news released in london

Positive Met testing results from Firawa..this is quite technical but bottom line is we have a resource conducive to acid leach extraction. Recovery rates are still being firmed up, and further resource drilling to commence. This will please Areva and others..

ASX, AIM and Media Release
25 May 2010
Positive Metallurgical Results for Firawa Uranium Project, Guinea

LATEST RESULTS FROM ACID-LEACH TESTING CONFIRM POTENTIAL FOR HEAP-LEACH OPERATION AT FIRAWA URANIUM PROJECT IN
Guinea

INITIAL RESULTS INDICATE URANIUM RECOVERY RATES OF 67% FROM 8-HOUR ACID LEACH TESTING

FURTHER PRE-FEASIBILITY OPTIMISATION TESTING TO BE UNDERTAKEN AIMED AT REDUCING ACID CONSUMPTION AND FURTHER
improving uranium recovery rates

ADDITIONAL DRILLING PROGRAM BEING PLANNED ON THE REMAINING 50% UNDRILLED ANOMALY. DRILLING TO COMMENCE AT THE
end of Q3 after the wet season to extend the current JORC resource

International uranium exploration company Forte Energy NL (ASX / AIM: FTE) ("Forte Energy" or "the Company") is pleased to report encouraging preliminary results from metallurgical investigations being undertaken of samples from its 100% owned Firawa Uranium Project in Guinea, West Africa.

To view image, please open in a new window: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Figure1FENL.pdf In July 2009, Forte Energy announced an initial JORC-code compliant Inferred uranium resource of 17.7Mt grading 296ppm U3O8 for 11.6 million pounds of contained U3O8 for the Firawa Project (using a cut-off grade of 100ppm U3O8). There is potential for the resource to be increased as the deposit remains open along strike and down dip.

The Company has engaged Mineral Engineering Technical Services Pty Ltd ("METS") in Perth, Australia, to undertake metallurgical testing to assess the deposit for potential heap leach recovery.

This process route would involve percolating an acid or alkaline solution through heaps of the mineralised material to dissolve the uranium. The uranium in solution would then be selectively extracted using an ion exchange process and precipitated and roasted into a uranium oxide (U3O8) concentrate. Key parameters for this process therefore include the mineralogy of the deposit and the leaching recoveries, dynamics and acid (or alkali) consumption.

Preliminary QEMSCAN (Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning Electron Microscope) analysis of composite samples from Firawa was initially conducted by METS to assess the mineralogy. This analysis showed that 99.99% of the contained uranium is hosted in the mineral crandallite, a calcium aluminium phosphate which made up 27% of the composite samples tested. Goethite (41%) and hematite (15%) were the other major components identified.

To view image, please open in a new window: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Figure2FENL.pdf

Carbonates were not detected so the ore is not expected to show excessive acid consumption in a moderately acidic leach and may also be amenable to alkaline leaching. The QEMSCAN analysis also suggested that reducing the iron content with gravity separation before leaching will also be a likely avenue for improving leach recoveries.

Following the encouraging mineralogical analysis and some initial leach testing on raw samples, Forte Energy forwarded additional Firawa samples to METS to carry out further leach testing as a precursor to prefeasibility studies. This testing is investigating the effects of acid concentration, temperature and grind size and potential for upgrading the ore with gravity separation, to optimise the uranium extraction from the crandallite.

The preliminary test plan examined samples crushed to 1mm then undergoing gravity separation via tabling. Resulting samples were then split and underwent both pug roast leach testing and direct acid leach testing with sulphuric acid.

For the pug roast leach testing, sulphuric acid was added at the rate of 500kg/tonne then baked at 250C for 1 hour. The pug roast leach testing resulted in the recovery of around 55% of the uranium and 49% of the iron content.

Samples for the direct acid leach tests were 30% solids treated with a 6Molar solution of sulphuric acid at 90C for 24 hours with solid and residue samples taken at several intervals for assaying. The maximum uranium extraction of 67.2% was achieved after 8 hours of leaching. This represents a considerable improvement from the 35% recovery achieved from the initial leach test on raw samples.

The acid consumption was higher than optimal due to a high percentage of iron oxides/hydroxides that were dissolved in the process. To lower the acid consumption more iron oxides would need to be rejected prior to the leach step. Further investigation aims to optimise the leaching to improve uranium recovery and reduce acid consumption.

Uranium Recovery - Direct Acid Leach Tests


Uranium Recovery
1 hr 59.9%
4 hr 60.2%
8 hr 67.2%
16 hr 63.5%
24 hr 63.0%



Head Grade 0.072%


To view image, please open in a new window: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Figure3FENL.pdf

Forte Energy is pleased with the results of the preliminary testing and looks forward to receiving the complete metallurgical test-work summary report from METS, along with their recommendations for further optimisation testing.

Based on the positive results so far, the Company is preparing plans for further drilling at Firawa to commence at the end of Q3 in 2010, after the rainy season ends. The drilling is likely to include both extension and infill drilling and would be aimed at extending the current JORC code compliant resource, which remains open along strike and down dip, as well as moving some of the resource form inferred to indicated status. The Company also expects to commence the permitting process as part of prefeasibility studies for a potential heap leach operation.

The Firawa uranium anomaly is 5 km log and only half of it has been investigated by drilling. The second phase drilling, the core drilling program completed in January 2009, confirmed continuity and encountered mineralisation where not expected. The Company believes there is capacity to considerably increase the tonnage.

Bir En Nar uranium prospect, Mauritania


As previously announced, the Company is awaiting the final chemical assay results from the +5,800m diamond


core resource drilling program at the key Bir En Nar Uranium Project in Mauritania. Once these results are received they will be incorporated with existing results to enable calculation of an initial JORC Code compliant Mineral Resource estimate. Forte Energy is also awaiting assay results from its recent 5,000m RC drilling program across nine other uranium anomalies within its Mauritanian licences.

Mark Reilly Managing Director