Denison’s exploration portfolio in the eastern Athabasca Basin region includes numerous other wholly owned and jointventure properties covering more than 400,000 ha. The company also holds a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake joint venture, whose McClean Lake uranium mill is currently processing ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement.

Denison also has exploration interests in Zambia, Mali and Namibia, which are being considered for sale or for a spin out. Fission’s Patterson Lake South project hosts the high-grade Triple R deposit, which is currently the largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the Athabasca basin. The project’s U3O8 resources include 44.3 million lb indicated grading 18.21% U3O8 and 13.9 million lb inferred grading 26.35% U3O8.

Denison will acquire Fission through a combination of Denison shares and cash, creating a company owned approximately 50% each by previous Denison and Fission shareholders. Market capitalization of the combined company is expected to be about C$900 million. The companies anticipate that the transaction will be completed by October.

Lukas Lundin (Denison) will become nonexecutive chairman and Dev Randhawa (Fission) will become CEO of the combined company. Ross McElroy (Fission) will become president and COO, and David Cates (Denison) will become CFO. The board of directors will be comprised of 10 directors, five from Denison and five from Fission.