Anfield Energy Provides 2022 Corporate Review and Plans for 2023

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Anfield Energy Inc. (TSX.V: AEC; OTCQB: ANLDF; FRANKFURT: 0AD) (“Anfield” or “the Company”) is pleased to provide a corporate review of 2022 and discuss its 2023 plans. Anfield continues its advance towards becoming a near-term U.S.-based uranium and vanadium producer and is encouraged by the market developments of 2022.

The following list highlights the Company’s 2022 achievements:

Negotiated and completed the removal of debt held by Uranium Energy Corporation (UEC)
Following UEC’s acquisition of Anfield’s US$18 million debt obligation from Uranium One Americas – a subsidiary of Russian state entity, Rosatom – Anfield negotiated a debt settlement with UEC to extinguish the debt through a combination of both cash and equity. As a result, UEC became the largest single shareholder of Anfield – holding 15% of Anfield’s common shares – and received approximately US$9 million in cash. The removal of the debt overhang allows Anfield to advance its assets, including the Shootaring Canyon mill, along the path to uranium and vanadium production.

Raised over $22 million in equity – including a $15 million bought deal – to fund both debt settlement and asset advancement
As part of the UEC transaction, Anfield raised approximately $15 million through an equity bought deal – the largest single equity raise by Anfield to date – which provided the Company with sufficient funds to both make its US$9 million settlement payment to UEC and, along with a $7.65 million private placement completed earlier in the year, fund the advancement of its uranium and vanadium assets.

Swapped ISR assets for a conventional uranium/vanadium asset to align portfolio to a hub-and-spoke strategy underpinned by the Shootaring Canyon mill
Alongside the debt settlement transaction with UEC, Anfield also entered into a Swap Agreement with UEC to exchange the Company’s Wyoming-based ISR properties for UEC’s Colorado-based conventional Slick Rock asset. This asset, when combined with both the Utah-based Velvet-Wood project and the Colorado-based West Slope project, significantly enhances Anfield’s robust, long-term hub-and-spoke production plan underpinned by Anfield’s wholly-owned Shootaring Canyon mill.

Welcomed Mr. Kenneth Mushinski as Chairman of the Anfield Board
In September 2022, Anfield announced that it had appointed Mr. Kenneth Mushinski as its Chairman. Mr. Mushinski brings a wealth of senior-level nuclear and uranium industry experience to the Board via his 33 years of executive roles at General Atomics Corporation and its various subsidiaries. His responsibilities included identifying, negotiating and executing mergers and acquisitions; operational and financial planning of uranium operations, including sales, marketing and contracting, budgeting and scheduling; and regulatory affairs, including governmental interactions, licensing, permitting reclamation and decommissioning. This comprehensive high-level experience will serve Anfield well as it continues to pursue both near-term uranium and vanadium production and further asset portfolio growth.

Received an NI 43-101 uranium and vanadium resource estimate for four of nine formerly producing mines which comprise the West Slope Project
The Company commissioned BRS, Inc., an engineering firm, to complete an NI 43-101 resource report for four of the nine mines which comprise the West Slope project in Colorado. The report outlined a uranium resource of approximately 5 million pounds and a vanadium resource of approximately 27 million pounds. The next step for the Company is to have BRS complete a preliminary economic assessment of the project to confirm its economic viability.

Acquired and expanded Arizona-based Artillery Peak claims to complement Anfield’s existing Date Creek Basin holdings
The Company acquired a 100% interest in 50 unpatented mining claims and staked an additional 54 claims in the uranium-rich Artillery Peak project area which are adjacent to Anfield’s current properties in Date Creek Basin. Anfield has also commissioned BRS, Inc. to complete a NI 43-101 resource report for its combined Date Creek Basin/Artillery Peak projects. This combined project will form part of Anfield’s two-fold strategy as it will represent a secondary production pipeline to complement Anfield’s core production pipeline consisting of the Velvet-Wood, West Slope and Slick Rock projects.

Engaged Precision Systems Engineering to provide a reactivation plan for the Shootaring Canyon Mill
In November 2022, Anfield announced that it had commissioned Precision Systems Engineering (PSE), a Utah-based engineering firm, to complete a reactivation proposal for the Shootaring Canyon mill. The proposal, expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2023, will include a detailed study of the existing facility and uranium circuit, along with a preliminary design of a new vanadium circuit, and detailed cost estimates related to the full reactivation of the mill. PSE will also manage the equipment procurement process on behalf of the Company in order to facilitate the move to production restart. This is a critical undertaking by Anfield as this work represents the final required engineering step prior to actual physical refurbishment of the mill.

Catalysts for 2023

Updated Preliminary Economic Assessments for Velvet-Wood, West Slope and Slick Rock projects
Anfield is expecting to issue an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Velvet Wood with a vanadium resource to be included. Its previous PEA, issued in 2016, did not include any vanadium resource despite historical production at the mine of roughly 4 million pounds of uranium and 5 million pounds of vanadium. In addition, Anfield has engaged BRS, Inc., to complete both an initial PEA for the West Slope project – related to the resource report issued in 2022 – and a PEA for the Slick Rock project. These PEAs are critical to Anfield’s hub-and-spoke strategy as we expect them to underscore the significant inherent value and attractiveness of the Company’s near-term uranium and vanadium production pipeline.

Completion of PSE reactivation report
The PSE report is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2023. At that point, Anfield should have a full accounting as to the cost and timing related to the reactivation of the Shootaring Canyon mill, including the new vanadium circuit. Subsequent steps related to procurement of equipment will also take place post-report.

Advancement of secondary assets to NI 43-101 resource
Anfield has acquired the Artillery Peak claims in Arizona as well as the Marysvale and Calf Mesa projects in Utah. Anfield will commence work on both sets of assets in order to delineate a NI 43-101 resource which will serve as potential secondary uranium resource for its production pipeline, alongside the Company’s existing Frank M mine in Utah and the Findlay Tank breccia pipe project in Arizona

Acquisition of uranium and vanadium assets
The Company continues to seek out additional uranium and vanadium projects to buttress both its primary hub-and-spoke production pipeline and secondary resource in order to create a long-term production portfolio underpinned by the Shootaring Canyon mill.

Corey Dias, Anfield CEO states, “We at Anfield are very proud of our transformational 2022 accomplishments, but know that we have plenty of work ahead to meet our production goals. The opportunity to both remove the debt obligation overhang and adjust our asset portfolio to further align our uranium and vanadium production path was critical to our strategy. Moreover, our ability to raise sufficient funds to both advance our existing asset portfolio and acquire complementary assets proved an important step in progressing our strategy. Finally, the appointment of Ken Mushinski to our Board as Chairman not only significantly bolstered our uranium production-related operational experience but also our experience with the nuclear industry. Overall, given our 2022 accomplishments and continued furtherance of our two-fold production strategy – underpinned by the Shootaring Canyon mill – we expect to see the valuation gap between ourselves and other producing and near-producing peers narrow significantly in 2023.

“The macro view of the nuclear and uranium markets is increasingly positive. With a shift away from Russia, the value of European and North American uranium conversion and enrichment has increased significantly as these continents look to not only shift away from Russian-sourced fossil fuels but to also embrace nuclear power. The challenges related to Kazakhstan’s uranium supply chain have disrupted product flow to the West. As a result, China has taken the opportunity to seek closer ties to Kazakhstan as it continues to build out its extensive nuclear reactor fleet, negatively affecting uranium supplies available to the U.S. and other Western countries.

“At the same time, product flow from the West to the East is increasing. Cameco signed a contract to sell uranium to China Nuclear International Corporation for first loads in new reactors and for supplying existing reactors. Cameco’s acquisition of the nuclear giant Westinghouse, to become a worldwide full-service nuclear business, presents further prospects for a stronger market. In the U.S., the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Uranium Reserve awarded five contracts for near-term supply of uranium and the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust purchased uranium on the spot market further removing supply from the market. This is taking place while U.S. uranium production fell to essentially zero in the third quarter of 2022. Finally, Japan has begun to restart its nuclear reactors, underscoring the now-remote likelihood of uranium pounds held in Japan flooding the world market. Overall, it is a story of supply and demand; demand is growing, while supply is shrinking.”

About Anfield

Anfield is a uranium and vanadium development and near-term production company that is committed to becoming a top-tier energy-related fuels supplier by creating value through sustainable, efficient growth in its assets. Anfield is a publicly traded corporation listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (AEC-V), the OTCQB Marketplace (ANLDF) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (0AD). Anfield is focused on its conventional asset centre, as summarized below:

Arizona/Utah/Colorado – Shootaring Canyon Mill

A key asset in Anfield’s portfolio is the Shootaring Canyon Mill in Garfield County, Utah. The Shootaring Canyon Mill is strategically located within one of the historically most prolific uranium production areas in the United States, and is one of only three licensed uranium mills in the United States.

Anfield’s conventional uranium assets consist of mining claims and state leases in southeastern Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, targeting areas where past uranium mining or prospecting occurred. Anfield’s conventional uranium assets include the Velvet-Wood Project, the Frank M Uranium Project, the West Slope Project, as well as the Findlay Tank breccia pipe. A NI 43-101 PEA has been completed for the Velvet-Wood Project. The PEA is preliminary in nature, and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment would be realized. All conventional uranium assets are situated within a 200-mile radius of the Shootaring Mill.

Technical Disclosure

Table 1. Anfield’s existing conventional uranium-vanadium project portfolio resources.

* The Company’s Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify these historic estimates as current mineral resources and Anfield is not treating such historical resources as current mineral resources.

Velvet-Wood: The PEA for Velvet-Wood was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer, of BRS Inc., Terence P. (Terry) McNulty, P.E., D. Sc., of T.P. McNulty and Associates Inc. (May 31, 2016). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability in accordance with CIM standards. GT cut-off varies by locality from 0.25%-0.50%.

West Slope: NI 43-101 resource estimate for the JD-6, JD-7, JD-8 and JD-9 properties, completed by BRS Inc. (effective March 2022); Historic resource estimate for the SR-11, SR-13A, SM-18 N, SM-18 S, LP-21 and CM-25 properties, completed by Behre Dolbear for Cotter Corporation (August 2007). Indicated and Inferred resources using GT cut-off of 0.1 ft% eU₃O₈; historic resources using cut-off of 0.05% U₃O₈.

Slick Rock: Historical resource estimate prepared by BRS Engineering, Inc. (effective April 2014). GT cut-offs range from 0.25%-0.50%

Frank M: Historic Technical Report for Frank M, prepared for Uranium One Americas, was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer of BRS Inc., and Andrew C. Anderson, P.E., P.G. Senior Engineer/Geologist of BRS Inc., dated June 10, 2008. Frank M historic resource used a GT cut-off of 0.25%.

Findlay Tank: Historic Technical Report for Findlay Tank, prepared for Uranium One Americas, was authored by Douglas L. Beahm, P.E., P.G. Principal Engineer of BRS Inc., dated October 2, 2008. Findlay Tank historic resource used a grade cut-off of 0.05% eU₃O₈.

Artillery Peak: Artillery Peak Exploration Project, Mohave County, Arizona, 43-101 Technical Report, authored by Dr. Karen Wenrich, October 12, 2010. GT cut-off varies by locality from 0.01%-0.05%.

On behalf of the Board of Directors
ANFIELD ENERGY INC.
Corey Dias, Chief Executive Officer

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact:
Anfield Energy, Inc.
Clive Mostert
Corporate Communications
780-920-5044
contact@anfieldenergy.com
www.anfieldenergy.com

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