Australian company to install advanced uranium processing tech

Australian uranium miner Deep Yellow Limited (DYL) says it has signed a binding Technology Licence Agreement (TLA) that paves way for the installation of the advanced U-pgradeTM uranium ore processing technology at its Tumas Project in Namibia.

In a statement issued to shareholders on September 12, DYL managing director Greg Cochran said the agreement with Marenica Energy Limited would allow the mine to use the U-pgradeTM technology to maximise mineral recovery rates and lower operational costs.

“We have been carefully managing numerous parallel elements in regard to the Tumas Project and have long been confident that those efforts would soon be rewarded. This landmark agreement giving us access to the UpgradeTM process will enable us to accelerate the project development, leveraging off the potential to capture significant cost benefits as a result of the application of this technology,” Cochran said.

He said the decision to commercialise the agreement followed the recent conclusion of metallurgical tests that showed that when applied at Tuma, the UpgradeTM technology could reject up to 98% of the mass (ore) while recovering up to 82% of uranium on site. Further, he said, the high productivity rate of the system would reduce both capital and operating costs in a manner that lowered the overall cost of mine development

“The agreement is the culmination of over three years of engagement with Marenica Energy Ltd and allows us to rapidly move into the next phase of project development, being further metallurgical test work, a resource expansion drilling program and a fast-track feasibility study program.

“The agreement aims to share the economic benefit of the combination of the resource and technology in a ratio of 75(DYL) and 25 (MEY) and comprises a series of lump sum payments and latter, ongoing fees once the UpgradeTM plant has met specific performance indicators,” Cochran said.

The two companies are already in the advanced stages of planning a fast-track feasibility study that would include metallurgical variability test work and a new resource drilling programme at the Tuma Project. The next phases of project development would include further metallurgical tests and a resource portfolio expansion programme.

– African News Agency (ANA)