CENTENNIAL, Colo., Oct. 29, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Uranium Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq:URRE) ("URI" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the Company's activities and financials through September 30, 2013, as well as its strategy and outlook.
"Our near-term priority has been to address our liquidity and we have executed a non-binding agreement with our largest shareholder to provide backstop financing through 2014. We appreciate the support shown for URI by Resource Capital Funds in this funding. Further, we are on track with our cost containment efforts, have gained efficiencies with our consolidated operations and are advancing toward our near-term and mid-term objectives," stated Christopher M. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer of URI. "We have also made substantial progress on our restoration activities and the rehabilitation of the Kingsville Dome holding pond. Once finished, this work will further reduce our future cash requirements."
Near-Term Priorities
Addressing cash and liquidity position
Cash at September 30, 2013 was $2.0 million compared with $5.3 million at the end of the second quarter of 2013 and $4.7 million as of December 31, 2012. URI did not utilize its existing At-The-Market Sales Agreement ("ATM") during the third quarter of 2013, which had a total of $9.0 million in share value available.
After careful consideration of a variety of financing options, on October 14, 2013, the Company and its largest shareholder, Resource Capital Fund V L.P. ("RCF"), entered into a non-binding letter agreement whereby RCF agreed, subject to certain terms and conditions, to provide a secured convertible loan facility of up to $15.0 million to the Company. The facility would provide the Company with $3.0 million upon closing, which is expected on or before November 15, 2013, another $2.0 million would be available upon shareholder approval, which is expected to occur on or before January 31, 2014, and two additional tranches of $5.0 million each would be available in 2014 at the election of the Company.
On average, the Company expended $1.4 million of cash per month during the first six months of 2013. During the third quarter of 2013, URI average expenditures per month had decreased to $1.1 million.
Mr. Jones noted, "We have successfully reduced our burn rate by $300 thousand per month on average. We believe that can be sustained going forward. Nonetheless, we continue to look for ways to contain costs and improve efficiencies."
Groundwater restoration activities progressing well
Groundwater restoration activities are progressing at the Rosita, Kingsville Dome and Vasquez projects with much of the restoration of previously mined well fields set to be completed by year end. The Kingsville Dome holding pond rehabilitation work is also slated for completion by year end and once completed positions the property for future production when uranium markets improve.
Consolidation and operational changes are providing multiple benefits
- Reduced third quarter administration costs of approximately 27% year-over-year.
- Internal resources are supporting the data collection for NI 43-101 compliant reports for our Texas and New Mexico assets.
- Implemented a consolidated land management process. Prioritized our asset base and reduced land fees.
- Consolidated extensive information database of historic drill hole logs, assay certificates, maps and technical reports from New Mexico to the new Denver office for digitization.
NI 43-101 evaluation work underway
URI is continuing internal evaluation work in an effort to produce National Instrument 43-101 reports for its Rosita project in South Texas and its New Mexico projects: Roca Honda, Cebolleta and Churchrock. The reports help to de-risk the projects by providing greater detail on the assets, production plans and the economics of potential development scenarios. Internal review of reports for Roca Honda and Cebolleta is expected by end of year, while external independent third party reviews will be accomplished throughout 2014.
Mid- to Long-Term Focus
Expanding the asset base and developing existing assets continues to be URI's mid- to long-term priorities.
The Company is maintaining ongoing dialogue with the Navajo Nation for a permanent access agreement with the goal of de-risking the Churchrock project. URI personnel and contractors have been on the site for technical analysis and data gathering.
URI and Cameco continued phase three drilling at the Tecolote tract in Texas. Work remains on schedule per the exploration plan.
The Company recently commenced a small drilling program at its Rosita property in a partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of California. Costs are expected to be minimal and will be shared with the parties involved. There will be assay and mineralogical studies on core samples with the intent to collect information that will prove useful in understanding the mineralization and evaluating restoration techniques.
Mr. Jones concluded, "We believe that uranium market fundamentals will strengthen as more nuclear facilities are built globally. We are making prudent strategic investments to enable us to return to production in Texas, and increase our near-term production assets while also developing our mid- to long-term assets in New Mexico."
Teleconference and Webcast
URI will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, October 31, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. ET. During the call, management will provide an update on the Company's activities and financials as well as its strategy and outlook. A question-and-answer session will follow.
The URI conference call can be accessed by calling 201-689-8471. The live listen-only audio webcast can be monitored on the Company's website at www.uraniumresources.com, where it will be archived afterwards.
A telephonic replay will be available from 2:00 PM ET the day of the teleconference until Thursday, November 7, 2013. To listen to the archived call, dial 858-384-5517 and enter replay pin number 13572602. A transcript will also be posted on the Company's website once available.
About Uranium Resources, Inc.
Uranium Resources, Inc. explores for, develops and mines uranium. Since its incorporation in 1977, URI has produced uranium by in-situ recovery (ISR) methods in the state of Texas and currently has a number of initiatives underway to return the Company to production. URI has over 206,600 acres of uranium mineral holdings and 144.8 million pounds of in-place mineralized uranium material in New Mexico and an NRC license to produce up to 3 million pounds of uranium per year. URI has an additional 664,000 pounds of in-place reserves in Texas. The Company acquired these properties over the past 20 years, along with an extensive information database of historic drill hole logs, assay certificates, maps and technical reports.
Uranium Resources routinely posts news and other information about the Company on its website at www.uraniumresources.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are identified by words such as "expects," "estimates," "projects," "anticipates," "believes," "could," and other similar words. All statements addressing operating performance, events, or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will occur in the future, including but not limited to statements relating to the closing of the secured convertible loan facility with RCF, the Company's mineralized uranium materials, access to properties, completion of restoration activities, the outcome of discussions with the Navajo Nation and royalty holders, production capacity of mining operations planned for properties in South Texas and New Mexico, planned dates for commencement of production at such properties, production of NI 43-101 reports, annualized savings from consolidating offices, lower monthly cash burn, and the Company's ability to conserve cash and strengthen its balance sheet and the timing and completion of exploration activities at Tecolote are forward-looking statements. Because they are forward-looking, they should be evaluated in light of important risk factors and uncertainties. These risk factors and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to raise additional capital in the future, spot price and long-term contract price of uranium, the outcome of negotiations with the Navajo Nation, the Company's ability to reach agreements with current royalty holders, weather conditions, operating conditions at the Company's mining projects, government and tribal regulation of the mining industry and the nuclear power industry, world-wide uranium supply and demand, availability of capital, maintaining sufficient financial assurance in the form of sufficiently collateralized surety instruments and other factors which are more fully described in the Company's documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the Company's underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those currently anticipated. In addition, undue reliance should not be placed on the Company's forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any obligation to update or publicly announce any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements contained in this news release.
TABLES FOLLOW.
|
URANIUM RESOURCES, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) |
||
| September 30, | December 31, | |
| 2013 | 2012 | |
| ASSETS | ||
| Current Assets: | ||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ 2,006,833 | $ 4,664,596 |
| Prepaid and other current assets | 466,970 | 708,228 |
| Total Current Assets | 473,803 | 5,372,824 |
| Property, plant and equipment, at cost: | ||
| Property, plant and equipment | 108,862,877 | 109,033,002 |
| Less accumulated depreciation, depletion and impairment | (65,544,841) | (65,318,921) |
| Net property, plant and equipment | 43,318,036 | 43,714,081 |
| Certificates of deposit, restricted | 4,010,850 | 9,491,865 |
| Total Assets | $ 49,802,689 | $ 58,578,770 |
| LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY | ||
| Current Liabilities: | ||
| Accounts payable | $ 397,479 | $ 1,331,888 |
| Accrued liabilities | 1,840,951 | 1,525,726 |
| Note payable | -- | 5,000,000 |
| Current portion of asset retirement obligations | 502,472 | 1,160,378 |
| Current portion of capital leases | 19,861 | 112,140 |
| Total Current Liabilities | 2,760,763 | 9,130,132 |
| Asset retirement obligations | 3,602,252 | 3,337,679 |
| Long-term debt | 950,000 | 950,000 |
| Long-term capital leases, less current portion | 6,688 | 17,582 |
| Total Liabilities | 7,319,703 | 13,435,393 |
| Shareholders' Equity: | ||
| Common stock, 200,000,000 shares authorized, $.001 par value; 20,100,258 and 16,150,163 shares issued and outstanding, respectively | 20,104 | 16,154 |
| Paid-in capital | 216,620,650 | 207,338,549 |
| Accumulated deficit | (174,148,350) | (162,201,908) |
| Less: Treasury stock (3,813 shares), at cost | (9,418) | (9,418) |
| Total Shareholders' Equity | 42,482,986 | 45,143,377 |
| Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity | $ 49,802,689 | $ 58,578,770 |
|
URANIUM RESOURCES, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) |
||||
| Three Months Ended | Nine Months Ended | |||
| September 30, | September 30, | |||
| 2013 | 2012 | 2013 | 2012 | |
| Revenues: | $ -- | $ -- | $ -- | $ -- |
| Cost and expenses: | ||||
| Cost of uranium sales | ||||
| Operating expenses | 568,033 | 776,764 | 1,886,157 | 1,920,601 |
| Accretion/amortization of asset retirement obligations | 97,435 | 22,673 | 292,305 | 69,416 |
| Depreciation and depletion | 76,089 | 91,319 | 225,907 | 318,637 |
| Impairment of uranium properties | 69,580 | 296,628 | 1,449,235 | 1,048,400 |
| Exploration expenses | 282,478 | 12,402 | 1,033,838 | 69,861 |
| Total cost of uranium sales | 1,793,615 | 1,199,786 | 4,887,442 | 3,426,915 |
| Loss from operations before corporate expenses | (1,793,615) | (1,199,786) | (4,887,442) | (3,426,915) |
| Corporate expenses: | ||||
| General and administrative | 2,174,862 | 2,994,663 | 6,749,980 | 8,191,352 |
| Depreciation | 32,631 | 40,911 | 115,773 | 104,751 |
| Total corporate expenses | 2,207,493 | 3,035,574 | 6,865,753 | 8,296,103 |
| Loss from operations | (4,001,108) | (4,235,360) | (11,753,195) | (11,723,018) |
| Other income and expense: | ||||
| Interest expense | (3,859) | (6,055) | (253,485) | (12,723) |
| Interest and other income, net | 55,703 | 20,501 | 60,238 | 247,678 |
| Net loss | $ (3,949,264) | $ (4,220,914) | $(11,946,442) | $(11,488,063) |
| Basic and diluted net loss per common share | $ (0.20) | $ (0.34) | $ (0.63) | $ (1.05) |
| Average weighted shares outstanding | 20,074,763 | 12,413,476 | 19,100,956 | 10,953,407 |
|
URANIUM RESOURCES, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited) |
||
| Nine Months Ended | ||
| September 30, | ||
| 2013 | 2012 | |
| Operating activities: | ||
| Net loss | $ (11,946,442) | $ (11,488,063) |
| Reconciliation of net loss to cash used in operations: | ||
| Accretion/amortization of asset retirement obligations | 292,305 | 69,416 |
| Depreciation and depletion | 341,680 | 423,388 |
| Impairment of uranium properties | 1,449,235 | 1,048,400 |
| Decrease in restoration and reclamation accrual | (1,269,663) | (1,299,806) |
| Stock compensation expense | 299,286 | 373,838 |
| Other non-cash items, net | 73,875 | 73,932 |
| Effect of changes in operating working capital items: | ||
| (Increase) decrease in receivables | 258,532 | (140,228) |
| Increase in prepaid and other current assets | (17,274) | (125,058) |
|
Increase (decrease) in payables, accrued liabilities and deferred credits |
(231,931) | 668,089 |
| Net cash used in operating activities | (10,750,397) | (10,396,092) |
| Cash flows from investing activities: | ||
| Decrease in certificates of deposit, restricted | 5,481,015 | 167,855 |
| Additions to uranium properties | (884,640) | (7,955,263) |
| Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities | 4,596,375 | (7,787,408) |
| Cash flows from financing activities: | ||
| Payments on borrowings | (103,173) | (56,775) |
| Issuance of common stock, net | 3,599,432 | 19,328,360 |
| Net cash provided by financing activities | 3,496,259 | 19,271,585 |
| Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | (2,657,763) | 1,088,085 |
| Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period | 4,664,596 | 2,890,263 |
| Cash and cash equivalents, end of period | $ 2,006,833 | $ 3,978,348 |
| Non-cash transactions: | ||
|
Issuance of common stock for short-term loan principal and interest payments |
$ 5,095,833 | $ -- |
| Issuance of common stock for services | $ 291,500 | $ -- |
| Issuance of restricted stock to employees and directors | $ 327 | $ 391 |
| Issuance of common stock to acquire Neutron Energy, Inc. | $ -- | $ 16,650,000 |
| Capital lease obligations | $ -- | $ 106,154 |