Plateau Uranium Announces New Mining Inventories as Part of Its Ongoing PEA Update

Plateau Uranium Inc. updated this press release with the following: The results provided in the press release will form part of the company’s updated PEA and should not be considered to be part of a prefeasibility or feasibility study. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. There can be no certainty that the results predicted by the updated PEA will be realized.
Plateau Uranium Inc. (TSXV:PLU) announced results from the mine optimization and scheduling work, being undertaken by UK based, mining engineering consultant Wardell Armstrong International, as part of updating the Company’s Preliminary Economic Assessment.
As quoted in the press release:

The mineable mineral resources generated through WAI’s mine optimization and scheduling work (“Mining Inventories“) will be used in the updated PEA study being coordinated and completed by GBM Minerals Engineering Consultants Limited (“GBM“), also of the UK, which will include several development option scenarios for the Macusani Plateau uranium project, located in the Puno Department of southeastern Peru. The Company also announces that, subject to regulatory approval, it has granted stock options to certain directors, an officer and Peruvian staff under its stock option plan.
Highlights

• Updated PEA work continues, led by GBM Minerals Engineering Consultants Limited with Wardell Armstrong International.
• Focus on 3 of the 5 main complexes identified to date at the Macusani Plateau uranium project, leaving substantial upside to further extend the mineable resource base in the future.
• Optimized base case Mining Inventory increased 35% over the Company’s 2014 PEA to 109.0 Mt at 287 ppm U₃O₈ (diluted mill head grade, at a 75 ppm cut-off).
• Base case production profile of approximately 6 Mlbs U₃O₈/yr averaged over a 10 year mine life.
• High grade case Mining Inventories (at a 200 ppm cut-off):
  • Open pit only: 50.6 Mt at 434 ppm U₃O₈ (diluted mill head grade) to produce approximately 4.25 Mlbs U₃O₈/yr average over a 10 year mine life.
  • Open pit & underground: 58.8 Mt at 440 ppm U₃O₈ (diluted mill head grade) to produce approximately 5 Mlbs U₃O₈/yr over a 10 year mine life.
• Updated PEA expected late 2015 to early 2016.

Plateau Uranium CEO, Ted O’Connor, stated:

We are excited to be nearing completion of the updated PEA for the Macusani Plateau uranium project using a considerably more conservative uranium price of $50/lb to optimize and schedule Mining Inventories on our larger and more robust Mineral Resource base. The base case PEA scenario financial model and higher grade options will highlight the strong project economics at this more realistic uranium price and will separate Plateau Uranium from other companies and pre-development projects that have been using $65-75/lb uranium prices to make their projects attractive.
The base case scenario suggests substantial increases in mining throughput, grade and annual production versus our previous PEA, while the high grade development option offers the Company tremendous opportunity to substantially lower both operating and capital costs with only a modest decrease in annual production.
Following completion of the updated PEA, our plan is to move the Macusani Plateau uranium project further along the path to development, through pre-feasibility, continuing delineation and exploration drilling, and progressing our environmental permitting strategy in Peru.
We know uranium demand is increasing as nuclear reactors are being built around the world. We believe that the uranium market is in the early stages of its inevitable long term recovery, and we are positioning Plateau Uranium to capitalize on this anticipated recovery.

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