ASX-listed Aura Energy reports that the Tiris Uranium Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) has been completed and has confirmed the Tiris uranium project – which is fully permitted and construction ready – as a low capital cost and low operating cost development opportunity.
Exploration at the Tiris project (Aura Energy).
Tiris is a greenfield calcrete uranium project first discovered by Aura Energy in 2008. Located in the Sahara Desert in north-east Mauritania, it represents the first major calcrete uranium discovery in the region. It has a total mineral resource of 51,8 Mlb U3O8 (92 Mt at 225 ppm U3O8) and a maiden ore reserve of 8,1 Mlb U3O8 (10,9 Mt at 336 ppm U3O8).
Key outcomes of the DFS are a production of 12,4 Mlb U3O8 over 15 years at an All-in Sustaining cost (AISC) of US$29,81/lb U3O8. The capital cost is estimated at US$62,9 million with a payback period of 3,25 years.
“The completion of the Tiris Uranium Project Definitive Feasibility Study has concluded that the project possesses both a very low capital development cost and a very low operating cost, and validates Aura’s long-held view that the Tiris project is one of the most compelling uranium development projects in the world at the current time,” comments Peter Reeve, Aura’s Executive Chairman.
“In the current uranium market environment, a key attribute of any uranium development project is the capital cost of development. Aura has strived through the entire DFS to maintain this cost at the lowest level possible whilst retaining a robust development design. With the US$62,9 million capital defined, where 85 % of the capital estimate is from supplier quotes, Aura now stands among its peers as having one of the lowest, if not the lowest, all-in life of mine capital of any of the currently proposed uranium development projects.
“A number of very good in-situ leach projects state low upfront capital; however, the ‘repeat development capital’ required in many of these projects in their early years needs to be considered as development capital. Aura in many instances competes very well with these projects.
“The capital figure is exceptionally important as in tough markets it talks to the do-ability of the project and Tiris’ small footprint and low capital cost makes this project poised for quick development once financing is achieved,” continues Reeve. “We have often spoken of the ‘building blocks to cashflow’ and the completion of the DFS sets another of those building blocks in place and puts Aura on a path for producer status and cashflow.
“Additionally, the All-In Sustaining Cash Cost of US$29,81/lb U3O8 is extremely competitive when compared to our uranium development peers. The benefits of shallow mining and the beneficiation stage in the process, which leads to a small project footprint, have shown to be positive for the project’s operating cost.”
A conventional open-pit dry mining method, utilising a combination of bulldozers, excavators and trucks, will be employed at the Tiris project. Mining is anticipated to follow a strip mining philosophy, where any waste mined will be returned to a previously mined area without the need for building waste dumps or rehandling. No drilling or blasting is required based on Aura’s site investigations and material properties
The project has very simple uranium mineralisation that is well suited to a conventional uranium processing flowsheet.
The uranium is hosted within ultra-fine grained carnotite that is loosely attached to barren gangue particles. This means that uranium-bearing carnotite can be readily separated from the barren particles, allowing highly efficient upgrade of uranium concentration by simple scrubbing and screening. This greatly reduces the mass of material for leaching, reducing the footprint and the throughput of the hydrometallurgical plant.
The processing facility consists of three main sections. These are a beneficiation circuit; a uranium extraction circuit (alkaline leach – solid liquid separation – ion exchange); and a uranium purification and precipitation circuit.
The beneficiation plant and the hydrometallurgical process plant are in separate locations connected by three 6 km long pipelines, used to transfer slurry, liquid recycling and raw water.