ASX- and Aim-listed Aura Energy has reported a Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant resource of 18.4-million pounds of vanadium within its Tiris uranium project, in Mauritania.
Aura said on Wednesday that the addition of vanadium to the Tiris resource estimate was undertaken after confirmation of a constant ratio of vanadium to uranium at Tiris in carnotite.
“The inclusion of vanadium in the resource estimate for Tiris gives Aura a wonderful opportunity to explore further operating cost reductions through addition of vanadium pentoxide as a by-product to uranium,” said acting CEO Will Goodall.
“Test work on leaching of the uranium-bearing mineral at Tiris through the definitive feasibility study has shown that vanadium is recovered with uranium in the proposed Tiris leaching circuit. Additional test work is currently under way with Ansto Minerals to recover leached vanadium to a vanadium pentoxide product. This work will aim to demonstrate that vanadium by-product could be produced with only minor additions to the existing Tiris process circuit.”
Goodall said that the inclusion of vanadium as a by-product recovery has been explored in several other operations with similar mineralogy to Tiris, including Paladin Energy’s Langer Heinrich operation, in Namibia.
“The vanadium resource estimate provides the initial step to further optimise the low-cost Tiris project and we are excited by the prospect of further enhancing the project in this way.”
A 2021 study estimated that the uranium-only project would require a capital investment of $74.8-million to produce 12.4-million pounds of uranium oxide over a 15-year period.
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