JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed uranium miner Peninsula Energy will issue about 977 000 fully paid shares to project management company DRA Global’s independent investment partner, Concentrate Capital Partners (CCP), at A$0.80 a share, following a recently signed subscription agreement.

DRA Projects is completing the mining, processing and engineering components of the prefeasibility study (PFS), as well as the supporting metallurgical testwork, for Peninsula’s Karoo uranium projects, in South Africa.

Under the subscription agreement, CCP will assume full responsibility for payment to DRA for services provided under the PFS. The agreement also contains an option for CCP to fund post-PFS activities, such as the bankable feasibility study and reserve drilling, using the same mechanism.

“[Peninsula] is confident that this work will provide us with clear parameters for the future development of the Karoo projects,” noted Peninsula MD and CEO John Simpson, adding that the company was pleased to partner with DRA and CCP in moving the Karoo projects towards production.

The PFS follows a preliminary technical and economic assessment concluded by DRA in late 2013, and additional metallurgical testwork conducted between 2014 and 2016.

The current metallurgical testwork is primarily aimed at establishing the economic benefits of carbonate removal ahead of leaching, along with confirmatory hydrometallurgical testwork.

Pending the outcome of this testwork phase, the PFS process design will consider the incorporation of a carbonate rejection step ahead of leaching to optimise the process flow sheet and minimise operating costs.

The PFS will also include preliminary mine design, as well as openpit and underground layout, all engineering works associated with the proposed mine, a plant tailings storage facility, and in-plant infrastructure.