Uranium Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ: URRE) ('URI? or the 'Company?),
announced the completion of a stock-for-stock transaction to acquire
100% of the equity of Neutron Energy, Inc. ('Neutron?) pursuant to the
Agreement and Plan of Merger dated March 1, 2012 (the 'Merger
Agreement?) by and among URI, Neutron and URI Merger Corporation.
At the effective time of the merger on August 31, 2012, URI Merger
Corporation merged with and into Neutron with Neutron surviving the
merger as an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of URI.
Concurrent with the acquisition, Resource Capital Fund V L.P. ('RCF?)
purchased 24,638,673 shares of URI common stock for $20 million, which
was used to partially repay a loan owed by Neutron to RMB Australia
Holdings Limited ('RMB?). The remainder of Neutron′s debt owed to RMB
was converted into 8,361,327 shares of URI common stock, resulting in
URI acquiring Neutron on a debt-free basis. In addition, URI issued
162,939 shares of URI common stock to Roth Capital Partners, LLC,
Neutron′s financial advisor, to satisfy certain obligations incurred by
Neutron in connection with the merger.
Don Ewigleben, President and CEO of URI, commented, 'This transaction
positions URI as one of the largest uranium development companies based
in the U.S. with more than 154 million pounds of in place mineralized
uranium material. With this acquisition, we gain operational synergies
for the development of our combined in situ and conventional resources
in New Mexico, as well as add a previously permitted conventional mill
site to our asset base. Consolidating uranium assets in New Mexico is a
key strategic objective as we believe this state will once again be a
vital source of uranium to fuel both existing and planned nuclear energy
facilities globally at a critical point in time as the supply of uranium
over the next several years diminishes and demand expands.?
At the time the Merger Agreement was entered into, URI also entered into
an investment agreement with RCF pursuant to which RCF provided $10
million in funding to URI in March 2012 through the purchase of 10.3
million shares of URI′s common stock, and provided URI an option to
receive an additional $5 million in funding following the closing of the
merger through the sale of additional shares of URI′s common stock.
URI has exercised the $5 million option with RCF, with the sale expected
to close this week. The share price is based off the volume weighted
average trading price of URI common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market
for the 20 trading days prior to the closing of the merger. Upon
completion of the $5 million in financing, URI will have 158.7 million
shares outstanding, with RCF beneficially owning approximately 28.1% of
the outstanding shares of URI common stock.
'The closing of this financing will strengthen our current capital
position and will enable us to continue to advance our strategic
projects,? commented Mr. Ewigleben. 'We believe RCF′s investment in URI,
which will total $35 million, validates the uranium mining potential in
New Mexico and our opportunity to be the first producer of uranium in
the state in many decades.?
About Uranium Resources, Inc.
Uranium Resources Inc. explores for, develops and mines uranium. Since
its incorporation in 1977, URI has produced over 8 million pounds of
uranium by in-situ recovery (ISR) methods in the state of Texas. URI has
over 206,600 acres of uranium mineral holdings and 152.9 million pounds
of in-place mineralized uranium material in New Mexico and an NRC
license to produce up to 1 million pounds of uranium per year. URI has
an additional 1.3 million pounds of in-place mineralized uranium
material in Texas and South Dakota. The Company acquired these
properties over the past 20 years along with an extensive information
database of historic drill hole logs, assay certificates, maps and
technical reports. None of URI′s properties is currently in production.
URI′s strategy is to fully develop its resource base in New Mexico and
Texas, expand its asset base both within and outside of New Mexico and
Texas, partner with larger mining companies that have undeveloped
uranium assets or with junior mining companies that do not have the
mining experience of URI, as well as provide restoration expertise to
those that require the capability or lack the proficiency.
Uranium Resources routinely posts news and other information about the
Company on its website at
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are
identified by words such as 'expects,? 'estimates,? 'projects,?
'anticipates,? 'believes,? 'could,? and other similar words. All
statements addressing operating performance, events, or developments
that the Company expects or anticipates will occur in the future,
including but not limited to statements relating to the Company′s
mineralized uranium materials, timing of receipt of mining permits,
production capacity of mining operations planned for properties in South
Texas and New Mexico, planned dates for commencement of production at
such properties, revenue, cash generation and profits are
forward-looking statements. Because they are forward-looking, they
should be evaluated in light of important risk factors and
uncertainties. These risk factors and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, the spot price and long-term contract price of uranium,
weather conditions, operating conditions at the Company′s mining
projects, government regulation of the mining industry and the nuclear
power industry, world-wide uranium supply and demand, availability of
capital, timely receipt of mining and other permits from regulatory
agents and other factors which are more fully described in the Company′s
documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one
or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of
the Company′s underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may
vary materially from those currently anticipated. In addition, undue
reliance should not be placed on the Company′s forward-looking
statements. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any
obligation to update or publicly announce any revisions to any of the
forward-looking statements contained in this news release.
