Name of the Project
Salamanca uranium project.

Location
Spain.

Project Owner/s
Berkeley Energia.

Project Description
Salamanca has an overall mineral resource estimate of 89.3-million pounds of uranium. The project is based solely on measured and indicated resources totalling 59.8-million pounds.

An independent study has confirmed the project as one of the world’s lowest-cost producers capable of generating strong after-tax cash flow through the current low point in the uranium price cycle.

The study is based on extracting 61.3-million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 408 parts per million (ppm) uranium to produce 48.6-million pounds of uranium.

The study envisages an initial mine life of 14 years, producing on average 3.5-million pounds of uranium a year. After initial ramp-up, production will average 4.4-million pounds a year over ten years of steady-state operation.

Potential Job Creation
In addition to the creation of 450 direct jobs when the project is in full production, up to 2 000 indirect jobs will be created in the community.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $531.9-million and an internal rate of return of 60%.

Capital Expenditure
€82.3-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The share price of Berkeley Energia fell on November 29, as the company announced that Spain had formally rejected its application for a uranium concentrate plant at its Salamanca project.

The announcement of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) rejection did not come as a surprise and followed an unfavourable report from the country’s nuclear regulator in July this year.

The uranium project previously stated that it refuted the Nuclear Safety Council’s (NSC’s) assessment and said that it believed the regulator had adopted an “arbitrary decision with the technical issues used as justification to issue the unfavourable report lacking in . . . technical and legal support”.

Berkeley has submitted documentation, including an ‘improvement report', to supplement the company's initial NSC II application, along with the corresponding arguments that it said addressed the issues raised by the NSC.

The developer claimed that documentation submitted to MITECO in early August dismantled the technical issues used by the NSC as justification to issue the unfavourable report.

Berkeley has requested that its NSC II application be reassessed.

The CSN regulator previously said it took the decision, owing to a lack of reliability and a high level of uncertainty about how radioactive waste would be stored at the facility.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Iberdrola (rerouting of main power line); Amec Foster Wheeler Group (front-end engineering design); and Sandvik Group (primary crusher).

Contact Details for Project Information
Berkeley Energia, tel +44 207 478 3900 or fax +44 207 434 4450.