Name of the Project
Madaouela uranium project.

Location
Agadez region, in the north of Niger.

Project Owner/s
Africa-focused uranium company GoviEx Uranium (80%) and the Niger government (20%), of which 10% represents a free carry.

Project Description
The updated prefeasibility study (PFS) has succeeded in delivering a project that is technically robust and significantly simplified, reducing development and operational risk.

The project has probable reserves of 24.9-million tonnes run-of-mine (RoM) grading 0.85 kg of total uranium.

Mining operations for the project are initially planned to be based on standard truck-and-shovel openpit mining for the Miriam deposit at one-million tonnes a year of ore feed to the process plant, which results in an initial six years of mining operations at Miriam. This production rate ensures that the life of the Miriam deposit will exceed the expected potential debt tenor.

The Marianne-Marylin and MNSE-Maryvonne deposits are planned to be mined using room-and-pillar methods. Ore mining is designed to be undertaken at 1.4-million tonnes a year. Mined ore is to be fed onto a conveyor through feed breakers at each panel. RoM ore is then planned to be sorted using X-ray fluorescence to remove waste dilution. Thereafter, the ore is designed to be trucked to the process plant at one-million tonnes a year.

The life-of-mine (LoM) operations for the project is estimated at 20 years, producing estimated total uranium sales of 49.6-million pounds of uranium and averaging 2.48-million pounds uranium a year over the LoM.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Based on a uranium price of $55/lb of uranium, the project has an estimated net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $117-million and an internal rate of return of 13.7%, with a payback of five years.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital is estimated at $347.26-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
GoviEx Uranium has started a five-month drilling programme as part of a feasibility study on the Madaouela uranium project.

The feasibility programme is designed to cover infrastructure, tailings, geotechnical studies and reconfirmation of water supply from the recently published and updated PFS on the project.

The 13 000 m drilling programme combines rotary-mud and diamond core drilling to an average depth of 100 m, with the current phase being focused at the Miriam deposit.

This phase has three main objectives.

The first objective entails drilling to a 50 m grid spacing within the planned openpit shape to confirm an indicated mineral resource for molybdenum mineralisation. The process flowsheet has been designed to recover molybdenum as a by-product, based on the molybdenum content reported in the previous testwork.

Secondly, the drilling is set to determine the final corroboration of the geotechnical slope design for Miriam, which was steepened from 51° to 53° in the updated PFS.

The third objective of the drilling is to verify whether Miriam dewatering is sufficient to support process water requirements, rather than developing a standalone wellfield, as is currently envisaged given the reduced water use defined in the updated PFS.

Positive results could potentially reduce operating and capital costs associated with water use, as well as the environmental impact.

GoviEx has shipped a 1 t metallurgical sample, which is en route to South Africa, for further confirmatory feasibility study level metallurgical testwork.

Owing to the simplification of the process flowsheet, the required testwork necessary to meet the technical requirements for a feasibility study is also simplified and will focus on verification and enhancement, including comminution, acid leach and ion exchange.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
l’Entreprise Sidi Abdoul Aziz de Forage and Foraco (drilling contracts).

Contact Details for Project Information
GoviEx Uranium, tel +1 604 681 5529 or email info@goviex.com.