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 reported a 52% increase in the measured and indicated resource at the project.

The measured and indicated resource now stands at 62.1-million tonnes at 216 parts per million (ppm) uranium oxide for 29.6-million pounds of uranium oxide.

The project’s global mineral resource estimate currently stands at 113-million tonnes grading 236 ppm uranium oxide for 58.9-million pounds of uranium oxide.

“The significant increase in our measured and indicated resources confirms our confidence that the Tiris province has great expansion potential. Our immediate focus is now to work with our Mauritanian stakeholders, offtake providers, investors and financing partners to progress towards a decision to mine in the third quarter of 2023, a target construction timeline of the fourth quarter of 2023, and first production expected in late 2024 or early 2025,” Aura Energy MD Dave Woodall has said.

Aura recently signed a mining convention with the government of Mauritania, covering an initial 30-year period and providing stability for the project by defining the legal and economic conditions that would allow for mining at the site.

The mining convention includes a tax rate of 25%, a royalty rate of 3.5% free-on-board value, value-added tax exemption for the import of movable goods, materials, equipment, vehicles and other inputs, the right to import and transport mineral substances required for mining, a defined State participation of up to 20%, and an accelerated depreciation in the first three years following the start of commercial production.

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.