Berkeley to optimise Spanish uranium project
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed junior Berkeley Energia has launched optimisation studies at its Salamanca uranium project, in Spain, in order to reduce operating costs.
The recent inclusion of the high-grade Zona 7 deposit into the Salamanca prefeasibility study had transformed the economics of the project, resulting in estimates of saleable production of 4.3-million pounds of uranium oxide a year, over a mine-life of 18 years.
The study estimated a net present value of $871.3-million and an internal rate of return of 93.3%, with capital expenditure to first production tipped at $81.4-million. C1 cash costs for the life of the mine have been estimated at $17.5/lb.
Berkeley MD Paul Atherley said on Monday that the company was focusing on reducing the operating costs at the Salamanca project, with the aim of making the project the world’s lowest cost producer.
“Early indications from the optimsiation studies have demonstrated that while the project has benefited from on average a 42% increase in grade from the Zona 7 ore during the first ten years of operation, there is room for further improvements, particularly in the material handling scheduling, strip ratio, the mining unit rates and the fixed costs associated with grade control drilling and assaying.”
Atherley said that the project also continued to benefit from external factors such as continued deflationary trends arising from strong ongoing competition among major contractors and suppliers, as well as the depreciation of the Euro against the US dollar.
The optimisation work forms part of the definitive feasibility study, which would enable funding and sales contracts to be put in place before the start of construction in mid-2016.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation