Name of the Project
Tiris uranium project.

Location
Sahara Desert, north-east Mauritania.

Project Owner/s
The project is owned by Tiris Resources (85%), a subsidiary of Aura Energy, and the Mauritanian government, through its agency Societe Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbons et de Patrimone Minier (15%).

Project Description
Tiris is the first major calcrete uranium discovery in the region.

A definitive feasibility study (DFS) has confirmed the uranium project as a low capital- and operating-cost development opportunity.

Average uranium oxide production is estimated at 823 000 lb, with life-of-mine (LoM) production estimated at 12.35-million pounds of uranium oxide.

The beneficiation plant ore-throughput rate is estimated at 1.25-million tonnes a year and that of the process plant at 160 000 t/y.

The LoM has been estimated at 15 years.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, including royalties and tax, at an 8% discount rate, of $89.9-million and an internal rate of return of 26%, including royalties and tax, with a project payback from startup of 3.25 years.

Capital Expenditure
An updated capital cost estimate for project has increased the projected cost by 10.4%.

The project is expected to require a capital investment of $74.8-million, compared with the $62.9-million estimated in the 2019 DFS.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Aura Energy has announced that a diamond drill rig has been mobilised from Nouakchott to the Tiris uranium project to begin the 10 000 m infill drilling programme, with results expected in the fourth quarter.  

Diamond drilling will generate large-diameter (PQ) core in about 60 holes to validate the downhole radiometric logging results that the resource estimate will be based on, and will provide density data throughout the deposit.

On January 20, Aura said its 2022 resource upgrade programme would include further drilling, seeking to upgrade more of its 56-million-pound resource from inferred to measured and indicated, and to identify further exploration targets within the tenure.

The programme is designed to expand what is already one of the lowest capital-expenditure and operating-cost uranium projects in the world, Aura has said.

The resource upgrade programme will focus on the Sadi, Lazare South and Hippolye zones within the Tiris East project to increase measured and indicated resources as Aura transitions from a uranium explorer to producer at Tiris.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Minecore (engineering consultant); Simulus Group (leaching/ion-exchange engineering consultant); Adelaide Control Engineering (uranium processing engineering consultant); Mining Plus (mine design consultant); General Studies and Achievements in Africa (geotechnical consultant): PhotoSat (satellite surveying); H&S Consultants (resource estimation); 3D Exploration (grade determination by gamma logging); Poseidon Geophysics (downhole gamma logging); Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation (metallurgical testwork, steady-state simulation, uranium disequilibrium); Australian MinMet Metallurgical Laboratories (metallurgical testwork); CSIRO Minerals, University of South Australia, Pontifex Associates (mineralogy); Activation Laboratories (uranium determination); Geoterra (hydrogeological consulting); SES (water geophysics); ALS Global (chemical analysis); Wallis Drilling (air-core drilling); Capital Drilling (diamond drilling); Earth Systems (environmental- and social impact assessment consultants); METS Engineering (operating cost review); and Golders Associates (groundwater supply review).

Contact Details for Project Information
Aura Energy, tel +61 3 9516 6500 or email info@auraenergy.com.au.