Anfield Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: AEC) submitted a Notice of Intent to regulatory authorities for an underground drilling program at its SM-18 uranium-vanadium project in Colorado, according to a company statement.

The drilling program aims to verify and potentially expand existing mineral resources at SM-18. The company plans to use the drilling campaign to advance preparation of a comprehensive Plan of Operations, targeted for completion later this year to support development of SM-18 as a producing mine.

According to Department of Energy data from March 2014, SM-18 has an estimated resource of 1.2 million pounds of U3O8. Historical production data from Behre Dolbear shows the site produced 133,637 pounds of U3O8 and 575,224 pounds of V2O5.

The company stated that underground workings at SM-18 remain in good condition with well-preserved infrastructure. SM-18 would become Anfield's fourth mine, joining Slick Rock and JD-8 projects in Colorado and the Velvet-Wood project in Utah.

Anfield operates under a hub-and-spoke production model centered on its Shootaring Canyon mill in Utah, one of three licensed conventional uranium mills in the United States. The company plans to expand the mill's capacity from 750 to 1,000 tons per day with licensed annual production capacity of 3 million pounds of U3O8, pending review by Utah's Department of Environmental Quality.

"Submitting the NOI for SM-18 marks a meaningful milestone as we build out our production pipeline across the Uravan Mineral Belt," said CEO Corey Dias.

All of Anfield's conventional uranium assets are located within a 200-mile radius of the Shootaring Canyon Mill. The SM-18 project is part of the company's West Slope portfolio in Colorado.