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Note 3 - Mineral Rights and Properties
12 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2020
Notes to Financial Statements  
Mineral Industries Disclosures [Text Block]
NOTE
3
:
MINERAL RIGHTS AND PROPERTIES
 
Mineral Rights
 
At
July 31, 2020,
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, 2020,
annual maintenance payments of approximately
$1,506,000
were required to maintain these mineral rights.
 
The carrying value of these mineral rights and properties are as follows:
  
   
July 31, 2020
   
July 31, 2019
 
Mineral Rights and Properties
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Palangana Mine
 
$
6,027,784
    $
6,027,784
 
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
     
3,470,373
 
Workman Creek Project
 
 
799,854
     
699,854
 
Los Cuatros Project
 
 
257,250
     
257,250
 
Slick Rock Project
 
 
30,000
     
-
 
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
 
   
 
67,581,387
     
67,451,387
 
Accumulated Depletion
 
 
(3,929,884
)
   
(3,929,884
)
   
 
63,651,503
     
63,521,503
 
                 
Databases
 
 
2,410,038
     
2,410,038
 
Accumulated Amortization
 
 
(2,410,038
)
   
(2,409,188
)
   
 
-
     
850
 
                 
Land Use Agreements
 
 
48,770
     
404,310
 
Accumulated Amortization
 
 
(44,770
)
   
(389,768
)
   
 
4,000
     
14,542
 
   
$
63,655,503
    $
63,536,895
 
 
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 to generate sales revenues from uranium concentrates. The Palangana Mine generated 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 the year ended
July 31, 2019 (
“Fiscal
2019”
), we completed a royalty purchase agreement (the "Royalty Purchase Agreement") whereby Uranium Royalty Corp (“URC”) purchased from our Company a
1%
net smelter return royalty, for uranium only, on each of our Slick Rock Project, Workman Creek Project and Anderson Project. URC is an entity investing in the uranium sector over which our Company has the ability to exercise significant influence. Refer to Note
6:
Equity-Accounted Investment herein. 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 then carrying value of
$676,650
by
$1,578,864,
which was recorded as a gain on disposition of asset and included in our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss for Fiscal
2019.
 
Mineral property expenditures incurred by major projects were as follows:
 
   
Year Ended July 31,
 
   
2020
   
2019
   
2018
 
Mineral Property Expenditures
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Palangana Mine
 
$
1,342,927
    $
1,027,139
    $
1,047,635
 
Goliad Project
 
 
190,278
     
96,789
     
105,264
 
Burke Hollow Project
 
 
1,130,467
     
1,616,601
     
675,605
 
Longhorn Project
 
 
17,023
     
45,848
     
14,401
 
Salvo Project
 
 
28,318
     
35,923
     
36,056
 
Anderson Project
 
 
71,170
     
81,414
     
68,167
 
Workman Creek Project
 
 
32,700
     
30,709
     
31,300
 
Slick Rock Project
 
 
52,521
     
53,843
     
52,218
 
Reno Creek Project
 
 
596,551
     
655,807
     
1,278,959
 
Yuty Project
 
 
65,679
     
102,882
     
425,298
 
Oviedo Project
 
 
350,211
     
288,324
     
119,082
 
Alto Paraná Titanium Project
 
 
230,350
     
168,956
     
175,768
 
Other Mineral Property Expenditures
 
 
474,208
     
557,497
     
522,398
 
Revaluation of Asset Retirement Obligations
   
-
     
(274,195
)  
 
-
 
   
$
4,582,403
    $
4,487,537
    $
4,552,151
 
 
United States Projects
 
 
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 herein.
 
During Fiscal
2020,
Fiscal
2019,
and Fiscal
2018,
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.
 
 
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 sales 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
1,340
acre property located in Bee County, Texas. These agreements are subject to certain royalty interests indexed to the sales 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 at 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, the carrying value of the Anderson Project was reduced from
$9,154,268
at
July 31, 2018
by
$5,683,895
to a carrying value of
$3,470,373
at
July 31, 2019
and
July 31, 2020.
 
 
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
2020,
advance royalty payments of
$100,000
(Fiscal
2019:
$125,000
) were capitalized as Mineral Rights and Properties and added to the carrying value of the Workman Creek Project.
 
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, the carrying value of the Workman Creek Project was reduced by
$1,082,646.
 
 
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 beginning in
November 2017.
 
During Fiscal
2020
and Fiscal
2019,
advance royalty payments of
$30,000
and
$30,000,
respectively, were capitalized as Mineral Rights and Properties on our 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, 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 our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss for Fiscal
2019.
 
 
Reno Creek Project, Wyoming
 
The consolidated Reno Creek Project consists 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
18,763
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.
 
Canadian Project
 
 
Diabase Project, Canada
 
We hold a
100%
interest in the Diabase Project which covers an area of
54,236
acres in
10
 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 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 have filed certain applications and appeals 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
174,200
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.