Uranium miner Denison Mines’ Phoenix In-Situ Recovery (ISR) mine in February became the first large-scale Canadian uranium mining project in over 20 years to receive all regulatory approvals required to start construction, CEO and president David Cates says in an announcement of the company’s condensed consolidated financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis for the quarter ended March 31.

Shortly after achieving this landmark permitting accomplishment, the company made its final investment decision (FID) to build the mine and, by the end of the first quarter, its Denison-Wood integrated project management team mobilised to the Wheeler River property and began executing schedule-critical site preparation and early works construction activities, he adds.

“In less than two months of on-site activity, our dedicated teams have completed tree clearing activities across the primary mine site area, installation of construction management facilities, construction of our on-site helipad, civil works for the concrete batch plant pad and commencement of aggregate production at a nearby quarry,” Cates highlights.

Civil activities also continue to advance on site, including those necessary to establish the future airstrip.

“Taken together, we are on track to ramp up construction staffing and activities to complete early works and commence full-scale construction by the end of the second quarter, which aligns with our target to achieve first uranium production in mid-2028,” Cates informs.

The company is, however, monitoring the widespread flooding that is impacting on parts of the road network in northern Saskatchewan.

“While our personnel are able to access the Phoenix site via helicopter, our ability to mobilise additional heavy equipment and certain supplies to site as planned may be impacted if the flooding persists and/or key infrastructure remains impacted.

“We recognise the significant efforts of the province of Saskatchewan to rapidly respond to this unprecedented situation and are hopeful that conditions will improve in the coming days,” Cates explains.

Meanwhile, at the 22.5%-owned McClean Lake operation, mining activities at the North SABRE mine were minimal in the first quarter, with work focused on the completion of resource confirmation drilling in advance of the planned resumption of active mining later in the second quarter.

“Denison’s unique combination of physical uranium holdings, active mine production from McClean Lake and large-scale expected future mine production from the Phoenix and Gryphon deposits has resonated positively with some of the world’s largest nuclear power utilities.

“This is reflected by our continued success in growing our uranium sales book, which now includes contracted sales commitments for nearly eight-million pounds of triuranium octoxide (U₃O₈) plus advanced negotiations for a further eight-million pounds of U₃O₈,” Cates acclaims.

The company’s customers include leading North American nuclear power utilities collectively responsible for over 50 reactors, he points out.

In the first quarter, Denison entered into near-term sales commitments with an average realised price over $99/lb of U₃O₈ for deliveries within a year.

These sales are part of the Phoenix project financing efforts stemming from its physical uranium purchase from 2021, which Cates says demonstrates how the company’s disciplined long-term strategy has facilitated significant participation in a rising uranium price environment.

“While the large majority of our commercial activity is focused on market-related pricing, we have also recently observed base-escalated pricing above levels reported in industry price publications, including prices on a present value basis in excess of $100/lb of U₃O₈.

“We believe this and other positive market signals continue to point to robust uranium market fundamentals, which align well with Denison’s unique position as one of the few uranium suppliers globally that is on track to bring a sizeable new source of production to market before the end of the decade,” Cates avers.