Tisdale rides the global nuclear renaissance

Disseminated on Behalf of: Tisdale Clean Energy

• The demand for uranium is projected to rise by 28 per cent by 2030 and is anticipated to nearly double by 2040, states the World Nuclear Association
• Tisdale’s South Falcon East Project in the Athabasca Basin boasts substantial historical resource estimates, including seven million pounds of uranium.
• New drill results show uranium values comparable to the grades of the known historical resource in an area that has attracted major players like Rio Tinto, Uranium Energy, Orano, NexGen, Denison, and Cameco.

In the face of soaring energy demands and the critical urgency to address climate change, many nations are pivoting towards nuclear power for dependable and eco-friendly energy production. This nuclear renaissance has consequentially amplified the demand for uranium, bringing with it renewed interest in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, home to some of the world’s largest and highest-grade uranium deposits.

The Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan covers approximately 100,000 square kilometers, an area roughly the size of Iceland, and currently provides between 15–20 per cent of the global supply of uranium. It is the world’s most prolific uranium jurisdiction and remains a key area for discovery.

“Every other exploration company that’s looking for uranium is a going to have to make this kind of a discovery first and the percentage of those companies that are going to make that discovery is about 1 per cent” — Alex Klenman, CEO of Tisdale Clean Energy Corp.

For uranium exploration companies like Tisdale Clean Energy Corp. (CSE:TCEC | OTC:TCEFF | FSE:T1KC), the Athabasca Basin is the place to be as the region is poised to play a pivotal role in fueling the nuclear industry’s growth. Tisdale is currently developing the South Falcon East uranium project, which holds a 6.96 million pound inferred uranium resource within the Fraser Lakes B uranium/thorium deposit, located in the region.

Tisdale has entered into an option agreement with Skyharbour Resources whereby the company can earn up to a 75 per cent interest in the South Falcon East property. Skyharbour holds an extensive portfolio of uranium exploration projects in Canada’s Athabasca Basin with twenty-nine projects, ten of which are drill-ready, covering over 587,000 hectares of mineral claims.

The 12,464 hectare South Falcon East Project lies 18 kilometres outside the edge of the Athabasca Basin, approximately 50 kilometres east of the Key Lake uranium mill and former mine. Its neighbours include like Rio Tinto, Uranium Energy, Orano, NexGen, Denison, and Cameco. The property’s historical resource estimates, include 6,960,681 pounds of uranium (U3O8) and 5,339,219 pounds of thorium (ThO2) inferred at average grades of 0.03 per cent U3O8 and 0.023 per cent ThO2 within 10,354,926 tonnes.

Tisdale last month provided an update on the phase one diamond drill program it recently conducted at the South Falcon East Uranium Project. This initial 2024 program is scheduled to complete up to 1500 metres of drilling in two phases, with the priority being the confirmation of existing mineralization, the company said. Follow-up drill programs will then be pursued to both facilitate expansion of the known Fraser Lake B deposit and to test multiple additional high-priority exploration targets at South Falcon East.

“We’re pleased to see uranium values comparable to the grades of the known resource in the first two drill holes completed on the property in nearly a decade,” said Alex Klenman, CEO of Tisdale.

“This is what we need to see as we confirm then pursue expansion. We are starting with a historical resource of nearly 7 million pounds of uranium contained in a shallow deposit. The opportunity we have here is exceptional, certainly unique for a company with our market cap, and we believe we’re just scratching the surface in terms of what can be achieved at South Falcon East.”

Drilling at South Falcon East is scheduled to resume later this spring.

Uranium Supply Gaps Growing Globally

Tisdale’s new and encouraging drill results comes as uranium is witnessing a surge in demand, with prices reaching new highs due to governments seeking nuclear power solutions to achieve emissions targets.

The demand for uranium is projected to rise by 28 per cent by 2030 and is anticipated to nearly double by 2040, states the World Nuclear Association. This increase underscores the pivotal role of uranium as the backbone of the expanding nuclear power sector, said the association. It is predicting the world’s current uranium resources are expected to be depleted by the end of the century and concludes the search for new sources of uranium has become more urgent.

The London-based research firm Ocean Wall said there was demand for about 180 million pounds of uranium in 2023 but only 135 million pounds of supplies.

Moreover, a report by Statista indicates that global demand for uranium will be 209 million pounds by 2035 — and that the supply of uranium is expected to drop over time.

Sprott Asset Management, in its latest uranium report labelled “Uranium Bull Market Takes a Healthy Pause” said current supply is significantly below the world’s uranium reactor requirements.

It noted that secondary supplies that have filled in supply gaps in the past are no longer available for sale.

Bank of America and Berenberg Bank in separate research notes released in January said that the continued tightness in the market could push uranium prices to new highs after it increased by some 50 per cent over the last two years.

The uranium supply crunch is being further exacerbated due to production challenges faced by the world’s leading producers — Canada’s Cameco and Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom — which are responsible for half of the worldwide uranium supply.

Kazatomprom has announced that its uranium production for this year will fall short of expectations due to a shortage of sulphuric acid, which is crucial for extracting uranium from ore.

Cameco had lowered its 2023 production guidance after its Cigar Lake and Key Lake operations were impacted by equipment reliability issues, as well as labour, and supply chain issues.

Geopolitics is another factor adding to the uranium supply-demand deficit.

The key geopolitical issues impacting uranium production include sanctions on Russia, political instability in major producing countries like Niger, and efforts by USA, the United Kingdom, and France to diversify their uranium supply sources away from Russia and Kazakhstan.

At last year’s COP28 U.N. climate conference in Dubai, more than 20 countries, including USA, committed to tripling nuclear energy capacity by 2050. This pledge at COP28 is expected to drive significant investment and policy support for nuclear power development in the coming decades as countries work to fulfill their climate commitments.

“The message out of all of this is that we have a growing bottleneck. The sector can’t get enough pounds out of the ground fast enough to meet that demand which is at an all-time high,” said Klenman, who has over a decade of uranium-specific experience in the capital markets.

The Tisdale Difference in Athabasca

According to Klenman, Tisdale is unlike other uranium exploration companies that have turned their attention to the Athabasca region, because it is starting out with a historical resource of nearly 7 million pounds of uranium contained in a shallow deposit.

“Every other exploration company that’s looking for uranium is a going to have to make this kind of a discovery first and the percentage of those companies that are going to make that discovery is about 1 per cent,” said Klenman

“That could take between 10–15 million dollars in drilling with the hope that you can delineate a deposit at the end of that expenditure cycle. Many don’t know how much it’s going to cost to get to discovery, or if they can replicate discovery holes enough to delineate their deposit.”

For Tisdale it’s a different story.

“Right now, nobody is getting much credit for the pounds in the ground we have. This will begin to change as we drill and earn our interest in the project to meet the obligations of the earn-in with Skyharbour,” said Klenman.

“As we deploy capital into the project, we’ll earn credit for the pounds in the ground. We believe we can increase both the size and the overall grade of the asset. With current optimism in the sector, we feel we’re entering the earn-in with Skyharbour at the best possible time. We have a great opportunity to build value here.”

Jordan Trimble, CEO of Skyharbour Resources said he is confident that an upcoming winter drill program will unlock further value for both companies’ shareholders with the uranium price trading near sixteen-year highs.

“The project is an advanced-stage exploration asset that hosts a near-surface uranium resource with strong expansion potential as well as robust discovery upside potential regionally on the property,” said Trimble, who recently joined Tisdale’s Advisory Board.

The company’s recent developments have also resulted in positive analyst ratings.

On January 30, 2024, Technical Analyst Clive Maund rated Tisdale Resources as a “Strong Buy” for all timeframes.

Additionally, he reviewed the company positively, concluding “any kind of exploration success in the Athabasca Basin will be met with voluminous demand, so the upside leverage is potentially explosive.”

The positive analyst sentiments underscores Tisdale’s significant uranium resource potential, favorable project location, exploration upside, and potential to unlock shareholder value.

“We are hopeful our valuation will grow as a result, therefore reducing the barrier to entry for institutional support and giving us the opportunity to implement larger drill programs moving forward through 2024 and beyond,” said Klenman.

To learn more about Tisdale Clean Energy Corp., visit their website here.

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