The Midwest partners have decided to complete the environmental assessment for the project, which has been ongoing since December 2005 and to complete the engineering for the Midwest site. This will enable the project to be advanced to the stage that it is ready to be developed quickly when the economic conditions improve. Total joint venture expenditures on Midwest are expected to be Cdn$12.4 million in 2009.
Postponement of the Midwest project will have no impact on Denison’s recently announced 2009 Canadian production guidance of 750,000 pounds U3O8.
Denison is also announcing the temporary closure of the Tony M mine located in Ticaboo, Utah due to the current economic situation, including the current uranium market. The mine will be put on care and maintenance and will be maintained in a state to resume mining operations quickly when uranium prices improve or Denison is able to obtain favourable uranium contracts for the Tony M production.
Since the Tony M mine will be closed for unspecified period of time, the company has reduced the amount of uranium it expects to produce in 2009 to between 1.2 and 1.6 million pounds, a decrease of 200,000 pounds. The company will also cut down on exploration expenditures in the months to come.