Aurora Energy Metals (ASX:1AE) is looking to take advantage of a $20 billion award initiative regarding its namesake flagship uranium and lithium asset in southeastern Oregon, US.
Speaking to Mining.com.au ahead of today’s (15 April 2024) release of the company’s quarterly report, Aurora Energy Metals Non-Executive Chairman Peter Lester says given the amount of government money available and the push for clean energy metals such as uranium and lithium, the company will lobby for the funding in due course.
On 5 April 2024, as part of President Joe Biden’s climate agenda, the US government is awarding $20 billion in funding towards clean energy projects to expand access to clean energy and climate solutions and lower energy costs for communities across the nation.
Lester says amid this backdrop, Aurora is advancing its project’s development and will be looking to undertake another bout of metallurgical drilling once the Scoping Study is complete. The full study is due for completion and release early in the current quarter, subject to laboratory turnaround times.
In the meantime, drilling is scheduled to begin in the US autumn, around September or October and is designed to gather additional metallurgical samples to refine the process route in preparation for a Prefeasibility Study (PFS) scheduled to begin in early 2025.
The Scoping Study so far indicates a potential 11-year life of mine (LoM) targeting 2 million tonnes per annum run-of-mine production rate, with a low LoM strip ratio of 2.1:1.
Beneficiation testwork undertaken as part of the study demonstrates average mine grades of 385 parts per million (ppm), which could be upgraded to a feed grade above 480ppm into a leach circuit.
Aurora remains in discussions regarding transitioning to a locally focused team close to its flagship asset, as reported.
Managing Director and CEO Greg Cochran is stepping down before the end of the current financial year to pursue other opportunities.
Lester tells this news service the company has always talked about building a team in the US. He explains Cochran’s departure opens the door to bringing on board a US-based leader and project partner.
“This is a classic asset to partner someone in the US who could be utility, it could be someone with a plant, it could be another miner who’s got an old mothball project that’s not quite good enough and ours is a lot better, who has a team over there,” Lester says.
The release of Aurora’s latest quarterly comes amid a robust uranium market environment. The Scoping Study is being prepared at a time when uranium has been one of the best performing commodities over the past six months, with the spot uranium price at 15-year highs, trading around US$90-100/lb.
Additionally, legislative developments in the US, such as the likely restriction of Russian imports from 2028, provide impetus for the development of US uranium projects to provide domestically sourced uranium.
The price of uranium has dropped from its record-breaking heights of US$106 per pound back in December 2023 down to US$89.65 as of 12 April 2024, according to Markets Insider.
Aurora Energy Metals is focused on its flagship wholly owned namesake project in Oregon. The project holds a current resource of 107.3 million tonnes @ 214 parts per million U3O8 for 50.6 million pounds U3O8.
The Scoping Study has identified a mid-case pit containing a total of 20.7Mt of mineralised material at 380ppm U3O8.
A conventional open pit mining method was selected as the basis for the mining operation, potentially using one 120t class excavator matched to 60t class trucks to achieve the targeted 2Mtpa ROM rate.
Meanwhile, Macro Metals (ASX:M4M) has elected to not exercise its option for the acquisition of an 85% interest in the lithium rights over Aurora’s flagship asset.
Macro has advised Aurora that its focus is on its Western Australia iron ore portfolio and that the acquisition no longer aligns with this strategy. As such, Aurora received $100,000 in non-refundable option fees from Macro as part of the transaction.
Macro MD Simon Rushton says the company’s Cane Bore, Catho Well, and Goldsworthy projects all have the potential to deliver significant value.
“Importantly, once approvals are in place, they should also be capable of fast-tracked commercialisation due to their proximity to established supply chain infrastructure,” he adds.
“The other key factor behind us reaching this decision was our intent to limit further dilution unless there is a multiple in upside to shareholder value of doing so; we did not see that benefit being realised on this occasion and elected to avoid the dilution that would have resulted from completing the acquisition.”
In November 2023, Aurora granted Macro the exclusive option to acquire the 85% stake in its lithium rights to allow the company to focus on the development of the Aurora uranium deposit, which Lester explains is “the largest mineable, measured, and indicated uranium deposit in the US”.
As of 31 March 2024, Aurora Energy Metals had $2.15 million cash at hand with no debt.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: Aurora Energy Metals
