Name of the Project
Tiris uranium project.

Location
Mauritania.

Project Owner/s
Uranium exploration company Aura Energy.

Project Description
In September 2024, Aura Energy reported in an update to the February 2024 front-end engineering design (FEED), a 44% increase in life-of-mine (LoM) production from 30.1-million pounds a year to 43.5-million pounds of triuranium octoxide (U₃O₈) in the FEED. This follows the upgrading of the project's mineral resource to 91.3-million pounds of U₃O₈.

The update also noted an increase in the project’s mine life from 17 years to 25 years.

The processing plant will average 1.8-million pounds a year of U₃O₈ from the two-million pound-a-year-capacity U₃O₈ process plant.

Envisaged is a shallow free-dig openpit mining and beneficiation operation, with the operation delivering a high-grade leach feed averaging 2 217 parts per million (ppm) U₃O₈, an increase from 1 997 ppm U₃O₈ (over first five years) in the FEED. This remains overall about the same at 1 752 ppm U₃O₈ from 1 743 ppm U₃O₈ in the FEED at a very low average cost of $9.16/lb U₃O₈.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Aura reported in September 2024 that economics on the project had improved, with the net present value (NPV) having increased by 29% to $499-million, compared with $388-million set out in the February FEED study. The after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) is now estimated at 39%, compared with the 36% estimated in February.

Payback has decreased by 10% to 2.25 years.

Capital Expenditure
$230-million.

Planned Start/End Date
First production at the project is targeted for 2026/27.

Latest Developments
Aura Energy has concluded two agreements for the future sales of U₃O₈ concentrate from the project.

It has entered into a long-term offtake agreement with a major US-based nuclear utility, as well as a master spot sales agreement with a global uranium trading group.

Aura says this is its first long-term offtake agreement with a nuclear power utility, marking a major milestone for the Tiris project. The company has noted that the US-based nuclear utility is a Fortune 500 company with an investment-grade rating as defined by Standard & Poor’s.

The contract is at market-related pricing within a collar price structure that is well above the forecast cost of production at the project.

Aura has said that the total contracted volume represents about 10% of Tiris’s projected uranium output over the four-year term of the agreement – from 2028 to 2031 – contingent on the delivery of U₃O₈ concentrate to a designated conversion facility in the US or Europe.

The offtake agreement is subject to Aura securing project financing and making a final investment decision on the Tiris project by December 31, 2025, adding that other terms and conditions of the agreement are in line with industry standards.

The offtake agreement secures a range of revenues for the U₃O₈ concentrate covered by the contracted volume and term, locking in a minimum pricing mechanism that Aura expects will also likely be a condition of future debt and project funding arrangements for Tiris.

Moreover, Aura has said the spot sales agreement allows for discretionary spot sales of U₃O₈ concentrate without long-term binding commitments. Aura notes that the spot sales agreement also allows Aura to take advantage of short-term market pricing backed by a highly credible counterparty.

The company has noted that U₃O₈ concentrate can be delivered to agreed conversion facilities in France, Canada and the US, adding that this spot sales agreement provides Aura with flexibility to respond to market conditions and optimise revenue from spot market opportunities.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Wood (basic engineering and early works definition programme); and ECG Engineering (power generation solution).

Contact Details for Project Information
Aura Energy, tel +61 3 9101 8551 or email info@auraenergy.com.au.