Significant Progress Made on Lake Maitland Uranium Project Extension Study

Toro Energy Limited (ASX: TOE) (‘the Company’ or ‘Toro’) is pleased to advise that its Extension Study to the proposed Lake Maitland Uranium-Vanadium operation, located approximately 105 km southeast of the Wiluna township in Western Australia and 730 km NE of Perth has significantly advanced. The Study is being undertaken by mining engineers at SRK Consulting Australasia (SRK). SRK and metallurgical and processing engineers at Strategic Metallurgy prepared the Scoping Study for Lake Maitland which highlighted the project’s potential to deliver robust financial returns.

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Highlights

• The Lake Maitland Extension Study has significantly advanced.
• Extension Study is evaluating the incorporation of material from Toro’s 100% owned Lake Way and Centipede-Millipede uranium deposits into a proposed processing operation at Lake Maitland.
• The uranium resources at Lake Way and Centipede-Millipede are significant and need to be evaluated for viability as additional material at any Lake Maitland uranium-vanadium processing operation.
• Pilot plant design continues resulting from the excellent estimated financial outcomes of the completed Lake Maitland Scoping Study, which excluded any upside from the inclusion of resources from the Lake Way and Centipede-Millipede deposits.
• Strong potential exists to increase production at Lake Maitland with additional uranium resources from Lake Way and Centipede-Millipede. The study will evaluate whether this extends the potential processing of high-grade uranium resource well beyond the 7th year - a standalone Lake Maitland operation is expected to process 7 years of high grade material.
• The Extension Study includes a pit optimisation of Lake Way and Centipede-Millipede to determine economic cut-off grades based on latest long-term prices, exchange rates, operating costs & processing recoveries. Lake Maitland pit optimisation successfully increased potential production by 8Mlbs U₃O₈ and 11.9Mlbs V₂O₅ based on the below price assumptions.
• Potential upside from the incorporation of Lake Way and Centipede-Millipede in the financial metrics of the Lake Maitland Scoping Study which currently are:
  • NPV8- pre-tax of A$610M approx.
  • IRR 41% - Mine Life 17.5 years – Short Payback 2.5 years
  • Total EBITDA $1,768.6M
  • Average EBITDA $1.95M per week ($101M pa)
  • Modest capex of US$140M plus 20% contingency and 15% EPCM allowance
  • Low operating cost estimates for Life of Mine:
    • C1 cash operating cost US$23.10/lb U₃O₈
    • AISC of US$28.02/lb U₃O₈
    • C1 US$15.84/lb U₃O₈ & AISC US$20.32/lb U3O8 first 7 years provide very strong margins
  • Low average strip ratio of 1.17
  • Annual average production 1.3Mlbs U₃O₈ and 0.7Mlbs V₂O₅
  • Total production 22.8Mlbs of U₃O₈ and 11.9Mlbs of V₂O₅

Commenting on the encouraging progress of the Extension Study Toro’s Executive Chairman, Richard Homsany, said:

“We are pleased that strengthening uranium market conditions continue as we develop and seek to maximise the value of the Wiluna Uranium Project, especially our evaluation of extending our Lake Maitland uranium vanadium processing operation to include materials from our nearby 100% owned uranium deposits, Centipede-Millipede and Lake Way.

The uranium resources at Lake Way and Centipede-Millipede are strategically located and considerable, and need to be thoroughly evaluated for viability. The inclusion of additional material into the Lake Maitland uranium vanadium processing operation has the strong potential to add significant value to the Wiluna Uranium Project.

One of our key aims is to strengthen the production schedule at Lake Maitland and to assess the potential to extend the potential processing of high-grade uranium resource well beyond the 7th year of production, as is presently the case for a Lake Maitland only operation.

Global uranium markets continue to strengthen and fundamentals remain strong. Toro’s current and planned development activities at Wiluna will significantly build upon the excellent Lake Maitland Scoping Study outcomes.

Toro remains committed to developing the Wiluna Uranium Project to maximise its value when both government policy and uranium markets align.”

Lake Maitland Extension Study

One of the stand-out growth opportunities identified from the Lake Maitland Scoping Study is that the proposed production schedule does not include any Mineral Resources from Toro’s other wholly owned uranium deposits comprising the broader Wiluna Uranium Project namely, Centipede- Millipede and Lake Way. This could lead to increased mine life, total production and revenue therefore adding considerable value to the entire Project. The Extension Study will aim to provide updated pit inventories at Centipede-Millipede and Lake Way from pit optimisation outcomes. These would be used as inputs into a future updated scoping study for the entire Wiluna Uranium Project which incorporates all of Centipede-Millipede and Lake Way in addition to Lake Maitland.

The Lake Maitland pit optimisation was successful to increase potential production by 8mlbs U₃O₈ and 11.9Mlbs V₂O₅ of additional product value based on the above price assumptions.

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