US Oil Sands is a growth-oriented energy company focused on environmentally sustainable heavy oil (bitumen) production of oil sands. The Company's initial commercial demonstration project is located in Utah's Uintah and Grand counties where the Company has a 100% interest in bitumen leases covering 32,005 acres (50 square miles) of land, the largest commercial oil sands position in the United States. These leases contain a large resource base in excess of 180 million barrels of discovered petroleum which, when developed, will provide a significant benefit to Utah's economy and help meet U.S. domestic energy requirements.
US Oil Sands is developing its properties by using a unique and environmentally friendly extraction process. This one-of-a-kind, patented approach to oil sands development allows the Company to achieve best-in-class environmental results along virtually any metric. This process utilizes a citrus based bio-solvent that naturally separates bitumen from oil sand. This approach completely eliminates the need for tailings ponds, is expected to require approximately 50% less energy input than traditional oil sands projects, recycles 95% of the water used and employs best practice mining methods to simultaneously mine and reclaim the targeted area. US Oil Sands is fully permitted by Utah's Division of Oil, Gas and Mining to construct the PR Spring Project on its Utah property and first-oil is expected in 2017.
Using its PR Spring Project as a stepping stone, the Company has begun looking at opportunities in the Athabasca region of Canada and in other parts of the world where the nature and size of the oil sands deposits demand a low-cost, scalable extraction technology. The Company's extraction process represents a paradigm shift for the existing oil sands mining industry in its ability to economically recover bitumen resources that would otherwise remain undeveloped from large scale operations while being a class-leader for environmental stewardship. US Oil Sands believes that by implementing its extraction process in Athabasca it will demonstrate a significant opportunity for existing resource holders to maximize resource recovery while minimizing the social, economic, market and environmental challenges associated with traditional oil sands mining operations.