By: OrePulse

Aura Energy has completed a bankable feasibility study for its Tiris uranium project in Mauritania, reporting a post-tax net present value of $500.3 million, a post-tax internal rate of return of 28 percent, and a payback period of 3.2 years from first production, the company said. Aura described the planned mine as straightforward to operate, with a long operating horizon and relatively limited capital needs.

The figures are based on an assumed uranium price of $90 per pound of U3O8. Aura's attributable share of the post-tax net present value is $425.3 million. The company is targeting a final investment decision in December 2026, with first production expected by the end of 2028.

Over a 26-year mine life, Tiris is forecast to generate life-of-mine free cash flow of $1.48 billion, with average annual revenue of about $158 million, average annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $93 million, and average annual post-tax free cash flow of $57 million. Development capital is estimated at $349.8 million, and construction is expected to take about two years. Operating costs are projected at a C1 cash cost of $32.53 per pound and an all-in sustaining cost of $41.25 per pound, giving an average annual cash margin of about $101 million over C1 costs and about $85 million over all-in sustaining costs. Aura cited TradeTech's Independent Marketing Assessment as a benchmark supporting the project's cost position.

The project is expected to produce about 46.1 million pounds of saleable U3O8 over its life, averaging 1.8 million pounds a year. Aura said ore reserves had risen 11 percent to 74.6 million tonnes at a grade of 227 parts per million, containing 37.3 million pounds of U3O8, up from 33.6 million pounds previously. The total mineral resource stands at 184 million tonnes at 225 parts per million, containing 91.3 million pounds.

Tiris is designed as a free-dig operation that would not require drilling, blasting, crushing or grinding. Mined ore would undergo beneficiation that upgrades its grade roughly sevenfold, to a leach feed grade of 1,697 parts per million, with an overall recovery rate of 83.7 percent.

Aura executive chairperson Philip Mitchell said construction would cost $350 million and that financing arrangements were well advanced, with several strategic investors working closely with the company. "We aim to select our financing partner and structure by the end of 2026," he said. The company is in advanced discussions with the United States International Development Finance Corporation for senior debt financing of about $150 million to $170 million, and has signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding for product supply with a major nuclear utility that was not named. No offtake terms were disclosed.

Mitchell said the project "will be Mauritania's first uranium mine and opens a new uranium province," adding that it comes as "demand for uranium is accelerating."

The government of Mauritania holds a 15 percent interest in the project. Mines and Industry Minister Eddi Ould Zeine said the project was "expected to benefit Mauritania and its communities," citing the state's equity stake along with royalties, taxes and community contributions. He described a "stable investment framework" that he said would deliver "lasting value for Mauritanians." Thirty-year exploitation permits, executed mining conventions and environmental approvals are in place, according to Aura.

Product from the mine would be trucked about 1,447 kilometers to the Port of Nouakchott, including 782 kilometers on sealed highway, the company said.

A pilot plant at Bir Moghrein is due to begin operating in November and run through December, processing more than 80 tonnes of ore across different ore types ahead of the investment decision.

Aura Energy is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and on London's AIM market.