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REGIONAL NEWS - U.S. & CANADA bination of hydraulic and electric rope shovels and truck haulage. The mine is designed to produce ore at a rate of approximately twice the capacity of the mill, which will mitigate the risk of feed shortages and allow for the highest-value material to be processed in priority. As a result, an ore stockpile will be generated to continue to feed the mill for an additional 13 years at the end of the mine life. The process plant will be constructed in two phases. Phase one will have an initial average throughput of 52,000 mt/d, using a single SAG mill and two ball mills for grinding, desliming using cyclones, conventional flotation, and magnetic separation to produce a nickel concentrate also containing cobalt and platinum group metals. To accommodate phase two, the plant is designed to be expanded by the fifth year of operation to 105,000 mt/d by effectively duplicating most of the first mill. Additional mine equipment will also be purchased to allow the corresponding increase in mine throughput and the potential to implement trolley assist at that time. The Dumont project is located adjacent to a rail line and highway and a power line with sufficient capacity for the construction period. A 6-km rail spur will be built from the rail line to provide access into the mine property, and a 10-km power line feed from an existing high-voltage line south of the property will be constructed to provide sufficient power for operations. Energy Fuels Acquiring Strathmore Minerals Energy Fuels and Strathmore Minerals have entered into a definitive agreement, where Energy Fuels will acquire Strathmore in an all-share transaction that values Strathmore at about $29 million. Energy Fuels operates the White Mesa uranium mill near Blanding, Utah. The mill is the only conventional uranium mill currently operating in the United States and has the capacity to process 2,000 st/d of uranium ore. The company also has assets located throughout the western United States, including producing mines and mineral properties in various stages of permitting and development. Strathmore is advancing two uranium projects toward production: the Roca Honda project in New Mexico and the Gas Hills project in Wyoming. The company also has an extensive property portfolio, primarily in Wyoming and New Mexico. 10 E&MJ; • JULY 2013 Drill crew sinks a monitor well hole at Strathmore Minerals' Roca Honda uranium property in New Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Strathmore Minerals) A preliminary economic assessment of the Roca Honda project, completed in August 2012, assumed that a new uranium mill would be built in New Mexico to process Roca Honda ore. Given that Roca Honda is located within transport distance of the White Mesa mill, Energy Fuels and Strathmore believe combining the companies will provide the option of processing Roca Honda ore at the White Mesa mill, rather than at a newly constructed mill. This could result in significant savings on development capital expenditures and reduce Roca Honda's permitting timeline and cost. Based upon certain forecasts contained within the preliminary economic assessment, as well as previous experience in conventional ore processing at the White Mesa Mill, Energy Fuels believes that Roca Honda has the potential to be the largest, and one of the lowest-cost, producing mines in the Energy Fuels asset portfolio. Completion of the proposed transaction is subject to Energy Fuels and Strathmore shareholder approval and customary court and regulatory approvals, including acceptance by the Toronto Stock Exchange. The companies' shareholders will be asked to approve the transaction at respective special shareholder meetings in August. Completion of the transaction would result in current Strathmore shareholders owning about 21% of Energy Fuels. New Gold Adding Rainy River to its Project Portfolio New Gold and Rainy River Resources jointly announced on May 31, a definitive acquisition agreement where New Gold will offer to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Rainy River through a friendly takeover bid. New Gold's cash-and-shares offer values Rainy River at about C$310 million, net of its cash balance. The cash portion of the offer would be no more than C$198 million. Rainy River's key asset is its Rainy River gold project in western Ontario. On April 10, Rainy River announced the results of a feasibility study for a project based on 4 million oz of proven and probable gold reserves and 6.2 million oz of measured and indicated gold resources, inclusive of reserves. The feasibility study contemplates a 21,000-mt/d processing rate from a combination of open-pit, underground and stockpiled ore. The project has the potential to produce more than 225,000 oz/y of gold at below industry average cash costs over an initial mine life of 16 years. The Rainy River feasibility study highlights the potential to process higher-grade ounces in the project's early years, while stockpiling lower grades for processing (Continued on p. 28) www.e-mj.com