 Hello, everybody. Welcome back to Investor Intel. I'm Peter Clausi. Today we're talking Uranium with Jeff Klenda, who is the chair CEO and the face of the company at your energy your trades on the TMX and the New York Stock Exchange. Welcome, Jeff Great. Thanks, Peter. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me back Always love to talk shop. Let's talk Uranium. Let's talk Uranium. What part of the Uranium industry are you in? Well, right now we have been a producer for the last seven years since 2013. We actually started the company back in 2004 so we're 17 years as of the end of this month that we went into production initially in 2013 and We've been consistently producing since then right now. We've been reduced. We're down at Karen on Karen maintenance since spot prices still in the high 20s Not at a produce at a level where anybody's going to be producing prolifically except the Cossacks and they do that to grab market share but aside from that We stand ready to ramp up production. We just need we need that contracting phase to begin once again, right? So you're not you haven't shut down operations. You're just on limited operations. That's correct We still have a full operational staff there. In fact, we have ten guys at the plant all busy We're cleaning operations. We're doing everything that needs to be done prepping to ramp up waiting for the green light so on January the 20th a big day happened for you and That was a new president took over with new Uranium and supply chain policies Absolutely. Well, you know what and and I got to tell you I was a bit worried about that because We've always looked at it as the Republicans. We're going to be friendlier to Resource production of every kind now one of the things we've been very pleasantly surprised at is the fact that the Biden administration They've been saying all the right things We are and and they've made it clear to the world that Nuclear is a big part of their clean energy strategy and mandate and they've got their green czar I didn't make up the term that's that's John Kerry who has been a lifelong anti-nuke guy that's saying hey We got to have these I just went he flipped over this week, right? He came out and said he was wrong 20 years ago Let's go Uranium. Yeah, I mean, so this is the kind of stuff that we're hearing and this has resulted in a lot of Wind under our wings you might say in terms of the the value the equities now We're having a bit of a pullback today, but that's a that's kind of been long overdue But yeah, we I mean the right now the members of the Biden administration are saying all the right things now The only problem for us is is that under the Trump administration? We knew all the guys at all the agencies all the different various government positions We had people in the White House on the National Security Council now Unfortunately, we have to get to know the players all over again and and because the Inauguration was just so recently on January 20th many of those players are simply not in their chairs yet So we wait for that to happen when you think that's gonna happen is a matter of days weeks or months Well right now we got we had we had something good happen this week we had former governor Granholm was Seated as the secretary of energy So that's critical to us because we had an appropriation that came out of the last administration that was approved in December and that was 75 million was appropriated for the structuring and and standing up the Uranium reserve here in the United States and this is something that's much needed We're virtually out of uranium if if we were to see any type of the disruption in the flow of material That's coming into the United States from foreign sources our US utilities would be in crisis literally overnight because we don't have any backup plan It's we were just in time deliveries and that's what we're living off of right now I was talking I was talking to Mark Chalmers at energy fuels Said that about 5% of the uranium consumed in the United States is produced domestically And I'd say that the number is actually a little bit lower than that right now because we produce I mean we consume approximately 50 million pounds a year with the way we have the largest fleet in the world 96 reactors up and running right now. We consume about 50 million pounds a year, but we 5% of that we're not producing at that level where we're in fact We are producing at such a low level as a country right now that the EIA division of the Department of Energy No longer produces an annual uranium report because it's not enough to report on Right now the bulk of it we're 20% of our nuclear fuel comes from Russia That's under the Russian suspension agreement Which was just extended and amended on October 5th of last year and then we get another 25 to 30% from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and of course nobody quite realizes that half of the producing Facilities in Kazakhstan are actually owned by the Russians So when it comes to our nuclear fuel, it's not an exaggeration to say that we're about 50% dependent on Vladimir Putin and his confederates on the other side of the world for our nuclear fuel So I would suggest to anybody that that's That's that's not good energy policy and it's downright dangerous national security policy Well adding to national security problems is the fact that there was a bombing in Syria last week and the Russians Like the people that the Americans are bombing. How does this play out? You know, this is interesting and it's I'm amazed that you know that actually because there's been something of a media blackout on this I've been making an issue of this for the last three four months The simple fact of the matter is is Biden before the election said if elected my first foreign policy initiative Will be to go into Syria and take Syria back from Assad within 24 hours of the inauguration We were moving troops and heavy armaments across the border from Iraq into Syria And we just had the first mill airstrikes take place on Thursday of last week So here's the problem the Russians are dug in like ticks there They have they have a defense agreement with Assad into Syrians as do the Chinese We're going in there now. We're bombing. We're strategically bombing targets, but we've got boots on the ground We've got heavy armaments on the ground What happens now if this thing escalates and we actually get into a hot shooting war with the Russians We just signed the Russian suspension agreement on October 20th I guess my question would be to mr. Biden would be you know, sir We just signed this Russian suspension agreement that is supposed to provide us with 20% of our Nuclear fuel for the next 20 years and we are 20% of the electricity base load in the United States How long do you think Vladimir Putin continues to supply that enriched material that our Utilities have become so desperately dependent upon in the once we escalate this into a shooting war with the Russians with And with the boots on the ground and the armaments in country It's only a matter of time So you're right how this is a big issue that nobody is paying attention to because there's been a media blackout on it You're not hearing about it anywhere. So this is wildly supportive of the North American uranium industry You would think so and I think that What would happen here is that if there were ever a disruption in the flow of this material coming in from Russia? Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan our domestic utilities would be in crisis literally overnight and Hey and by the way, that was not a failure of nuclear down there That was a failure of alternative energy nuclear actually bailed them out The problem in Texas was is they didn't have enough nuclear You know, they made the decision and you know ERCOT made the decision They're now reevaluating that and I don't think they're gonna let that happen I think that what you're gonna see is them ramp up their nuclear power presence in in Texas I think they need to okay, let's talk specifically about your property your company now We'll go from the macro to the micro Our friends over at energy fuels have been pulling vanadium out of their tailings I believe does your project have anything other than uranium in it No, we're we're a pure uranium play on both fronts on both lost Greek and on Shirley Basin So no, we don't have vanadium and right now vanadium of course is had its own pricing issues But no, we're we're just a what we're a one-trick pony, but we are a pure uranium play But the you know having said that we are the lowest cost producer of uranium outside of Kazakhstan So we're not only in the low at lowest quartile of cost producers in the world We may be in the lowest 10% So pretty in the United States can produce at a lower cost than we can It appears that Cantor has some faith in you because they recently did a large fight let a large financing for you for 15 million dollars that we did we did a raise about a month ago and We did it at a good price and so we're we're cashed up. We've got about 18 and a half million in cash But we also have inventory that's valued at about another 9 million So what you find is that you know, you've got this uranium reserve, right? And everybody's vying for any contract that might come out of the uranium reserve So we're hoping to be part of that as well But in the first year when there needs to be delivery into those contracts Nobody's going to be ramped up in and ready to produce immediately We can ramp up faster than anyone else and even we need six months to nine months Energy fuels is right there with this may be a bit behind us but we're the two that'll ramp up the quickest and So it puts us in Who'll be third? Third would likely be peninsula because they've got they're doing the the low pH acid leech and they were producing right up until about two years ago and They're they're ready to go now. They've got and they've got a good they've got a strong technical team over there and behind them would be likely UEC They haven't produced in about seven eight years now But they would probably be fourth in line in terms of those able to ramp production the quickest in In the event that we get new contracts and we get the green light to ramp production on Twitter that bastion of good news I'm seeing a lot of chatter from Australian Uranium investors and Australian uranium companies saying now is the time But the uranium price for a long time has felt like we're waiting for a good dough When does it come in? well, I think that the first thing that we have to look at is the supply demand fundamentals and This is something that's been absent for a long time. I mean the fundamentals have been just bad We have had this we've been we've had the we've our industry has been characterized by extreme over supply and a lack of demand with the Japanese Fukushima event and 54 reactors being closed down, which would equate into about 13% of global demand So this is something we've been working off for the last eight nine years Well, the 10-year anniversary of Fukushima is actually one week from today raising how quick a decade goes by but you know now we find ourselves in a completely different position This will be the third year where we have actually a structural deficit in uranium Of more than 50 million pounds last year consumption globally was about 180 million pounds and and production Primary production was approximately 120 million pounds So we had roughly a 60 million pounds structural deficit that has to be made up by secondary supply And now secondary supply can be above ground inventories It can be underfeeding. It can be enrichment of tails. It can be You know, it can be recycling So if there's a lot of forms of it, but this will be the third year in a row now 2021 where we have had more than a 50 million pound structural deficit Look at it this way. You've got an industry that is consuming approximately 180 million pounds a year That's going to be a much higher this year because we've got 12 to 15 new reactors coming online this year We're only one 12 to 15 new reactors coming online this year only one new one came online last year because of COVID So we've got 12 to 15 new reactors So we could have demand upward upwards of 190 million pounds But how many other commodities do you know where you've got essentially a structural deficit that equates to one third of global consumption? That can't go on for very long. And yet that's where we find ourselves in the third year of that right now Well, let's close it off there then Yeah, I'll check in with you in a couple of months. We'll see what's happening spot. We'll be at 35 by then you bet And let's let's hope that you know one of my big goals for the year is to make it on the Russell this year Been on three times have been off three times always a lot of fun when you go on not so much come off But I think that we're well positioned if the re-ranked day were today I'd be getting on the Russell and that always means a big push in the stock So I think that anybody that's that's on our stock It's going to be in for a very good year and we fully expect to make it on the Russell this year So I think that will contribute to our performance. So Hey, thanks for having me your energy Jeff Glenda founder CEO chief cook and bottle washer A man who knows his uranium trades on the TMX and the New York Stock Exchange Jeff pleasure to see you again Thanks so much. I'm Peter Claus. He's signing off from investor Intel. Be safe