In my opinion Aura Energy beats them all hands down. Any project with a big Capex will struggle to get off the ground until Uranium is well into an uptrend.
Insitu leach projects like PEN's are problematic and costly when they need to drill new production wells.
Aura's Tiris project ticks all the boxes and has a very small market cap. It has diversity (not a one trick pony). Tiris in Mauritania is owned by Aura Energy 100%.
The Tiris Uranium Project is based on a major greenfields uranium discovery in Mauritania, with
52 Mlb U3O8 in current resource.
Measured and indicated resource of 17m lbs.
DFS completion in 2018.
Project go ahead post DFS - subject to funding and regulatory approvals.
The project has several natural attributes which result in low capital and operating costs. These attributes are:
- Shallow flat-lying surface mineralisation (only 1-5 metres deep) within unconsolidated gravels
- Low cost mining with no blasting and negligible overburden - no grinding.
- Uranium ore can be simply (wash and screen) upgraded by up to 500%; from 420 ppm to 2500ppm.
- Leads to a very small plant, small footprint and minimal supporting infrastructure
- Leach feed grade 2,000-2,500 ppm U3O8 with 94% leaching recovery in 4 hours.
The conceptual 1 Mtpa mine and plant project described in the Scoping Study was designed to take full advantage of these unusual characteristics, whilst providing a low capital cost and rapid project development and construction. Significantly, a water study by Golders has indicated that potential sources of water in the immediate vicinity will satisfy the demands of the project.
- Low operating cost – A$19.40/lb
- Low capital cost – US$45 million
- Easily scalable - potential to increase production to 3m lbs/year
- Mining at ~120 tph (1.0 Mtpa)
- Small 25 tph leach facility
- Mined grade >420ppm U3O8 for 15 years
- Produce 0.7-1.1 Mlbs U3O8 per year
- Expand project from cashflow
- Targeting a 100Mlb uranium Resource in region.
Additionally, Aura holds 100% of the Haggan battery metals deposit, containing 15.1 billion lbs of Vanadium and an application to gain drilling rights to excellent Gold, Nickel, Copper and Cobalt ground at Tasiast South.
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