Toro Energy Limited (Toro or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has secured firm commitments for a A$12.3 million placement (before costs) comprising the issue of approximately 23 million new fully-paid ordinary shares in the capital of the Company (Placement). The Placement was well supported by new and existing institutional, sophisticated and professional investors.
Commenting on the capital raise, Executive Chairman, Richard Homsany said:
“Toro is extremely pleased with the outcome of this capital raising and is delighted to welcome new highly reputable investors to its register together with the increased investment from existing shareholders. On behalf of the Board, we would like to thank the joint lead managers and all investors who supported the transaction which further strengthens Toro’s register. The Board is grateful for the continued support of our existing shareholders and will offer eligible shareholders the opportunity to apply for new Toro shares under a Share Purchase Plan.
As global uranium markets continue to strengthen and public sentiment and government support align, Toro remains committed to developing the Wiluna Uranium Project to maximise its value. With further work, Toro is confident its assets will emerge as attractive stand-alone mining projects and we very much look forward to the year ahead.”
Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited and Euroz Hartleys Limited acted as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners to the Placement.
Placement
Toro received strong support from a number of high-quality institutional investors both domestically and internationally for the Placement.
Under the Placement, the Company will issue new fully-paid ordinary shares (Placement Shares) at $0.52 per Placement Share. The Placement offer price represents a 13.3% discount to the last-close on 17 January 2024 ($0.60 per share) and a 13.2% discount to the 5-day VWAP ($0.599 per share).
The Placement Shares will be issued within the Company’s existing placement capacity under ASX Listing Rules 7.1 and 7.1A. Settlement of the Placement Shares is expected to occur on Thursday, 25 January 2024. All Placement Shares will rank equally with the Company’s existing shares on issue.
Key Dates
The Placement timetable is indicative only and subject to variation. The Company reserves the right to alter the timetable at its discretion and without notice, subject to the ASX Listing Rules and the Corporations Act (Cth).
Uranium Market Update
Global uranium markets continue to strengthen and fundamentals remain strong. There has been significant sector momentum with spot uranium prices recently breaking through US$100/lb, the second highest level in history as price action continues to reconcile with supply tightness as evidenced by unfilled RFPs over recent months. Contracting volumes are at decade long highs with UxC estimating that utilities have contracted more than 160Mlb in 2023, compared to a total of 125Mlbs in 2022. Nuclear power sentiment is improving and gathering momentum, with the US and 20 other countries announcing that their nuclear power will be tripled by 2050. Security of supply remains critical, with the potential US ban on Russian LEU imports, which the Senate is expected to vote in favour of in the coming weeks.
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This article includes content from Toro Energy, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Toro Energy’s significant uranium resource in a tier 1 jurisdiction places the company in a compelling position to leverage a bullish uranium market and the mineral’s strategic role in global decarbonization.
Countries worldwide are working towards decarbonization and paying more attention to clean energy sources. About 10 percent of the world's electricity is produced from 440 power reactors, and more countries like Japan, Germany, the UK and the US are revitalizing their nuclear energy capacities to reduce fossil fuel production while improving energy security.
Australia produces 12 percent of the world’s uranium, behind Canada (13 percent) and Kazakhstan (43 percent). It is also home to the Wiluna uranium project, a well-established uranium resource, which is also the flagship asset of Toro Energy (ASX:TOE), a uranium exploration and development mining company that actively seeks to uncover value from other commodities in its existing highly prospective project ground.
As of September 24, 2024, Toro holds JORC-compliant uranium resources of 112.7 million pounds (Mlbs) uranium oxide (U3O8), which includes the flagship Wiluna project, Dawson Hinkler deposit (100 ppm U3O8 cut-off), and Theseus and Nowthanna deposit (200 ppm U3O8 cut-off).
The 100-percent-owned Wiluna uranium project includes three key deposits – Lake Maitland, Centipede-Millipede and Lake Way – and offers significant uranium exposure of 87.8 million tons (Mt) at 381 ppm for 73.6 Mlbs U3O8 at 100 ppm cut-off (JORC 2012). It is located only 30 kilometers southeast of Wiluna in Central Western Australia.
The Wiluna uranium project has received state and federal approval (subject to required amendments) and has been granted mining leases.
Considerable research over recent years has identified processing redesign opportunities from unique geological attributes within the uranium deposits, but particularly at Lake Maitland, as well as the ability to extract the inherent vanadium held within the uranium ‘ore’ for a vanadium by-product.
Within the uranium mineralization envelope, the Wiluna project is estimated to contain 141.8 Mt vanadium oxide (V2O5) at 286 ppm for 89.3 Mlbs of V2O5 at 100 ppm V2O5 cut-off (JORC 2012), as of September 24, 2024.
The unique geology of the Lake Maitland deposit and the processing redesign have allowed for a mining and processing option exclusively for Lake Maitland, that could be economic on its own or be the economic spearhead of a longer-term, larger Wiluna mining operation (dependent on market conditions and approvals). The stand-alone Lake Maitland option, aided by the economic efficiency of the new processing design, results in a transformational potential increase in production from the Lake Maitland deposit.
The scoping study for the stand-alone Lake Maitland uranium-vanadium operation option shows potential for exceptional financial returns with a pre-tax NPV of AU$832.8 million, a short payback period of 2.5 years, 48 percent internal rate of return, and low capex of AU$291 million (US$203 million), based on price assumption of US$85/lb U3O8, US$5.67/lb V2O5 and a 70 cents US$:AU$ exchange rate.
In September 2024, the Lake Maitland deposit has been re-estimated using a resource envelope more in line with the other Wiluna uranium deposits; allowed the lowering of the cut-off grade to 100ppm U3O8, expanding Lake Maitland resources by 12 percent and that of the entire Wiluna project by 17 percent (when the expansions at Lake Way and Centipede-Millipede are also included).
The design phase of Toro Energy’s beneficiation and hydrometallurgical pilot plant is on track and in line with plans to finalise construction at the end of 2024-beginning of 2025. . The pilot plant will test the improved beneficiation and hydrometallurgical circuit developed by Toro from bench scale research at a closer-to-production scale and as single streams. It will also test potential ore from the three uranium-vanadium deposits that Toro believes will make up an extended Lake Maitland operation – these include Lake Maitland, Lake Way and Centipede-Millipede.
The company will commence a large sonic core drill program to provide bulk, but targeted potential ore, for the upcoming pilot plant program in 2025.
The Lake Maitland deposit is part of a joint venture partnership with two reputable Japanese corporations, Japan Australia Uranium Resource Development. (JAURD) and Itochu.
Toro has been actively evaluating the prospectivity of its Wiluna asset portfolio for minerals other than uranium, including nickel and gold.
Toro’s Dusty nickel project is located on the northern, eastern and southern shores of Lake Maitland and the Lake Maitland uranium deposit and is focused on two main target areas: Dusty and Yandal One. These properties will be the subject of a proposed demerger, following Toro’s recent strategic review of its non-core assets and future plans to solely focus on its uranium development opportunities and its flagship Wiluna project.
Toro Energy’s management team and board of directors have extensive experience in the mining industry, with combined expertise that includes working at major mining houses, exploration companies, uranium mining operations, corporate financing and government and community relations.
Toro Energy’s flagship asset is located only 30 kilometers from the town of Wiluna in the northern goldfields region within central Western Australia. The Wiluna project contains 87.8 Mt at 381 ppm for 73.6 Mlbs U 3O8 at 100 ppm cut-off over three deposits: Centipede-Millipede, Lake Way and Lake Maitland. The asset has been de-risked and optimized to improve yield and has successfully incorporated the processing of a vanadium resource as a by-product. A scoping study was completed for a stand-alone Lake Maitland uranium-vanadium operation.
Toro’s Lake Maitland tenure is located in the Yandal Greenstone Belt within the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia, a gold district within a world-class gold and nickel province. With little exploration for non-uranium minerals ever conducted on the properties, Toro considers the project area highly prospective for nickel, gold and base metals.
In 2020, Toro made a blind discovery of massive and semi-massive nickel sulphides associated with the base of a 7.5-kilometer unbroken length of previously unknown komatiite (Dusty komatiite) – arguably the first massive nickel sulphides discovered in the Yandal Greenstone Belt, which is located 50 kilometers east of the world-class Mt. Keith nickel deposit. The Dusty nickel project is located near the Lake Maitland uranium deposit and contains two key target areas: Dusty and Yandal One.
Continued exploration and diamond drilling on the project has resulted in four discoveries of massive/semi-massive nickel sulphide zones to date with only 4.5 kilometers tested so far at a single depth along a 7.5-kilometer komatiite magnetic trend. Only limited testing for massive nickel sulphides has been undertaken to date of an approximately 15-kilometer strike length of known komatite - ultramafic target rock. With such limited drilling on the Lake Maitland tenure, it is yet to be known whether other similar magnetic anomalies are also komatiite-ultramafic rock and how much more rock is prospective for massive nickel sulphides on Toro’s 100-percent-owned Dusty nickel project.
The Lake Maitland tenure is located only 20 kilometers northeast of the world-class Bronzewing and Mt McClure gold mines within the same Greenstone Belt, the Yandal, within one of the most famous gold provinces in the world, the Yilgarn Craton.
Early exploration by Toro at the Golden Ways target area in the north of the project has uncovered surface rock chip samples of up to 70 g/t gold and significant drilling results, including:
Richard Homsany has extensive experience in the resources industry, having been the executive vice-president for Australia of TSX-listed Mega Uranium since April 2010. He has worked for North Ltd, an ASX top 50-listed internationally diversified resources company in operations, risk management and corporate, before its takeover by Rio Tinto.
Homsany is an experienced corporate lawyer and certified practicing accountant (CPA) advising numerous clients in the energy and resources sector, including publicly listed companies. He was corporate partner at international law firm DLA Phillips Fox (now DLA Piper), where he advised clients on a range of transactions and matters including capital raising, IPOs, stock exchange listing, mergers and acquisitions, finance, joint ventures, divestments and governance.
He is a fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA) and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He has a commerce degree and honors degree in law from the University of Western Australia, and a graduate diploma in finance and investment from FINSIA (State Dux).
Homsany has significant board experience with publicly listed companies in Australia and Canada. He is the chairman of ASX-listed copper explorer Redstone Resources. and TSXV-listed iron ore and gold explorer Central Iron Ore Limited. Homsany is currently the chairman of the Health Insurance Fund of Australia Limited.
Michel Marier joined Sentient in 2009 as an investment manager. Before joining Sentient, Marier worked eight years in the private equity division of la Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Marier holds a master’s degree in finance from HEC Montreal and is a CFA charter holder.
Richard Patricio is the CEO and president of Mega Uranium, a uranium-focused investment and development company with assets in Canada and Australia.
In addition to his legal and corporate experience, Patricio has built a number of mining companies with global operations. He holds senior officer and director positions in several junior mining companies listed on the TSX, TSX Venture, AIM and NASDAQ exchanges. He is currently also a director of NexGen Energy (TSE:NXE, Mkt Cap. C$2.7 billion). He previously practiced law at a top-tier law firm in Toronto and worked as an in-house general counsel for a senior TSX-listed company. He received his law degree from Osgoode Hall and was called to the Ontario bar in 2000.
Dr. Greg Shirtliff has over 20 years of experience in industry-related geology and geochemistry, including a PhD in mine-related geology and geochemistry from the Australian National University. Since his studies, Dr Shirtliff has spent some 20 years in various roles in the mining and exploration industry ranging from environmental, mine geology, resource development, exploration and management roles in exploration and technical projects inclusive of engineering and metallurgical. His roles have included a number of years at ERA-Rio Tinto’s Ranger Uranium Mine, as the senior geoscientist for Cameco Australasia and more recently as the lead geologist and technical manager for Toro Energy, where he is the exploration and technical lead responsible for increasing the viability of the company’s uranium and mineral resources, developing and directing the company’s uranium and non-uranium exploration strategy, aiding the company technically through EPA approval for a uranium mine, and guiding the engineering and metallurgical through to scoping level economic assessment.
Dr Shirtliff has had recent exploration success at Toro Energy, discovering multiple zones of massive nickel sulphide mineralization along the Dusty Komatiite, arguably the first massive nickel sulphide mineralization discovered in the Yandal Greenstone Belt in Western Australia.
Dr Shirtliff holds directorships on privately owned consultancy and prospecting companies and is a long-standing member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the internationally recognized Society of Economic Geologists.
Katherine Garvey is a corporate lawyer who has significant experience in the resources sector. Garvey advises public (both listed and unlisted) and proprietary companies on a variety of corporate and commercial matters including capital raising, finance, acquisitions and disposals, Corporations Act and ASX Listing Rule compliance, corporate governance and company secretarial issues. She has extensive experience drafting and negotiating various corporate and commercial agreements including farm-in agreements, joint ventures, shareholders’ agreements, and business and share sale and purchase agreements.
Garvey is a senior associate at Cardinals Lawyers and Consultants, a corporate and resources law firm in West Perth, and company secretary of the Health Insurance Fund of Australia Limited. Garvey is also legal counsel (Australia) to TSX-listed Mega Uranium, and company secretary to TSXV-listed Central Iron Ore.
Marc Boudames is experienced in statutory financial reporting, taxation, ERP systems, business analytics, corporate transactions, due diligence, mergers & acquisitions, finance, joint ventures and divestments. He previously worked at RSM Bird Cameron, as general manager –finance & administration for ASX-listed Redport Ltd and Mega Uranium (Australia), a Canadian TSX-listed mining and equity investment company focused on global uranium properties and multi-mineral exploration. He has worked for multiple companies across various industries, including listed and public companies associated with the mining and oil and gas sectors, such as WesTrac, CB&I and Spotless Group.
Highlights
Infini’s Managing Director and CEO, Charles Armstrong said:"We’ve entered an incredibly thrilling chapter for the Company as we start drilling at our highly promising greenfield uranium prospect in Portland Creek, NL.
Myself and the Infini team are incredibly excited for the commencement of drilling, starting with our priority one diamond holes (1A). The anticipation is palpable as we target a high-grade soil anomaly right on top of a significant shear zone and three converging second-order faults.
The Talus prospect is just the beginning—one of many exciting targets within this expansive uranium corridor we’ve worked tirelessly to advance over the past year. The period ahead could mark a pivotal moment for the Company if this eagerly awaited maiden drill program uncovers a major uranium discovery in the tier-1 jurisdiction of Newfoundland, Canada. The excitement is real, and the potential is enormous."
Figure 1: Location of planned diamond drill holes at the Talus Uranium Prospect. The final drill hole locations are dependent on ground conditions and may be adjusted slightly to accommodate these conditions.
Figure 2: UAV magnetics structural interpretation of the Portland Creek uranium project showing the revised sediment-granite contact and soil anomalism coincident with demagnetization and shear corridors.
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This article includes content from Infini Resources, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) was informed by our partner, National Atomic Company Kazatomprom JSC (Kazatomprom), and Joint Venture Inkai LLP (JV Inkai) that the Inkai operation has resumed production.
Cameco and Kazatomprom are now working with JV Inkai to determine the impact of the production suspension on the operation's 2025 production plans.
Kazatomprom holds a 60% interest in JV Inkai, while Cameco owns a 40% share.
Caution about forward-looking information
This news release includes statements and information about our expectations for the future, which we refer to as forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on our current views, which can change significantly, and actual results and events may be significantly different from what we currently expect. Examples of forward-looking information in this news release include: the impact of the production suspension on the operation's 2025 production plans.
Material risks that could lead to different results include: complexity and uncertainty in the application, interpretation and enforcement of the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan; expropriation or nationalization of JV Inkai's properties or Cameco's interest in JV Inkai; amendments to and uncertainty in the enforcement of government regulation in the Republic of Kazakhstan; termination of JV Inkai's resource use contract by governmental authorities; geopolitical risk in Kazakhstan and surrounding countries; risk of corruption in Kazakhstan and surrounding countries; risk of sanctions and risk of dealing with sanctioned individuals or entities; production variance from JV Inkai's resource use contract; procurement and supply chain issues, including with respect to the availability of sulphuric acid; development, filing and acceptance by governmental authorities of updates to JV Inkai's operations, and the negotiation and execution of any resulting amendments to JV Inkai's resource use contract; the completion of an expansion to JV Inkai's processing circuit, including the addition of a pre-dryer and calciner; availability of drilling services and construction services in Kazakhstan; and availability of transportation.
Please also review the discussion in the "Risk Factors" section of our current annual information form and the "Other relevant data and information – Regulatory risks" and "Other relevant data and information – Production and product delivery risks" sections of our technical report "Inkai Operation, Turkestan Region, Republic of Kazakhstan" dated November 12, 2024 for other material risks that could cause actual results to differ significantly from our current expectations, and other material assumptions we have made. Forward-looking information is designed to help you understand management's current views of our near-term and longer-term prospects, and it may not be appropriate for other purposes. We will not necessarily update this information unless we are required to by securities laws.
Profile
Cameco is one of the largest global providers of the uranium fuel needed to energize a clean-air world. Our competitive position is based on our controlling ownership of the world's largest high-grade reserves and low-cost operations, as well as significant investments across the nuclear fuel cycle, including ownership interests in Westinghouse Electric Company and Global Laser Enrichment. Utilities around the world rely on Cameco to provide global nuclear fuel solutions for the generation of safe, reliable, carbon-free nuclear power. Our shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. Our head office is in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
As used in this news release, the terms we, us, our, the Company and Cameco mean Cameco Corporation and its subsidiaries unless otherwise indicated.
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Investor inquiries:
Cory Kos
306-716-6782
cory_kos@cameco.com
Media inquiries:
Veronica Baker
306-385-5541
veronica_baker@cameco.com
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