898
), less accumulated depletion of
$3,929,884
(
July 31, 2018:
$3,929,884
), for a net book value of
$2,097,900
(
July 31, 2018:
$2,356,014
).
 
 
Goliad Project, Texas
 
We hold various mining lease and surface use agreements granting us the exclusive right to explore, develop and mine for uranium at the Goliad Project, a
995
acre property located in Goliad County, Texas. These agreements are subject to certain fixed royalty interests based on net proceeds from sales or indexed to the sale price of uranium and have an initial
five
-year term with extension provisions.
 
 
Burke Hollow Project, Texas
 
We hold various mining lease and surface use agreements granting us the exclusive right to explore, develop and mine for uranium at the Burke Hollow Project, a
19,335
acre property located in Bee County, Texas. These agreements are subject to fixed royalty interests based on net proceeds from sales and have an initial
five
-year term with extension provisions.
 
 
Longhorn Project, Texas
 
We hold various mining lease and surface use agreements granting us the exclusive right to explore, develop and mine for uranium at the Longhorn Project, a
651
acre property located in Live Oak County, Texas. These agreements are subject to certain royalty interests indexed to the sale price of uranium and have an initial
five
-year term with extension provisions.
 
 
Salvo Project, Texas
 
We hold various mining lease and surface use agreements granting us the exclusive right to explore, develop and mine for uranium at the Salvo Project, a
1,514
acre property located in Bee County, Texas. These agreements are subject to certain royalty interests indexed to the sale price of uranium and have an initial
five
-year term with extension provisions.
 
 
Anderson Project, Arizona
 
We hold an undivided
100%
interest in contiguous mineral lode claims and state leases in the Anderson Project, a
8,268
acre property located in Yavapai County, Arizona.
 
During Fiscal
2019,
in connection with the closing of the Royalty Purchase Agreement with URC, and as a result of allocation of the net consideration amount to the Anderson Project based on its identified mineral resources, the carrying value of the Anderson Project was reduced by
$5,683,895
to
$3,470,373
at
July 31, 2019
from
$9,154,268
at
July 31, 2018.
 
 
Workman Creek Project, Arizona
 
We hold an undivided
100%
interest in contiguous mineral lode claims in the Workman Creek Project, a
4,036
acre property located in Gila County, Arizona. The Workman Creek Project is subject to a
3.0%
net smelter royalty requiring an annual advance royalty payment of
$50,000
for
2016
and
2017,
and
$100,000
thereafter. We have an exclusive right and option to acquire
1.5%
of the net smelter royalty for
$1,000,000
at any time until
January 21, 2024.
Additionally, certain individuals hold an option to acquire a
0.5%
net smelter royalty exercisable by paying the Company the sum of
$333,340
at any time until
January 21, 2024.
 
During Fiscal
2019,
we paid
$125,000
in cash as advance royalty payments for the Workman Creek Project. During Fiscal
2018,
we paid
$75,000
in cash and issued
46,134
shares with a fair value of
$61,820
and, during Fiscal
2017,
we issued
46,800
shares with a fair value of
$48,672
as advance royalty payments for the Workman Creek Project, which were capitalized as Mineral Rights and Properties on our Consolidated Balance Sheet.
 
During Fiscal
2019,
in connection with the closing of the Royalty Purchase Agreement with URC, and as a result of allocation of the net consideration amount to the Workman Creek Project based on its identified mineral resources, the carrying value of the Workman Creek Project was reduced by
$1,082,646.
 
At
July 31, 2019,
the carrying value of the Workman Creek Project was
$699,854
(
July 31, 2018:
$1,657,500
).
 
 
Los Cuatros Project, Arizona
 
We hold an undivided
100%
interest in a state lease in the Los Cuatros Project, a
640
acre property located in Maricopa County, Arizona.
 
 
Slick Rock Project, Colorado
 
We hold an undivided
100%
interest in contiguous mineral lode claims in the Slick Rock Project, a
5,333
acre property located in San Miguel County, Colorado. Certain claims of the Slick Rock Project are subject to a
1.0%
or
3.0%
net smelter royalty, the latter requiring an annual advance royalty payment of beginning in
November 2017.
 
We paid advance royalty payments of
$30,000
and
$31,000,
respectively, during Fiscal
2019
and Fiscal
2018,
which were capitalized as Mineral Rights and Properties on the Consolidated Balance Sheets for those fiscal years.
 
During Fiscal
2019,
in connection with the closing of the Royalty Purchase Agreement with URC, and as a result of allocation of the net consideration amount of
$2,255,514
to the Slick Rock Project based on its identified mineral resources, the carrying value of the Slick Rock Project was reduced by
$676,650,
and a gain on disposition of asset of
$1,578,864
was recognized and included in the Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Loss for Fiscal
2019.
 
 
Reno Creek Project, Wyoming
 
On
August 9, 2017,
we completed the acquisition of the issued and outstanding shares of Reno Creek Holdings Inc. (“RCHI”) and, indirectly thereby,
100%
of the fully permitted Reno Creek Project, located in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming, from each of the Pacific Roads Resources Funds (collectively, “PRRF” (as defined therein); as to
97.27%
of RCHI) and Bayswater Holdings Inc. (as to the remaining
2.73%
of RCHI; and, collectively with PRRF, the “Reno Creek Vendors”), in accordance with the terms and conditions of a certain Share Purchase Agreement, dated
May 9, 2017,
as amended by a certain Amending Agreement, dated
August 7, 2017 (
collectively, the “Share Purchase Agreement”; and, collectively, the “Reno Creek Acquisition”).
 
Pursuant to the terms of the original Share Purchase Agreement, we agreed to reimburse all costs and expenses (the “Reimbursable Expenses”) incurred by RCHI and its subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business from the effective date of the Share Purchase Agreement to closing, and, pursuant to the Amending Agreement, we also agreed with that the amount to be distributed from RCHI’s subsidiaries to RCHI at closing totaled
$1,743,666,
which was comprised of the Reimbursable Expenses and the amount of cash on hand held by RCHI’s subsidiaries at the time.
 
Consideration paid in connection with the completion of the Reno Creek Acquisition included the following:
 
 
a cash payment of
$909,930;
 
14,392,927
shares of the Company issued to the Reno Creek Vendors;
 
an additional
241,821
shares of the Company in settlement of certain insurance costs of
$340,000
incurred by the Company and RCHI at closing;
 
11,308,728
warrants (each a “Warrant”), with each Warrant entitling the holder to acquire
one
share of the Company at an exercise price of
$2.30
per share for a period of
five
years from the date of issuance. The Warrants have an accelerator clause which provides that, in the event that the closing price of the shares of the Company on its principally traded exchange is equal to or greater than
$4.00
per share for a period of
20
consecutive trading days, we
may
accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to within
30
days by providing written notice to the holders;
 
a
0.5%
net profits interest royalty, capped at
$2.5
million; and
 
transaction costs of
$779,509,
of which
$283,013
was paid by the issuance of
217,702
shares of the Company.
 
In connection with the Reno Creek Acquisition, we also issued
353,160
common shares in settlement of the Reimbursable Expenses totalling
$483,829,
which is included in the mineral property expenditures on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss.
 
In accordance with ASC
360:
Property, Plant and Equipment, the Reno Creek Acquisition was accounted for as an asset acquisition as it was determined that the operations of the Reno Creek Project do
not
meet the definition of a business as defined in ASC
805:
Business Combinations.
 
The fair value of the consideration paid and the allocation to the identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed by virtue of the Reno Creek Acquisition are summarized as follows:
 
Consideration paid
 
 
 
 
14,634,748 UEC common shares at $1.37 per share
  $
20,049,605
 
11,308,728 UEC share purchase warrants at $0.45 per warrant
   
5,088,928
 
Cash payment
   
909,930
 
Transaction costs
   
779,509
 
    $
26,827,972
 
         
Assets acquired and liabilities assumed
 
 
 
 
Cash and cash equivalents
  $
1,247,170
 
Prepaid expenses
   
319,874
 
Restricted cash
   
73,973
 
Land and buildings
   
370,085
 
Mineral rights and properties
   
25,553,807
 
Asset retirement obligations
   
(73,973
)
Deferred tax liabilities
   
(662,964
)
    $
26,827,972
 
 
On
March 14, 2019,
we entered into a Securities Exchange Agreement (as further delineated below) with the PRRF whereby the PRRF exchanged their collective
11,000,000
outstanding Warrants, which had an expiry date of
August 9, 2022,
for an aggregate of
750,000
shares of the Company (each, a “Share”), at a fair value of
$1.33
per Share.
 
On
May 1, 2018,
we completed a purchase agreement (the “NRC Purchase Agreement”) with Uranerz Energy Corporation (“Uranerz”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Fuels Inc., whereby we acquired
100%
of its advanced stage North Reno Creek Project (the “NRC Acquisition”) located immediately adjacent to and within our existing Reno Creek Project permitting boundary in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming.
 
In accordance with ASC
360:
Property, Plant and Equipment, the NRC Acquisition was accounted for as an asset acquisition. In connection with the closing of the NRC Purchase Agreement, we paid total consideration of
$5,974,063,
consisting of
$2,940,000
in cash,
1,625,531
shares with a fair value of
$2,617,105
and transaction costs of
$416,958,
which were capitalized as Mineral Rights and Properties and added to the acquisition costs of the existing Reno Creek Project. As a result, capitalized acquisition costs of the consolidated Reno Creek Project totaled
$31,527,870
at
July 31, 2019
and
2018.
 
The consolidated Reno Creek Project is comprised of U.S. federal mineral lode claims, state mineral leases, various private mineral leases and certain surface use agreements which grant us the exclusive right to explore, develop and mine for uranium on a
19,769
acre area in Campbell County, Wyoming. The mineral leases and surface use agreements are subject to certain royalty interests with terms ranging from
five
to
20
years, some of which have extension provisions.
 
 
Diabase Project, Canada
 
During Fiscal
2018,
we completed a definitive purchase agreement (the “Diabase Purchase Agreement”) with Nuinsco Resources Limited to acquire
100%
of the Diabase project (the “Diabase Project”) (the “Diabase Acquisition”).
 
In accordance with ASC
360:
Property, Plant and Equipment, the Diabase Acquisition was accounted for as an asset acquisition. Consideration paid in connection with the Diabase Acquisition totaled
$546,938,
consisting of
$239,120
in cash,
164,767
shares with a fair value of
$232,321
and transaction costs of
$75,497,
which were capitalized as Mineral Rights and Properties on our consolidated balance sheet.
 
Concurrently with the closing of the Diabase Acquisition, URC was granted an exclusive right and option to acquire a
100%
royalty on the Diabase Project by paying
$125,000
Canadian dollars to the original royalty holder of the Diabase Project at the closing date together with
$1,750,000
Canadian dollars on or before the date
four
years after the closing date.
 
The Diabase Project covers an area of
56,106
acres in
11
claim blocks located on the southern rim of the Athabasca Basin uranium district in Saskatchewan, Canada.
 
Paraguay Projects
 
During Fiscal
2018
and Fiscal
2019,
we have had communications and filings with the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (“MOPC”), the mining regulator in Paraguay, whereby the former MOPC took the position that certain concessions forming part of the Company’s Yuty and Alto Parana projects were
not
eligible for extension as to exploration or continuation to exploitation in their current stages. While we remain fully committed to our development path forward in Paraguay, we caused our legal counsel to file an appeal in Paraguay to reverse the MOPC’s position in order to protect our continuing rights in those concessions.
 
 
Yuty Project, Paraguay
 
The Yuty Project is a
289,680
acre property under
one
exploitation concession located in Paraguay. The Yuty Project is subject to an overriding royalty of
$0.21
per pound of uranium produced from the Yuty Project.
 
 
Oviedo Project, Paraguay
 
The Oviedo Project is a
223,749
acre property under
one
exploration permit located in Paraguay. The Oviedo Project is subject to a
1.5%
gross overriding royalty over which we have an exclusive right and option at any time to acquire
0.5%
for
$166,667
and a right of
first
refusal to acquire all or any portion of the remaining
1.0%.
 
 
Alto Paran
á
Titanium Project, Paraguay
 
The Alto Paraná Titanium Project is a
464,548
acre property under certain titanium mineral concessions, located in the departments of Alto Parana and Canindeyú in Paraguay. The Alto Paraná Titanium Project is subject to a
1.5%
net smelter returns royalty. We have the right, exercisable to
July 2023,
to acquire
0.5%
of the net smelter royalty at a purchase price of
$500,000.