Aura Energy Limited (ASX:AEE, AIM:AURA) is pleased to announce that the Resource Upgrade program undertaken in 2022 has increased the Measured and Indicated (M&I) Resources at the Tiris Project (“Tiris or the “Project”) from 19.5 Mlbs to 29.6 Mlbs, 62.2Mt at 216ppm U3O8 at a 100ppm cut-off.
KEY POINTS:
- 52% increase in Measured and Indicated Resources to 29.6 Mlbs U3O8, 62.1Mt at 216 ppm U3O8 at a 100ppm grade cut-off.
- Global Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 58.9 Mlbs U3O8, 113Mt at 236 ppm U3O8 at a 100ppm grade cut-off.
- Near-term exploration targets identified to further grow the Tiris resource.
- Tiris Reserves estimate with the updated expanded Feasibility imminent
The significance of the Resource upgrade is that it enables Aura to update the 2019 Tiris Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS)1project work, assessing the potential to increase the production rate based on the increased M&I resource. This work is expected to be released before the end of Q1 2023.
Aura’s Tiris Project differs from other near-term projects in that the carnotite is mostly ultrafine, micron scale in grain size enabling the separation of the uranium without crushing and grinding as demonstrated in the 2019 DFS1. In the DFS1 production averaged 800,000 lbs U3O8 per year with a capital cost of USD 74.8 million and C1 costs of USD 25.43/lb U3O8. Aura is confident that our existing fast-to-market development strategy will be accentuated in the updated DFS as a result of the economies of scale on the capital and operating costs using a modular expansion of the Tiris Project.
Commenting on the increased MRE, Aura Energy Managing Director Dave Woodall said:
“The significant increase of our M&I resources confirms our confidence that the Tiris province which we believe has great expansion potential. Our immediate focus is now to work with our Mauritanian stakeholders, offtake providers, investors and financing partners to progress towards a decision to Mine in Q3 CY2023, a target construction timeline of Q4 CY2023, and first production expected in late 2024 or early 2025.
“Our exploration success is creating a strong platform for growth for Aura’s shareholders and our Mauritanian partners, and an exciting new zero-carbon energy source for an increasingly energy-hungry world.”
Figure 1 - Location of the Tiris Project Global Mineral Resource
Upgraded Measured and Indicated Resource
The program successfully delivered an additional Measured and Indicated resource of 23.0Mt at 200ppm U3O8 containing 10.1Mlb U3O8 at 100ppm U3O8 cut-off grade. The detail of the upgraded resource across the project areas and the previous resources are shown in Tables 1 and 2. The drilling program completed in 2022 comprised 1,746 holes (1,680 air-core and 66 diamond-core holes) at an average depth of 7m, from 11,600m of drilling.
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Figure 1 - Location of the Tiris Project Global Mineral Resource
Figure 1. Location Oasis project
Figure 2. Simplified Regional Geology