
June 11, 2024
Resource growth adds confidence in future expansion and scale opportunities
Aura Energy Limited (ASX: AEE, AIM: AURA) (“Aura” or “the Company”) is pleased to provide an update on the Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) for the Tiris Uranium Project (“Tiris” or the “Project”) in Mauritania.
KEY POINTS:
- Tiris’ global Mineral Resources increased by 55% to 91.3 Mlbs U3O8, up from 58.9Mlbs U3O81 (global Mineral Resources includes Tiris East and Oum Ferkik Project areas)
- The recent 15,262m drill program delivered a very large 28.9 Mlbs U3O8 increase in the Tiris East Uranium Project’s Mineral Resources, totalling 76.6 Mlbs U3O8, delivered at a discovery cost of only US$ 0.14 per lb U3O8
- Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources increased by 35% adding 10.3 Mlbs U3O8 providing further confidence to the Front End Engineering Design (“FEED”)2 production schedule
- Drilling results and the increase in Mineral Resources both demonstrate significant future resource growth potential at Tiris from ongoing exploration activities
- The major increase in the Tiris Mineral Resources:
- Reinforces Auras’ commitment to progress Tiris towards a development decision in late 2024 or early 2025;
- Offers significant potential to materially enhance the already excellent FEED economics of NPV8 US$ 388 M and IRR 36% after tax3,4, and
- Presents real opportunities to increase the Project’s future scale beyond the current 17-year mine life at 2 Mlbs pa U3O8 production
- Additional Mineral Resources were defined from extensions to known mineralisation and exhibit the same characteristics as the current shallow free digging mineralisation that has proven exceptional beneficiation characteristics
- Mine scheduling and optimisation including a review of the Ore Reserve Estimate will now be undertaken on the enhanced Mineral Resources
Aura Energy’s Managing Director and CEO Andrew Grove said:
"The resource growth at Tiris confirms our view that this is an important uranium province with the capacity for further growth upside.
The Board believes that the very significant increase in Mineral Resources resulting from the successful drilling campaign will have a materially positive impact on Tiris’ economics and has been delivered at a very low discovery cost of just US$ 0.14 per lb.
Mineralisation was identified not only from high strength radiometric anomalies, but from areas of low strength anomalies, significantly increasing the exploration potential of the area as these low-level anomalies have been ignored in past exploration.
More opportunities remain to expand the known mineralisation within the current granted tenements. In addition, the potential for future discoveries within the 13,000km2 of new tenement applications is significant as we have only just begun exploration over this district-scale opportunity.
The increased Mineral Resource inventory will further support the funding and development of the Tiris Uranium Project in the near future.”
Tiris Global Mineral Resource Estimate reported using a 100ppm U3O8 cut-off grade, see Table 1 for details
The drilling program undertaken in 2024 has delivered a major increase to the Project’s Global Mineral Resources totalling 184 Mt at 225ppm for 91.3 Mlbs U3O8 at a 100ppm cut-off grade. This is a 55% increase in the contained U3O8 from the previous MRE, reported in 2023, of 113Mt at 236ppm for 58.9Mlbs5 U3O8.
This drilling program was aimed at assessing additional resource potential at Tiris East and delivered a 10.3 Mlbs or 35% increase of Measured and Indicated (“M&I”) Resources, which stands at 83 Mt @ 219ppm for 39.9 Mlbs U3O8, and a 76% increase in total Inferred Resource, which stands at 102 Mt @ 229ppm for 51.4 Mlbs U3O8. The detail of the upgraded resource across the project areas and the previous resources are shown in Table 1.
In April 20246, Aura completed an air core (“AC”) drilling program of 2,995 holes for 15,262 metres, a 37% increase in the total number of holes available for resource calculations, to evaluate a previously announced exploration target of between 8 Mlbs and 32 Mlbs7. The Mineral Resource increase of
32.4 Mlbs U3O8 exceeded the upper end of the exploration target range, providing strong support to Aura’s exploration methodology, and is a strong indication to the mineralisation potential that may be available in regional leases that are currently under application8.
In addition to targeting extensions to known mineralisation, and testing previously un-drilled radiometric anomalies around Tiris East, the program considered several conceptual targets over low- level radiometric anomalies. Several of these conceptual targets returned very positive results, further increasing exploration potential of the area. This is a major change from previous exploration in the area.
Mineral Resource estimates were undertaken utilising Multiple Indicator Kriging (“MIK”) estimation methodology and recoverable Mineral Resources reported using a 10x10x1m Selective Mining Unit (“SMU”). The Competent Person for the 2024 Tiris Mineral Resource Estimates is Mr Arnold van der Heyden of H&S Consulting Pty Limited (“HSC”).
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Aura Energy, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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The Conversation (0)
02 June 2023
Aura Energy
Overview
With a mission to responsibly produce low-cost uranium to meet the growing demand for decarbonized energy, Aura Energy (ASX:AEE, AIM:AURA) is focused on rapidly advancing its Tiris Uranium Project in Mauritania, as it continues to transition from explorer to producer.
Uranium is the essential fuel for nuclear power, a sustainable, low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. Nuclear Power is one of the only scalable providers of baseload electrical supply as the world moves toward decarbonization, and will be vital in the future. In fact, growing support for nuclear power and diminishing uranium supply prompted the Bank of America to forecast spot prices to rise to US$70 per pound by 2023, adding that a loss of Russian supplies would make its forecast even more bullish. Additionally, the European Union has stated that nuclear power now qualifies as a green investment.
Aura Energy’s flagship Tiris Uranium Project in Mauritania is well-positioned to achieve near-term production and has continued to meet development milestones. Supported by a stable jurisdiction and a mining-friendly government, the company recently released an updated enhanced feasibility study (EFS). The EFS confirmed that increased steady-state production to 2.0 million pounds (Mlbs) per annum U3O8 is possible based on upgraded mineral resource estimates. This increased production strengthens the financial metrics and demonstrates robust returns for shareholders over the life of the project. The exceptional economics of the Tiris Project deliver a post-tax NPV of US$226 million and a post-tax IRR of 28 percent.
The updated mineral resource estimate includes 113.0 Mt @ 236 ppm containing 58.9 Mlbs U3O8. The asset’s shallow, flat-lying surface mineralization and simple extraction method allow for low capital and operational costs.
In Europe, the company’s 100-per cent-owned Häggån Vanadium Project aims to support Sweden’s and Europe’s green energy transition. The asset has an inferred resource estimate of 15.1 billion lbs of vanadium and 800 Mlbs of uranium. Vanadium is primarily used in the steel industry, as an additive to make steel stronger and wear-resistant, and also plays a key role in an emerging new energy storage technology called vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), which are typically used in grid-scale storage systems.
An experienced management team leads Aura Energy with expertise throughout the natural resources sector, including uranium project development, business development, international corporate finance and metallurgy. The team’s expertise supports the company’s near-term production and long-term growth goals.
Company Highlights
- Aura Energy aims to be a responsible global producer of commodities supporting a clean, decarbonised energy future.
- The flagship Tiris Uranium Project in Mauritania is poised for near-term production, with a recently released enhanced feasibility study (EFS) outlining low capital and operating costs, supported by a stable and mining-friendly jurisdiction.
- The EFS confirms an increase in forecast steady-state production to 2.0 million pounds (Mlbs) per annum U3O8 and strong financial metrics and robust returns for shareholders over the life of the project.
- The exceptional economics of the Tiris Project deliver post-tax net present value (NPV) of US$226 million and post-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 28 percent
- Tiris mineralization occurs at surface, can be accessed with free-digging open pit mining and simple beneficiation feed grade upgrades the ore to greater than 2,000 ppm U3O8 prior to leaching. All these characteristics contribute to the low capital and operating costs.
- The Company has a strong relationship with the Government of Mauritania who hold a 15 percent shareholding) and has been granted a 30-year mining convention to operate.
- Management plans have been submitted to the Mauritanian authorities as an important step towards the production and export of uranium oxide concentrates from Mauritania.
- Updated mineral resource estimate of 113 Mt @ 236 parts per million (ppm) containing 58.9 Mlbs U3O8
- This mineral resource estimate supports an initial 16-year project life
- Initial capital cost of US$87.9 million, and cost-efficient scalability for additional capital of US$90.3 million can deliver a 150-percent increase in production to 2.0 Mlbs per annum U3O8.
- Aura Energy’s 100-percent-owned Häggån Vanadium Project contains significant vanadium deposits, an essential mineral for the steel industry as well as for the development of vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) to support renewable energy technologies.
- An experienced management team with expertise throughout the mining industry is leading Aura toward its goals.
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Fast-tracking the Tiris Uranium Project to support a clean, decarbonized future
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