Uranium Energy Corp. (AMEX:UEC) Letter to Shareholders
How this company came to be valued at a paltry $13 million (on a good day) is related to the wholesale purging of junior resource companies by fund managers. I'd encourage you to read the letter and talk to their management.
Dear Shareholder,
As 2008 comes to a close, I want to thank you for being a shareholder of Uranium Energy Corp. This was a difficult year for investors. Truly, globally, no investors were spared this year, including our own. Your confidence in management to achieve our objectives is appreciated now more than ever.
Your confidence is well-placed. 2008 was a great year for UEC in terms of the advances we achieved. Before getting into the results from the year, I want to assure you that the Company is well funded. In July, we completed an equity financing of $15.3 million. We are also being highly conservative in order to preserve these funds without, of course, compromising key objectives. Our monthly net burn rate in 2009 excluding exploration and permitting expenditures is expected to be less than $400,000, and this will include maintenance of current projects, personnel, and corporate expenses.
The following advances were made in 2008:
- A draft mine permit was granted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for uranium production at the Company’s Goliad in-situ recovery (ISR) project in South Texas. This was the first draft mine permit issued to a public U.S. company in more than ten years.
- All other permit applications were filed by the Company, and are currently in administrative or technical review by the TCEQ.
- The Company completed an independent NI 43-101 resource estimate for the Goliad Project. The Measured and Indicated Resource of 5.4 million pounds U3O8, plus the Inferred Resource of 1.5 million pounds, constitutes the largest qualified uranium resource in Texas. As you may know, Texas is the state that aspires to be the energy capital of the country, with 4 operating nuclear plants and 3 under application.
- The Company completed its first round of confirmation drilling at the Nichols Project, a satellite of the Goliad Project. Based on the results of such drilling the Company is in the process of establishing a resource estimate.
- During 2008, UEC was also featured in a positive article in BusinessWeek. Coverage of the Company was initiated by three securities firms -- Dundee Capital Markets, Haywood Securities Inc, and National Bank Financial -- in addition to ongoing coverage by RBC Capital Markets.
As productive as 2008 was, 2009 is the year we’ve all been working toward. The Company’s near-term primary objective is in-situ recovery of uranium at its Goliad Project, and to maintain a steady pace of achieving milestones toward initial production in 2010.
Really, we are just entering the phases of development where the UEC team holds significant advantages – having designed and constructed the most recent ISR mine to start production in the U.S. (located in South Texas), and earlier having designed and constructed three other ISR facilities which are also today producing uranium in the U.S.
To start construction at Goliad, the Company will need final mine permit approvals and a small project financing. Fortunately, in-situ recovery facilities require only a low capital expenditure, typically $20 million to $25 million. When markets are difficult, this can be a tremendous advantage compared with the large, mega-capital mining operations.
These three advantages – the most advanced with permitting, management credentials and an anticipated low capex – make the coming year a time of exceptional opportunity for the Company and its shareholders.
Concurrently, the outlook for uranium prices is quite positive as demand is reported to far exceed supply on a worldwide basis, and recently the spot price is adding momentum. In mid-October, the spot price of uranium bottomed at $44/lb and an upswing has started with a most recent spot price of $54/lb and a term price of $70/lb. While management welcomes a higher uranium price, our focus is to achieve very low-cost production, and to control the Company’s future by producing at a very low cost.
Developments on the political front are also shaping up positively for the nuclear and uranium mining industries as clean and domestic sources of alternative energy are the central focus of President-elect Barack Obama’s energy policy. In late November he stated that the development of safe nuclear energy, along with other clean energies, is a high priority. As the US is currently importing 95% of its uranium to power 104 operating nuclear power plants, there will be strong fundamentals driving the growth of the domestic uranium mining industry in America.
There’s no question that achieving the Company’s objectives in 2009 will add great value. We welcome your participation in this growth. We thank you again for your confidence. To discuss any aspect of the Company, please call us at 1-(866)-748-1030, email info@uraniumenergy.com or visit our website at www.uraniumenergy.com.
Yours sincerely,
Amir Adnani
President and CEO
Uranium Energy Corp