Strathmore completes $8 mln strategic investment with KEPCO

Uranium explorer Strathmore Minerals (TSE:STM) said Friday it has completed its previously announced $8.0 million private placement with Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO), as part of an up to $40 million definitive strategic agreement signed last month.
Under the terms of the deal, KEPCO acquired 14.6 million shares of Strathmore common stock at $0.55 per share, for total gross proceeds of $8.0 million, making it Strathmore's largest shareholder, with an approximate 14 percent interest in the company.
The new funds will be used for a phase one exploration and development program at the Gas Hills Beaver Rim area in Wyoming, and for ongoing permitting activities on Strathmore's nearby lower Gas Hills properties.
The initial deal was announced last August. KEPCO is a Korean government-backed energy company with over $120 billion in assets.
The definitive agreement also contains an off-take provision for KEPCO to purchase a portion of any future annual Uranium production from Strathmore's properties. Future off-take Uranium purchases will be determined by KEPCO's equity stake in the company.
The Gas Hills Uranium district in Wyoming was the second largest Uranium producing region in the United States, having produced 100 million pounds of Uranium concentrates from 1957 to 1989.
Once phase one exploration and development is complete, KEPCO will have the right to participate in a phase two development campaign, giving KEPCO the chance to earn up to 40 percent of the Gas Hills properties, for another $32 million in expenditures over a period of three years.
After the phase one program, KEPCO can choose to establish a limited liability company with Strathmore as part of phase two, with the project company to appoint a management committee to determine budgets, overall policies, and other procedures.
The management committee will be comprised of three representatives of Strathmore and two representatives of KEPCO, with Strathmore as the manager of the project.
Strathmore controls over 34,000 acres of mineral claims in the Gas Hills, including approximately 16,000 acres in the highly prospective and relatively unexplored portion of the Gas Hills, known as "Beaver Rim", located to the south of the lower Gas Hills area.
The company has been advancing its mine permit application in the lower Gas Hills area for submission to the State of Wyoming, as well as a "Source Materials License" application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Late last year, Strathmore said it hired another mineral resources and engineering consulting firm to prepare a new NI 43-101 compliant technical report for its Gas Hills properties.
Lakewood, Colorado-based Chlumsky, Armbrust & Meyer will prepare the new document, which was commissioned as a result of deficiencies found by the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) in its "limited technical disclosure" review of Strathmore's technical report on the assets.
The new report is expected by late April.
In early December 2011, the Uranium explorer said that after an "extensive review" of the technical report on the Gas Hills Uranium project dated July 20, 2011, and consultation with the BCSC, it decided to appoint another author to prepare a new technical report on the property.
KEPCO is involved in the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical power from nuclear, hydro, coal, oil and LNG sources around the world. It provides electricity to almost all households in Korea and operates 21 nuclear power plants in the country with seven more under development.