Uranium Royalty (URC) has acquired a net profit interest (NPI) royalty on the Millennium and Cree Extension uranium projects in Saskatchewan, Canada.

The existing royalty was acquired from an unnamed third-party industrial gas company for $6m.

This strategic move grants URC a 10% NPI on an approximate 20.69% participating interest in these projects, with payments commencing after the recovery of qualifying preproduction expenditures.

This acquisition of the royalty on the Saskatchewan-based projects gives URC access to roughly 12,800ha within the Athabasca Basin.

The Millennium project is a conventional uranium project situated 36km north-west of Cameco's Key Lake Mill.

The project is a joint venture between Cameco and Japan Canada Uranium (JCU). It is in the advanced stage of development.

Millennium project boasts 1.4 million tonnes at an average grade of 2.39% U3O8, equating to 75.9 million pounds (mlb) of U3O8 in the indicated category, and 0.4 million tonnes at 3.19% U3O8, totalling 29.0mlb U3O8 in the inferred category.

On the other hand, the Cree Extension project, also located near Cameco's Key Lake Mill, is in the exploration stage. It is being developed jointly by Cameco, Orano Canada, and JCU.

The project's strategic location is adjacent to Denison's Wheeler River project and south-west of Cameco's McArthur River project, further cementing the area's uranium mining potential.

Uranium Royalty CEO Scott Melbye said: “We are very excited to acquire this significant royalty on the Millennium and Cree Extension Projects.

“Cameco has previously completed substantial development work on the Millennium project and it remains one of the largest undeveloped projects in Cameco's portfolio.

“It represents an important potential contributor to the future global production pipeline. The transaction is another example of our ability to leverage the URC team's experience and networks to source and execute accretive uranium royalty transactions.”