Mineral resource company GoviEx Uranium expects to release details of a final process design flowsheet for its Madaouela uranium project, in Niger.
Over the past year, the company’s technical team, together with its feasibility study consultants, SRK Consulting and SGS Bateman, has been focused on metallurgical testing and engineering design work that has potential to significantly benefit the overall feasibility of the Madaouela project.
Work has been focused on target areas that may reduce both operating and capital costs relative to the current technical report on Madaouela, while at the same time reducing technical risk, with a focus on improving overall project economics.
Metallurgical test work has been ongoing at the technical teams’ offices in South Africa to verify initial results and to compare alternative trade-off options.
Owing to the novel logistical challenges associated with Covid-19, as well as transportation permit delays, the test work has taken longer than originally anticipated; however, the company reports that all metallurgical test work has now been completed.
A final process design flowsheet will be released in the coming weeks and will forecast, besides other things, lower acid consumption than previously reported, the company notes.
Since acid cannot be sourced locally, reducing consumption is a significant objective for this project.
“We are now coming to the end of the updated prefeasibility study (PFS) process and remain fully committed to achieving our key targets. It has taken time to thoroughly examine the competing process alternatives. We anticipate that we will shortly deliver a clear plan for the improved development of Madaouela,” says GoviEx CEO Daniel Major.
Now that the plant design is completed, SRK and SGS are focused on securing updated operating and capital costs for the revised plan and undertaking a number of associated trade-off studies that focus on meeting the company’s defined targets.
This final stage of work is expected to take about five to seven weeks to complete and compile to release the formal results.
Madaouela is already mine-permitted and the company is focused on delivering the updated PFS, before transitioning to the feasibility study stage required to secure project finance and long-term supply offtake.
The company says it remains optimistic about the outlook for the uranium market in the foreseeable future.
FALEA UPDATE
During October and November of this year, GoviEx contracted Terratec Geophysical Services, based in Germany, to complete four high-resolution Internet protocol (IP) lines and a gradient-IP survey over the Falea deposit in Mali.
This was to better understand the structural factors influencing the copper and silver mineralisation associated with the uranium deposits and gold mineralisation associated with the Birimian geology.
The results from Terratec are expected in early December, along with the assay results from the previously announced sampling programme of Birimian intervals from cored holes at the Falea deposit.