Australian-based minerals company Aura Energy (ASX:AEE) reports that its newly produced yellowcake product from its Tiris Uranium Project in Mauritania has been confirmed to meet ASTM International specification by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).
The decision by ANSTO comes following the completion of a uranium recovery testwork program at its laboratory, which determined that the Tiris product can be sold in the international market as a high-standard product without penalties.
Aura Energy notes that this decision represents a key milestone in its strategy to move towards the first phase of production at the Tiris Project and opens the door to marketing discussions with leading nuclear utilities and converters.
The company’s yellowcake product is a form of uranium oxide concentrate (UOC) developed from beneficiation pilot plant concentrate samples taken from the Tiris Project in the northwest African country of Mauritania.
The samples used for the production of the yellowcake product were announced by the company on 23 June this year.
Speaking on the yellowcake product, Aura Energy’s Managing Director, Dave Woodall says: “The successful production of yellowcake from material upgraded in the pilot plant is a ‘significant’ step for Aura Energy.
“The successful production of yellowcake from material upgraded in the pilot plant is a ‘significant’ step for Aura Energy.”
It opens the door to commercial discussions with nuclear utilities, demonstrates the simple processing parameters required for uranium oxide production at the Tiris and provides a strong technical basis for moving forward. This will allow us to focus on operating efficiencies as we progress to a final investment decision.”
The company also notes that this announcement comes following the completion of a resource upgrade drilling and logging program at the Tiris project, as announced by Aura Energy in October this year.
Aura Energy is an Australian-based minerals company that boasts a ‘major’ uranium and polymetallic project portfolio with ‘large’ resources in Africa and Europe.
The company is focused on uranium production from its Tiris Project, which represents a ‘major’ greenfields uranium discovery in the sovereign nation of Mauritania. The project currently boasts a total JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 56 million pounds (at a 100ppm U3O8 lower cut-off grade.
Other projects included in the company’s exploration arsenal include the Häggån Vanadium-Uranium project in Sweden and the Tasiast South Gold and Base Metals project also located in Mauritania.
Images: Aura Energy Ltd
