Westwater Resources Announces Third Quarter 2024 Updates
10% Reduction in Estimated Construction Costs of Kellyton Graphite Plant
Graphite Fines Offtake Agreement with Hiller Carbon
Qualification Line Update
Westwater Resources Inc. (NYSE American: WWR), an energy technology and battery-grade natural graphite development company ("Westwater" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce its updates for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024.
2024 Third Quarter Highlights
During the third quarter, Westwater continued to evaluate its plant design, construction schedule and cost for Phase I of the Kellyton Graphite Plant. As a result, Westwater has lowered the estimated cost of Phase I to $245 million, down from the previous estimate of $271 million. This represents a decrease in estimated costs of $26 million, or 9.6%. The decrease in estimated costs primarily relates to further design optimization and savings in steel, piping and equipment installation. The revised estimate of $245 million includes an 11% contingency and 2% escalation factor on the remaining uncommitted spend.
"Westwater's management team continues to perform at a high-level, and the downward revision to Phase I estimated costs is another significant step toward closing the Kellyton debt financing," said Terence J. Cryan, Westwater's Executive Chairman.
As previously announced in September, Westwater entered into a binding off-take agreement for the supply of the Company's graphite fines material ("Graphite Fines") with Hiller Carbon, LLC (the "Fines Offtake Agreement"), a leading supplier of pelletized materials to the steel and foundry industries. Pursuant to the terms of the Fines Offtake Agreement, the Company will supply natural Graphite Fines material from its Kellyton Graphite Plant to Hiller Carbon's plants located within the U.S. Graphite Fines are produced as a byproduct during the CSPG spherodizing process, one of the processing steps related to producing the Company's battery anode natural graphite, which remains the Company's main focus. The Company expects the Graphite Fines production to be approximately 14,000 mt per year, based on the anticipated annual Phase I CSPG production of 12,500 mt per year, and delivery of the Graphite Fines to Hiller Carbon to occur when the Kellyton Graphite Plant begins production.
During the quarter ended September 30, 2024, Westwater continued to receive and install equipment for its qualification line at the Kellyton Graphite Plant. The qualification line is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2024 and will be utilized to prepare larger bulk samples of CSPG for customer qualification. The qualification line is expected to produce approximately 1 mt per day of CSPG and the samples produced on it will be representative of CSPG mass production. The Company expects that the operation of the qualification line will allow Westwater to supply its customers with bulk samples of CSPG in 1 to 10 mt batches for qualification activities while the Company completes the construction of Phase I of the Kellyton Graphite Plant. The line will also be used to train Westwater's operations team, which the Company expects will expedite the commissioning and startup of the Kellyton Graphite Plant.
Financial Update
The Company is working through due diligence and loan documentation for a debt financing to fund the completion of Phase I construction. The Company estimates approximately $124 million in remaining capital costs to complete construction of Phase I. Westwater is targeting the closing of the debt transaction in the fourth quarter of 2024, which is subject to customary agreement on final terms, final due diligence, and loan conditions.
While working to put into place the debt financing to fund the construction of Phase I of the Kellyton Graphite Plant, we are carefully managing our liquidity position, and have an At The Market (ATM) facility and an Equity Line of Credit (ELOC) facility available to help the Company maintain sufficient liquidity going forward.
As of September 30, 2024, Westwater had a cash balance of $4.5 million.
Further discussion of our financial results for the third quarter can be found in Westwater's Form 10-Q filed on November 14, 2024.
Conference Call
Management plans to make additional announcements and host a conference call if or when the Company closes a debt transaction. Conference call date, time, and other details will be provided in advance of such call.
About Westwater Resources, Inc.
Westwater Resources, Inc. (NYSE American: WWR), an energy technology company, is focused on developing battery-grade natural graphite. The Company's primary project is the Kellyton Graphite Plant that is under construction in east-central Alabama. In addition, the Company's Coosa Graphite Deposit is the most advanced natural flake graphite deposit in the contiguous United States and located across 41,965 acres (~17,000 hectares) in Coosa County, Alabama. For more information, visit www.westwaterresources.net.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
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," "future," "planned," "intends," "projects," "anticipates," "believes," "could," "scheduled," "targets" and other similar words. Forward looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning: off-take agreements with customers; Westwater's future sales of CSPG products to customers, including the amounts, timing, and types of products included within those sales; possible off-take agreements with other customers; potential debt financing arrangements, including the amount and type of debt and the schedule for closing; the anticipated annual production from Phase I of Kellyton Graphite Plan; the construction and operation of the Kellyton Graphite Plant and its qualification line, the Company's Coosa Graphite Deposit; and the costs, schedules, production and economic projections associated with them. The Company cautions that there are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information that has been provided. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of the Company; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such suggested results will be realized. The following factors, in addition to those discussed in Westwater's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and subsequent securities filings, could cause actual results to differ materially from management expectations as suggested by such forward-looking information: (a) the spot price and long?term contract price of graphite (both flake graphite feedstock and purified graphite products) and vanadium, and the world-wide supply and demand of graphite and vanadium; (b) the effects, extent and timing of the entry of additional competition in the markets in which we operate; (c) our ability to obtain and to manage our contracts or other agreements with customers; (d) available sources and transportation of graphite feedstock; (e) the ability to control costs and avoid cost and schedule overruns during the development, construction and operation of the Kellyton Graphite Plant; (f) the ability to construct and operate the Kellyton Graphite Plant in accordance with the requirements of permits and licenses and the requirements of tax credits and other incentives; (g) effects of inflation, including labor shortages and supply chain disruptions; (h) rising interest rates and the associated impact on the availability and cost of financing sources; (i) uncertainty in debt and equity capital markets and the associated impact on the availability and cost of financing sources; (j) the availability and supply of equipment and materials needed to construct the Kellyton Graphite Plant; (k) stock price volatility; (l) government regulation of the mining and manufacturing industries in the United States; (m) unanticipated geological, processing, regulatory and legal or other problems we may encounter; (n) the results of our exploration activities at the Coosa Graphite Deposit, and the possibility that future exploration results may be materially less promising than initial exploration results; (o) any graphite or vanadium discoveries at the Coosa Graphite Deposit not being in high enough concentration to make it economic to extract the minerals; (p) our ability to finance growth plans; (q) our ability to obtain and maintain rights of ownership or access to our mining properties; (r) currently pending or new litigation or arbitration; (s) our ability to maintain and timely receive mining, manufacturing, and other permits from regulatory agencies; and (s) other factors which are more fully described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the SEC.
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Westwater Resources, Inc.
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