Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Change in Corporate Name

Effective August 21, 2017, the Company changed its name from “Uranium Resources, Inc.” to “Westwater Resources, Inc.” The name change was made pursuant to Section 242 of the Delaware General Corporation Law and did not affect the rights of the Company’s security holders.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S.”) and include the accounts of WWR and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (“US GAAP”) requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions. Such estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The most significant estimates included in the preparation of the financial statements are related to asset retirement obligations; stock-based compensation; derivative liabilities and asset impairment, including estimates used to derive future cash flows or market value associated with those assets.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

We consider all highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. We maintain cash deposits in excess of federally insured limits. We monitor the soundness of the financial institution and believe the risk is negligible.

Available-for-Sale Investments

We determine the appropriate classification of our investments at the time of purchase and re-evaluate such determinations each reporting date. Marketable equity securities are categorized as available-for-sale and carried at fair market value on the Balance Sheet.

Unrealized gains and losses are included as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss, unless an other-than-temporary impairment in value has occurred in which case the unrealized loss would be charged to current period loss as an impairment charge. Unrealized gains and losses originally included in accumulated other comprehensive income are reclassified to current period net loss when the sale of securities occurs or when a security is impaired.

Property, Plant and Equipment

Facilities and Equipment

Expenditures for new facilities or equipment and expenditures that extend the useful lives of existing facilities or equipment are capitalized and recorded at cost. The facilities and equipment are amortized using the units of production method. During the periods that our facilities are not in production, depreciation of our facilities and equipment is suspended as the assets are not in service.

Mineral Properties

Mineral rights acquisition costs are capitalized when incurred, and exploration costs are expensed as incurred. When we determine that a mineral right can be economically developed in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the costs then incurred to develop such property will be capitalized. During the periods that our facilities are not in production, depletion of our mineral interests, permits, licenses and development properties is suspended as the assets are not in service. If mineral properties are subsequently abandoned or impaired, any non-depleted costs will be charged to loss in that period.

Other Property, Plant and Equipment

Other property, plant and equipment consisted of corporate office equipment, furniture and fixtures and transportation equipment. Depreciation on other property is computed based upon the estimated useful lives of the assets. Repairs and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred. Gain or loss on disposal of such assets is recorded as other income or expense as such assets are disposed.

Asset Impairment

The Company reviews and evaluates its long-lived assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the related carrying amounts may not be recoverable. Impairment is considered to exist if the total estimated future cash flows on an undiscounted basis are less than the carrying amount of the assets. An impairment loss is measured and recorded based on discounted estimated future cash flows or upon an estimate of fair value that may be received in an exchange transaction. Future cash flows are estimated based on quantities of recoverable minerals, expected uranium prices, production levels and operating costs of production and capital, based upon the projected remaining future uranium production from each project. Existing proven and probable reserves and value beyond proven and probable reserves, including mineralization that is not part of the measured, indicated or inferred resource base, are included when determining the fair value of mine site reporting units at acquisition and, subsequently, in determining whether the assets are impaired. The term “recoverable minerals” refers to the estimated amount of uranium that will be obtained after taking into account losses during processing and treatment. In estimating future cash flows, assets are grouped at the lowest level for which there are identifiable cash flows that are largely independent of future cash flows from other asset groups. The Company’s estimates of future cash flows are based on numerous assumptions and it is likely that actual future cash flows will be significantly different than the estimates, as actual future quantities of recoverable minerals, uranium prices, production levels and operating costs of production and availability and cost of capital are each subject to significant risks and uncertainties.

Assets held for sale

The Company considers assets to be held for sale when management approves and commits to a formal plan to actively market the assets for sale at a price reasonable in relation to fair value, the asset is available for immediate sale in its present condition, an active program to locate a buyer and other actions required to complete the sale have been initiated, the sale of the asset is expected to be completed within one year and it is unlikely that significant changes will be made to the plan. Upon designation as held for sale, the Company records the carrying value of the assets at the lower of its carrying value or its estimated fair value, less costs to sell.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash as reported within the consolidated balance sheet that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the statement of cash flows.

	For the years ended December 31,
(thousands of dollars)	2017		2016
Cash and cash equivalents	$	4,054	$	3,309
Restricted cash - pledged deposits for performance bonds		3,668		3,964
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash shown in the statement of cash flows	$	7,722	$	7,273

Funds deposited by the Company for collateralization of performance obligations are not available for the payment of general corporate obligations and are not included in cash equivalents. Restricted cash consists of pledged certificates of deposit and money market accounts. The bonds are collateralized performance bonds required for future restoration and reclamation obligations related to our South Texas production properties.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Our financial instruments consist of cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments. U.S. GAAP defines “fair value” as the price that would be received to sell an asset or be paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price) and establishes a fair-value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value using the following definitions (from highest to lowest priority):

● Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities.

● Level 2 — Observable inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, including quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means.

● Level 3 — Prices or valuation techniques requiring inputs that are both significant to the fair-value measurement and unobservable.

The Company considers all highly liquid instruments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. The Company continually monitors its positions with, and the credit quality of, the financial institutions with which it invests. Periodically throughout the year, the Company has maintained balances in various U.S. operating accounts in excess of U.S. federally insured limits.

The following table presents information about financial instruments recognized at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, and indicates the fair value hierarchy:

	December 31, 2017
(thousands of dollars)	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Current Assets
Short-term available-for-sale investments	$	1,361	$	-	$	-	$	1,361
Total current assets recorded at fair value	$	1,361	$	-	$	-	$	1,361
Non-current Assets
Restricted cash	$	3,668	$	-		-	$	3,668
Total non-current assets recorded at fair value	$	3,668	$	-	$	-	$	3,668

	December 31, 2016
(thousands of dollars)	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Non-current Assets
Restricted cash		3,964		-		-		3,964
Total assets recorded at fair value	$	3,964	$	-	$	-	$	3,964

Asset Retirement Obligations

Various federal and state mining laws and regulations require the Company to reclaim the surface areas and restore underground water quality for its ISR projects to the pre-existing or background average quality after the completion of mining. Asset retirement obligations, consisting primarily of estimated restoration and reclamation costs at the Company’s South Texas ISR projects, are recognized in the period incurred and recorded as liabilities at fair value. Such obligations, which are initially estimated based on discounted cash flow estimates using level 3 inputs, are accreted to full value over time through charges to accretion expense. In addition, the asset retirement cost is capitalized as part of the asset’s carrying value and amortized over the life of the related asset. If the Company does not have a recorded value for the related asset, then the asset retirement cost is expensed as incurred. Asset retirement obligations are periodically adjusted to reflect changes in the estimated present value resulting from revisions to the estimated timing or amount of restoration and reclamation costs. As the Company completes its restoration and reclamation work at its properties, the liability is reduced by the carrying value of the related asset retirement liability which is based upon the percentage of completion of each restoration and reclamation activity. Any gain or loss upon settlement is charged to income or expense and is included as part of the Company’s mineral property expense for the period. The Company reviews and evaluates its asset retirement obligations annually or more frequently at interim periods if deemed necessary.

Loss Per Share

Basic loss per share is computed using the weighted-average number of shares outstanding during the period. Diluted loss per share is not presented as the effect on the basic loss per share would be anti-dilutive. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, we had 648,404 and 745,841, respectively, in potentially dilutive securities.

Foreign Currency

The functional currency for the companies recently acquired in the Anatolia Transaction was determined to be the U.S. dollar upon completion of the acquisition since our newly acquired foreign subsidiaries are direct and integral components of WWR and are dependent upon the economic environment of WWR’s functional currency. Accordingly, we have translated our monetary assets and liabilities at the period-end exchange rate and the non-monetary assets and liabilities at historical rates, with income and expenses translated at the average exchange rate for the current period. All translation gains and losses have been included in the current period loss.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-15 (ASU 2014-15), Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern, which provides guidance on determining when and how to disclose going-concern uncertainties in the financial statements. The new standard requires management to perform interim and annual assessments of an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year of the date the financial statements are issued. An entity must provide certain disclosures if conditions or events raise substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. The ASU applies to all entities and is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2016, and interim periods thereafter, with early adoption permitted. Upon adopting ASU 2014-15, the Company prepared an annual assessment of its ability to continue as a going concern.

In November 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows: Restricted Cash, which will require that a statement of cash flows explain the change during period in the total of cash, cash equivalents and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. As a result, amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents should be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. The ASU applies to all entities and is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018 and interim periods within those fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. Upon adopting ASU 2016-18, the Company has included the restricted cash amount in its beginning-of-period and end-of-period reconciliations of cash on its statement of cash flows and has removed restricted cash releases of $0.3 million and $0.1 million from the investing activities section of the cash flow statement for years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2017, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2017-01 (ASU 2017-01), Business Combinations: Clarifying the Definition of a Business, which clarifies the definition of a business when determining whether a company has acquired or sold a business. The ASU applies to all entities and is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2017, and interim periods thereafter, with early adoption permitted under certain circumstances. The Company does not believe that the adoption of this guidance will have a material impact on our financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires lessees to recognize all leases, including operating leases, unless the less is a short-term lease or a land lease for mineral properties. ASU 2016-02 also requires additional disclosures regarding leasing arrangements. ASU 2016-02 is effective for interim periods and fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and early application is permitted. Currently, the only leases we hold are for equipment and office space. We have gathered the necessary information for proper disclosure of the leases once the ASU is effective. We will continue to monitor any new leases to ensure that we have all the information necessary to handle the transition to the new standard and properly report the transactions. We do not anticipate the new standard will affect our net income materially, but will result in additional fixed assets and the related lease liabilities.

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU” 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606).” The amendments in ASU 2014-09 affect any entity that either enters into contracts with customers to transfer goods or services or enters into contracts for the transfer of non-financial assets unless those contracts are within the scope of other standards (e.g., insurance contracts or lease contracts). This ASU will supersede the revenue recognition requirements in Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, and most industry-specific guidance, and creates a Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The core principal of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of the promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 31, 2017, including interim periods within that reporting period. Early application is not permitted. We have reviewed our contracts as well as our procedures and do not anticipate any changes in the manner or timing which we reflect our revenues. The Company had no revenues during 2017 or 2016.