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![]() | First Uranium to meet future production growth plans at its South African operations by installing power plants and a sulphuric acid plant All amounts are in US dollars unless otherwise noted. TORONTO and JOHANNESBURG, April 21 - First Uranium Corporation (TSX:FIU, JSE:FUM) (ISIN:CA33744R1029) ("First Uranium" or "the Company") today confirmed its decision, previously announced on February 13, 2008, to generate a portion of its future electrical power requirements at its underground Ezulwini Mine ("Ezulwini") and the Mine Waste Solutions tailings recovery project ("MWS") in South Africa. While these arrangements to generate additional power to supplement that supplied by South Africa's national power utility, Eskom, will increase the projected capital and operating costs of the Company's two operations, this investment in power is justified by securing supply of electrical power and it will have been more than offset by the increased realized price for gold and the decline in the value of the South African rand against the US dollar. Taking into consideration the capital and operating costs of generating additional power, revised acid price assumptions and a revaluation of metal price and exchange rate assumptions (each of which is described in further detail in this news release), the revised net present value ("NPV" at an 8% discount rate) is expected to be $667 million for Ezulwini and $420 million for MWS and the internal rates of return ("IRR") for the projects are expected to be 336% for Ezulwini and 75% for MWS. In a separate news release, also dated April 18, 2008, the Company announced that it will establish a separate business unit to build and operate an acid plant to supply sulphuric acid to Ezulwini and MWS. RATIONALE FOR THE COMPANY TO GENERATE ITS OWN POWER The Company conducted a study assessing the economic viability of First Uranium generating its own power at Ezulwini and MWS for the next five years, as a result of the significantly reduced supply of electrical power currently available in South Africa and Eskom's concerns about its ability to supply power to the country's mining industry in the short and medium term. On January 24, 2008, Eskom communicated to the mining industry that the utility could not guarantee power availability and asked the industry to operate at electrical power levels below historical load requirements until 2012 (the "Power Situation"). While Eskom has announced plans to increase the supply of power incrementally in the years leading up to 2012, Eskom also reports that full power availability cannot be guaranteed until then. At both Ezulwini and MWS, based on the positive economic results of each study, the Company plans to initially lease diesel generators for a term of up to five years. In addition, the Company plans to purchase and install 30 megawatts ("MW") of electrical power generating capacity at a cost of approximately $20 million. The Company expects to power its generators using a combination of diesel fuel and heavy fuel oil for approximately five years and to recover approximately 50% of its investment by selling the power generators when they are no longer needed. "First Uranium is determined to start up its uranium recovery plants at its Ezulwini Mine and MWS on schedule," said Gordon Miller, President and CEO of First Uranium. "We have adjusted our uses and sources of electrical power to enable us to fulfill our production commitments to our investors. We do not intend to let the Power Situation nor the ongoing increases in the cost of sulphur and sulphuric acid threaten our business or use them as an excuse to miss our project milestones. Given that we are mining uranium and gold at both projects we are confident that the project economics are robust enough, assuming our forecast metal prices, to allow us to overcome the electrical power shortages and rapidly increasing acid prices that are prevalent in South Africa." IMPACT ASSESSMENT BY PROJECT Based on the positive results of the studies of the impact of generating power and the impact of building and operating the acid plant, the Company, with the full support of its Board, will proceed with the full development of its two projects and acid plant as follows: For the Ezulwini Mine: - given the uncertainty of power supply, since January 24 2008, at a third-party gold plant to toll-treat the Company's ore, the Company reduced mine development and hoisting ore to surface during February and March, 2008, and focused on shaft refurbishment until the operation's gold plant commences commissioning at the end of April 2008, when mine development and hoisting ore are expected to resume at planned rates - the Company expects to recover any interim production shortfalls arising from the reduction of mine development as the processing plant has available milling capacity to accommodate additional throughput for the next 12 months - the first 50,000 tonne per month module of the gold plant remains on schedule for commissioning commencing in April 2008 using Eskom power (as available) augmented by existing installed diesel generator capacity if necessary - the first 50,000 tonne per month module of the uranium plant remains on schedule for commissioning commencing in June 2008 using the Company's new power generation capacity. Current mine production from the gold section and uranium section will be stockpiled separately on surface in the interim - the Company does not expect any material adjustment to previously reported production forecasts - full operation of Ezulwini is expected to require a maximum demand of 56 MW of power, of which Eskom has amended its committed supply to 32 MW, requiring the Company to generate 24 MW, 10 MW more than its existing generator capacity of 14 MW - prior to the Power Situation, electrical power costs were expected to represent about 9% of the operating costs. The impact of additional operating costs for power generation are estimated to be an additional $3.59 (a 12% overall increase) per pound for uranium and an additional $35.50 (an 8% overall increase) per ounce for gold over the five-year period of self power generation. Expected costs to generate additional power over the life of the mine at Ezulwini subsequent to the Power Situation and to purchase Eskom power at higher rates are listed in the table below and are expected to result in average annual operating costs, on a co-product basis, of $0.86 per pound for uranium and $8.62 per ounce for gold. For MWS: - the current MWS operation remains unaffected by the Power Situation as it is drawing additional power from Buffelsfontein Gold Mines Limited ("BGM") - upgrading of the MWS gold plant to increase the design capacity to 633,000 tonnes per month was completed on schedule - although announced on February 13 that a three-month delay was expected to complete a feasibility study for the additional power requirements, the Company now expects to start commissioning the second gold plant module and the first two modules of the uranium plant in December 2008 - the construction schedule for the third modules of its gold and uranium plants will be completed by December 2009 - full operation of MWS is expected to require a maximum demand of 43 MW of power by February 2010, of which Eskom has committed to supply 29 MW by this date, requiring the Company to generate 14 MW - prior to the Power Situation, electrical power costs were expected to represent about 9% of the operating costs. The impact of additional operating costs for power generation are estimated to be an additional $2.49 (a 10% overall increase) per pound for uranium and an additional $44.70 (a 13% overall increase) per ounce for gold over the five-year period of self power generation. Expected costs to generate additional power over the life of the mine at MWS subsequent to the Power Situation and to purchase Eskom power at higher rates are listed in the table below and are expected to result in average annual operating costs, on a co-product basis, of $1.04 per pound for uranium and $17.00 per ounce for gold. Technical reports for both projects are expected to be completed by June 2, 2008. ECONOMIC AND COMMODITY PRICE ASSUMPTIONS To assess the financial impact of the costs of generating additional power and revised cost of sulphuric acid, the following tables show the Company's commodity price assumptions for May 2007 (the date of the previous technical report for Ezulwini), November 2007 (the date of the previous technical report for MWS and April 2008 (the most recent survey of assumptions). The November 2007 and April 2008 assumptions are based on an average nominal consensus forecast from the investment research analysts at 13 North American-based brokerage firms, adjusted downward by the US inflation rate for the period covering the construction of the projects. REVISED PROJECT ECONOMICS The following tables summarize the impact of the power supply and acid cost changes at Ezulwini and MWS. More details of the project economics from the financial models upon which the information in Tables 5 and 6 are based, will be posted to the Company's web site (First ranium) in due course. "With Eskom being unable to meet the power demands of the country, we knew that we had no choice but to generate our own power," said Mr. Miller. "The real task was to find a way to minimize the upfront capital costs of acquiring this additional power generating capacity. We were able to do that and also design power-savings solutions into the plant construction that would reduce the dependence on self-generated power. Fortunately, the rising price for the gold we are producing is expected to more than offset the additional costs of our own power generation. Rapidly increasing prices of sulphur have also had a very positive impact on the economic assessment of our large above ground source of sulphur which is contained in pyrite in the tailings dams at MWS." Conference Call First Uranium will conduct a conference call with investors to discuss the information in this news release at 10:00 a.m. local Toronto time and 4:00 p.m. local Johannesburg time on Monday, April 21, 2007. The conference call will be available simultaneously to all interested investors and news media. Callers may dial 1 800 319-4610 (Canada and the US) or 0800 200 648 (South Africa). Callers from other international locations may call +1 604 638-5340 (Canada) or +27 11 535 3600 (South Africa). The call will be webcast at First Uranium and an archive will be available through the same link shortly after the live event for 90 days. A replay of the conference call will be available for 30 days. To access the replay, callers may dial 1 800 319-6413 (Canada and the US). Callers from other international locations may access the replay by dialing +27 11 305 2030 (South Africa) or +1 604 638-9010 (Canada). Access to the replay will require the code 2128, followed by number sign. About First Uranium Corporation First Uranium Corporation (TSX:FIU, JSE:FUM) is focused on the development of its South African uranium and gold mines with the goal of becoming a significant producer through the re-opening and underground development of the Ezulwini Mine and the expansion of the Mine Waste Solutions tailings recovery facility. First Uranium also plans to grow production by pursuing value-enhancing acquisition and joint venture opportunities in South Africa and elsewhere. First Uranium Corporation 1240-155 University Avenue, Toronto, ON Canada M5H 3B7 First Uranium For further information: Bob Tait, VP Investor Relations, at (416) 342-5639 (office), (416) 558-3858 (mobile) or bob@firsturanium.ca
__________________ Information brought to you courtesy of ActionCapitalGroupe.com Sebastien Durand La Centrale Small Caps en Francais Action Capital Groupe |
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