Westwater Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: WWR), an energy materials development company, announced today its results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2019, and discussed its business outlook and energy materials business development plan through 2020.
Christopher M. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We have made significant strategic achievements in the quarter, including securing a long-term purchase agreement to procure high-purity, natural flake graphite concentrate, which brings forward our ability to produce cash flow at our planned advanced battery materials manufacturing plant. In addition, we successfully produced high-performing graphite for battery manufacturers, which has led to a request for a large-scale sample that will further advance the sales process. This progress supports our planned construction of a pilot plant so we can put larger samples of battery graphite into the hands of various large-scale battery manufacturers.
“We also monetized several non-core assets in our uranium portfolio at favorable terms during the quarter. This brings anticipated cash flows forward from 2020 to 2019 in support of the development of our Coosa Graphite Project.
“We expect that through our continued efforts in executing the Coosa Business Plan, we can deliver consistent, high-quality American graphite products to our customers. This is essential for the battery manufacturing industry, as energy storage becomes the critical enabling technology for renewable energy and electric transportation development and implementation. We believe that this path will enable us to create long-term shareholder value. I wish to thank our shareholders for their continued support,” concluded Mr. Jones.
Highlights for 3Q-2019 and Year-to-Date
Key Financial Highlights
Table 1: Financial Summary
($ and Shares in 000's, Except Per Share) |
3Q
|
3Q
|
Variance |
9 Mos
|
9 Mos
|
Variance |
Net Cash Used in Operations |
($2,868) |
($2,943) |
-2.5% |
($7,192) |
($9,032) |
-20.4% |
Mineral Property Expenses |
($851) |
($955) |
-10.9% |
($2,309) |
($2,706) |
-14.7% |
General and Administrative, including Non-cash Stock Comp |
($1,359) |
($1,705) |
-20.3% |
($4,764) |
($5,437) |
-12.4% |
Net Loss |
($1,834) |
($3,137) |
-41.5% |
($7,783) |
($27,012) |
-71.2% |
Net Loss Per Share |
($0.95) |
($3.07) |
-69.1% |
($4.72) |
($33.98) |
-71.8% |
Avg. Weighted Shares Outstanding |
1,931 |
1,022 |
88.9% |
1,649 |
795 |
107.4% |
Conference Call & Webcast
The Company will hold a conference call to discuss its third quarter 2019 results on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. Mountain Time).
Dial-in Numbers: |
+1 (800) 319-4610 (U.S. and Canada) |
|
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+1 (604) 638-5340 (International) |
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Conference ID: |
Westwater Resources Conference Call |
Hosting the call will be Christopher M. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer of Westwater Resources, who will be joined by Jeffrey L. Vigil, Vice President-Finance and Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Dain McCoig, Vice President of Operations. Mr. Jones will present an overview of the Company’s business position and provide updates on its graphite, lithium and uranium businesses. Mr. Vigil will review the financial results. Mr. McCoig will be available for questions as part of the call.
The conference call and presentation will also be available via a live webcast through the Company’s website, www.WestwaterResources.net. A replay of the call will be available on the Company’s website for a limited time and also by phone using the details below.
Replay Numbers: |
+1 (855) 669-9658 (U.S. and Canada) |
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+1 (412) 317-0088 (International) |
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Replay Access Code: |
3816 |
About Westwater Resources
WWR is focused on developing energy-related materials. The Company’s battery-materials projects include the Coosa Graphite Project — the most advanced natural flake graphite project in the contiguous United States — and the associated Coosa Graphite Mine located across 41,900 acres (~17,000 hectares) in east-central Alabama. In addition, the Company maintains lithium mineral properties in prospective lithium brine basins in Nevada and Utah. Westwater’s uranium projects are located in Texas and New Mexico. In Texas, the Company has two licensed and currently idled uranium processing facilities and approximately 11,000 acres (~4,400 hectares) of prospective in-situ recovery uranium projects. In New Mexico, the Company controls mineral rights encompassing approximately 188,700 acres (~76,000 hectares) in the prolific Grants Mineral Belt, which is one of the largest concentrations of sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in the world. Incorporated in 1977 as Uranium Resources, Inc., Westwater also owns an extensive uranium information database of historic drill hole logs, assay certificates, maps and technical reports for the western United States. For more information, visit www.westwaterresources.net.
Cautionary 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 events or developments that WWR expects or anticipates will occur in the future, including but not limited to statements relating to developments and future production from the Coosa Project, the performance of and market for the Company’s graphite products, and the potential for partnering opportunities or project finance for the Company’s projects, 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, (a) the Company’s ability to successfully implement the Coosa Graphite Project business plan including elements associated with the planned pilot plant and its processes and the risk that additional analysis of the Coosa Graphite Project may result in revisions to the findings of WWR’s initial optimization study; (b) the Company’s ability to raise additional capital in the future; (c) spot price and long-term contract price of graphite, lithium, vanadium and uranium; (d) risks associated with our domestic operations; (e) operating conditions at the Company’s projects; (f) government and tribal regulation of the graphite industry, the lithium industry, the vanadium industry, the uranium industry, and the power industry; (g) world-wide graphite, lithium, vanadium and uranium supply and demand, including the supply and demand for lithium-based batteries; (h) maintaining sufficient financial assurance in the form of sufficiently collateralized surety instruments; (i) unanticipated geological, processing, regulatory and legal or other problems the Company may encounter in the jurisdictions where the Company operates or intends to operate, including in Alabama, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada; (j) the ability of the Company to enter into and successfully close acquisitions or other material transactions; (k) the results of the Company’s lithium brine exploration activities at the Columbus Basin, Railroad Valley, and Sal Rica projects, and the possibility that future exploration results may be materially less promising than initial exploration result; (I) any graphite, lithium, vanadium or uranium discoveries not being in high-enough concentration to make it economic to extract the metals; (m) currently pending or new litigation or arbitration; and (n) other factors which are more fully described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings 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. The results of the initial optimization study are preliminary in nature and subject to revision following WWR’s further analysis of the Coosa Graphite Project.
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Westwater Resources Contact:
Christopher M. Jones, President & CEO
Phone: 303.531.0480
Jeff Vigil, VP Finance & CFO
Phone: 303.531.0481
Email: [email protected]
Investor Relations Contact:
Michael Porter
Porter, LeVay and Rose
Phone: 212.564.4700
Email: [email protected]