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 the 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 completed air core drilling at the Tiris uranium project – its key objective in 2022 to deliver near-term Phase 1 uranium oxide production.

The 10 000 m infill drilling programme is designed to upgrade Aura’s inferred resources of 26.3-million pounds at 100 parts per million of triuranium octoxide cutoff within Tiris East into measured or indicated status, and to identify further exploration targets within the tenure.

With the drilling and logging programme complete, validation samples have been delivered to ALS Ireland and ANSTO Minerals, in Australia.

Aura expects to update its resource estimate before the end of the year.

With the updated resources estimate, Aura intends to accelerate the project, with potential for expansion to between two-million and four-million pounds a year of triuranium octoxide.

Aura COO Dr Will Goodall has said the completion of drilling is a key milestone in developing the project and is aligned with the company’s objective of achieving first uranium production by 2025.

“Through the fourth quarter of this year, we expect to finalise key negotiations with the Mauritanian government, which remains very supportive of Tiris,” he has said.

Aura’s strategy to deliver near-term production from Tiris is being driven by the global shift towards low-carbon energy sources, leading to more attention being focused on nuclear power and, in turn, prompting a surge in uranium prices.

This year, uranium prices have risen “dramatically”, from about $30/lb to the October level of near $50/lb, representing an increase of about 60%, Aura has pointed out.

A 2021 Tiris feasibility study update demonstrated that it is a low-capital and low-operating-cost project, with a simple, proven flowsheet. The project has first-mover opportunity, with a capital estimate of $74.8-million and operating cost of $25.43/lb, Aura has said.

Aura progressed with an engineering programme at Tiris this year, resulting in the grade of ore going through the pilot plant being upgraded by between 500% and 600% while retaining 90% of the uranium.

It also developed a new circuit, which will recover vanadium pentoxide as a by-product, with the expectation of operating cost savings.

Meanwhile, Aura has reported that a concession agreement is being negotiated with the government of Mauritania, to be signed by the President and the Minister of Mines, outlining Aura’s commitment to the key steps involved in project development, including the approval process steps.

This, Aura has said, provides certainty in relation to tenure and confirms all aspects of the host government’s fiscal regime for at least 30 years.

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); Golders Associates (groundwater supply review); ANSTO Minerals (bulk metallurgical testwork); Mintek (pilot-scale tests); DRA Global and its subsidiary SENET (front-end engineering design study for the project); and Wallbridge Gilbert Aztec and Adelaide Control Engineering (design of the processing circuit).

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