Exhibit 99.1
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Denison Mines
Corp.
1100 – 40
University Ave
Toronto, ON M5J
1T1
www.denisonmines.com
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PRESS
RELEASE
Denison
Announces Award of Construction Management Contract to
Wood
Canada for the Phoenix Uranium Mine
Toronto, ON – February
17, 2026. Denison Mines Corp. (“Denison” or the
“Company”) (TSX: DML; NYSE American: DNN) is pleased to
announce that, following a competitive tender process, it has
awarded Wood Canada Limited (“Wood”), a global leader
in consulting and engineering, with the construction management
contract (the “CM Contract”) to oversee the building of
the Phoenix in-situ recovery uranium mine (“Phoenix”,
or the “Project”). This is a key milestone for the
Project and represents another crucial step towards the
commencement of construction.
David Cates, President & CEO of Denison,
commented, “In
anticipation of receiving our Federal permits to prepare the site
and construct the Wheeler River project, we are pleased to announce
the award of the construction management contract to our trusted
partners at Wood. The selection of Wood for construction management
allows us to leverage our long-standing relationship with
Wood’s Canadian team, which began with co-authoring the 2023
Feasibility Study for Phoenix and continued with the detailed
design engineering for the Project over the last two
years.
We are actively organizing our teams, including the onboarding of
key construction personnel, to ensure we are ready to proceed with
site preparation as soon as possible upon receipt of all required
permits. Given Denison’s strong balance sheet, and advanced
state of project engineering, construction planning, and
procurement, we stand ready to make a Final Investment Decision and
commence construction shortly after securing Federal approval of
the Environmental Assessment and Licence to Prepare the Site for
& Construct a Mine and Mill.”
John Day, President of Projects Western Hemisphere
at Wood, commented: “We
value Denison’s continued trust in our team and look forward
to working together to lead the Wheeler River project through the
construction phase. Having supported Phoenix from the feasibility
stage through detailed design, we understand the technical and
execution requirements of this project.
Our priority is to enable a safe and seamless transition into
execution – maintaining continuity of personnel, applying
disciplined project management, and ensuring a predictable path to
first production for this landmark project in the Canadian uranium
industry. We look forward to continuing to work as an integrated
team with Denison, combining our complementary project,
construction, and uranium expertise to deliver Phoenix safely and
successfully.”
The
CM Contract currently contemplates procurement and construction
management scopes, whereby Wood will be responsible for (i)
construction management of the full processing plant scope, (ii)
installation of certain site infrastructure, and (iii) integrated
project controls, ongoing procurement support, on-site safety
oversight, as well as maintaining reporting and performance
management standards (the “Services”). The Services
will be provided by Wood in close consultation with Denison, with
members of Wood’s team and Denison’s team holding
complementary roles in an integrated project management
team.
The
selection of Wood for the CM Contract provides important continuity
between the engineering and execution phases of the Project and
aims to enable the efficient and reliable delivery of the Project
during an estimated 24-month construction period. Denison has
entered into the CM Contract as the operator of the Project on
behalf of the Wheeler River Joint Venture.
About Wheeler River
Wheeler River is the largest undeveloped uranium project in the
infrastructure-rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region,
in northern Saskatchewan. The project is host to the high-grade
Phoenix and Gryphon uranium deposits, discovered by Denison in 2008
and 2014, respectively, and is a joint venture between Denison (90%
and operator) and JCU (Canada) Exploration Company Limited
(“JCU”, 10%). In August 2023, Denison filed a technical
report (the “Wheeler River Report”) summarizing the
results of (i) Phoenix FS; and (ii) a cost update to the 2018
Pre-Feasibility Study for conventional underground mining of the
basement-hosted Gryphon uranium deposit. Based on the respective
studies, both deposits have the potential to be competitive with
the lowest cost uranium mining operations in the world.
Permitting efforts for the planned Phoenix ISR operation commenced
in 2019 and are nearing completion with approval in July 2025 of
the Project’s EA by the Province of Saskatchewan and
conclusion in December 2025 of the Canadian Nuclear Safety
Commission Public Hearing for Federal approval of the EA and
project construction license. More information is available in the
technical report titled “NI 43-101 Technical Report on the
Wheeler River Project Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada”
dated August 8, 2023 with an effective date of June 23,
2023, and an update to estimated Phoenix initial capital costs
disclosed by press release dated January 2, 2026, copies of which
are available on Denison’s website and under its profile on
SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at
www.sec.gov/edgar.
About Denison
Denison is a leading uranium mining, development, and exploration
company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of
northern Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition to Denison’s
effective 95% interest in its flagship Wheeler River Project,
Denison’s interests in Saskatchewan include a 22.5% ownership
interest in the McClean Lake Joint Venture (“MLJV”),
which includes unmined uranium deposits (with mining at McClean
North deposit via the MLJV’s SABRE mining method having
commenced in 2025 using the MLJV's SABRE mining method) and the
McClean Lake uranium mill (currently utilizing a portion of its
licensed capacity to process the ore from the Cigar Lake mine under
a toll milling agreement), plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest
Joint Venture Midwest Main and Midwest A deposits, and a 70.55%
interest in the Tthe Heldeth Túé (“THT”) and
Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake Property. The Midwest Main,
Midwest A, THT and Huskie deposits are located within 20 kilometres
of the McClean Lake mill. Taken together, Denison has direct
ownership interests in properties covering ~457,000 hectares in the
Athabasca Basin region.
Additionally, through its 50% ownership of JCU, Denison holds
interests in various uranium project joint ventures in Canada,
including the Millennium project (JCU, 30.099%), the Kiggavik
project (JCU, 33.8118%) and Christie Lake (JCU,
34.4508%).
In 2024, Denison celebrated its 70th year in uranium mining,
exploration, and development, which began in 1954 with Denison's
first acquisition of mining claims in the Elliot Lake region of
northern Ontario.
About Wood
Wood is a global leader in consulting and engineering, delivering
critical solutions across energy and materials markets. Wood
provides consulting, projects and operations solutions in 60
countries, employing around 35,000 people. For more information,
visit www.woodplc.com
For more information, please contact
David
Cates
(416) 979-1991 ext.
362
President and
Chief Executive Officer
Geoff
Smith
(416) 979-1991 ext.
358
Vice President
Corporate Development & Commercial
Follow Denison on
X (formerly Twitter) @DenisonMinesCo
Technical Disclosure and Qualified Person
The technical
information contained in this press release has been reviewed and
approved by Chad Sorba, P.Geo., Denison’s Vice President
Technical Services & Project Evaluation, who is a Qualified
Person in accordance with the requirements of NI
43-101.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain information contained in this news release constitutes
‘forward-looking information’, within the meaning of
the applicable United States and Canadian legislation, concerning
the business, operations and financial performance and condition of
Denison. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
‘potential’, ‘plans’,
‘expects’, ‘budget’,
‘scheduled’, ‘estimates’,
‘forecasts’, ‘intends’,
‘anticipates’, or ‘believes’, or the
negatives and/or variations of such words and phrases, or state
that certain actions, events or results ‘may’,
‘could’, ‘would’, ‘might’ or
‘will’ ‘be taken’, ‘occur’ or
‘be achieved’.
In particular, this news release contains forward-looking
information pertaining to Denison's current expectations,
intentions and objectives with respect to Wheeler River and
Phoenix, including the Company’s outlook generally with
respect to in-situ recovery mine development and operations on the
Wheeler River property; the CM Contract and its current terms; the
status of regulatory approvals and pending final investment
decision, conditional on permitting; timing, readiness and
mobilization for construction, and construction planning; current
outlook for the achievement of first production; the results of,
and estimates, assumptions and projections provided in, the
technical report for Wheeler River and the interpretations and
expectations with respect thereto; and expectations regarding its
joint venture ownership interests and the continuity of its
agreements with its partners and third parties.
Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates
of management as of the date such statements are made, and they are
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance
or achievements of Denison to be materially different from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For
example, the results and underlying assumptions and interpretations
of its technical studies and cost forecasting may not be maintained
after further testing, procurement, or operations, or be
representative of actual conditions at the Project or within the
applicable deposits. In addition, Denison may decide or otherwise
be required to discontinue testing, evaluation and other work on
the Company’s other properties if it is unable to maintain or
otherwise secure the necessary resources (such as testing
facilities, capital funding, joint venture approvals, regulatory
approvals, etc.). Denison believes that the expectations reflected
in this forward-looking information are reasonable but no assurance
can be given that these expectations will prove to be accurate and
results may differ materially from those anticipated in this
forward-looking information. For a discussion in respect of risks
and other factors that could influence forward-looking events,
please refer to the factors discussed in Denison’s Annual
Information Form dated March 28, 2025 under the heading ‘Risk
Factors’ or in subsequent quarterly financial reports. These
factors are not, and should not be construed as being,
exhaustive.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information
contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this
cautionary statement. Any forward-looking information and the
assumptions made with respect thereto speaks only as of the date of
this news release. Denison does not undertake any obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the
date of this news release to conform such information to actual
results or to changes in Denison's expectations except as otherwise
required by applicable legislation.
