U3O8 Corp, a Canadian-based company focused on the development of deposits of uranium and associated commodities, reports on significant developments in nuclear energy in Argentina, South America’s largest generator of electricity from nuclear:

• Argentina’s Minister of Energy and Mines emphasized the Federal Government’s support for uranium production from Argentina to fuel its growing fleet of nuclear power plants
• Argentina has signed an agreement whereby it will import enriched uranium to fuel its small modular reactor (SMR), on which construction is nearing completion. The Argentine-designed CAREM-25 model is one of the first modern SMRs to be built in the world. Numerous other SMR designs, for example those in Canada, USA, UK, China and Japan, are advancing through the design and permitting stage. SMRs are projected to be a high-growth area in the nuclear and clean energy industry
• A memorandum of understanding has been signed regarding the financing and construction of Argentina’s 4th and 5th nuclear power plants
• The Minister of Energy and Mines has committed to fund upgrades to eleven nuclear medicine facilities in Argentina.

To the company’s knowledge, there are only three uranium deposits on which economic studies have been concluded in Argentina: one has been mined out and the other two include the State’s Cerro Solo and U3O8 Corp’s Laguna Salada deposits. A PEA shows this near surface, free-digging uranium – vanadium deposit has low production-cost potential. Production from these deposits could provide the uranium required by Argentina’s nuclear reactors and alleviate Argentina’s total reliance on imported nuclear fuel.

At Laguna Salada a resource estimate and subsequent PEA have been completed in accordance with NI-43-101. The cash cost of production at Laguna Salada was estimated at $22/lb of uranium net of byproduct vanadium. If actual costs are in line with this estimate, Laguna Salada would be within the lower 25% of the uranium industry in terms of production cost. The company believes that these estimates contained in the PEA, and the assumptions upon which they are based, remain current.

The Cerro Solo deposit, which belongs to Argentina’s National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), is located approximately 150 km from Laguna Salada. CNEA has undertaken a resource estimate and economic assessment of Cerro Solo, but has not released its economic study, and hence production cost estimates are not available in the public domain. Cerro Solo is a sandstone-hosted deposit that would most likely be mined by underground methods.

The next steps planned for Laguna Salada are trial mining and pilot plant processing of bulk samples at one of Argentina’s processing facilities.  The aim of this work is to refine mining and processing costs to feasibility study standards as well as to provide proof of concept for uranium production from mineralized gravels at Laguna Salada.

Laguna Salada lies in the “Roaring Forties”: latitudes renowned for high winds.  To that end, the company is involved with a high-level study to investigate the viability of incorporating wind-generated power into the project as a means of further improving economics.  In addition, although nuclear reactors do not generate greenhouse gases, nuclear energy is not classified as “carbon-free” because of the use of fossil fuels in the mining and transport of uranium.  Incorporation of renewable energy into uranium production from Laguna Salada provides an opportunity to produce a low-carbon uranium product that would allow future customers to move closer to “carbon-free” nuclear energy.

U3O8 Corp. is focused on exploration and development of deposits of uranium and associated commodities in South America.  Potential by-products from uranium production include commodities used in the energy storage industry – in the manufacture of batteries – such as nickel, vanadium and phosphate.  The Company’s mineral resources estimates were made in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, and are contained in three deposits: