Aura Energy (ASX: AEE, AIM: AURA) told investors on Friday that its Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) for the Tiris Uranium Project in Mauritania confirms a technically simple, long-life mine requiring capital expenditure.
The London and ASX-listed uranium developer said the study supports advancing Tiris to a final investment decision targeted for December, with first production expected by the end of 2028.
Aura has spent the past several months settling Tiris's technical definition, confirming a processing flowsheet pairing pre-leach centrifuge separation with polymer dewatering technology, and progressing financing talks with the US International Development Finance Corporation alongside a separate non-binding proposal from a US investment fund.
The BFS puts the post-tax net present value of Tiris at $500.3m on a 100%, ungeared basis, using an 8% real discount rate and a uranium price of $90 per pound of U3O8, with Aura's attributable share at $425.3m. The post-tax internal rate of return comes in at 28%, with payback from first production estimated at 3.2 years.
Development capital is put at $349.8m, with construction expected to take about two years, and life-of-mine free cash flow, undiscounted and ungeared, at $1,479m.
Aura said the project carries a C1 cash cost of $32.53 per pound and an all-in sustaining cost of $41.25 per pound, leaving a cash margin over C1 cost of $57.47 per pound, or 64%, at the $90 base-case price.
Saleable production is estimated at 46.1m pounds of U3O8 over 26 years, averaging 1.8m pounds annually, with average annual revenue of $158m and EBITDA of $93m.
The Ore Reserve estimate has risen 11% to 74.6m tonnes at 227 parts per million U3O8 for 37.3m pounds, up from 33.6m pounds, estimated by Mr Andrew Hutson of Resolve Mining Services and replacing the reserve reported in December 2024.
The mine plan uses free-dig, shallow calcrete ore with no drilling or blasting required, at a strip ratio of 1.00:1, with beneficiation upgrading uranium seven-fold to a leach feed grade of 1,697 parts per million and overall recovery of 83.7%.
The forecast financial information assumes Tiris is funded with $400m, split between $220m of senior and subordinated debt and $180m of equity, royalties or other quasi-equity instruments, with Aura noting that funding is not yet secured and no lender or investor has committed.
A confirmatory pilot plant at Bir Moghrein, replicating the full commercial flowsheet, is due on site later this month and set to operate from November into December, processing more than 80 tonnes of ore across different ore types ahead of the investment decision.
"Tiris is a simple, robust project. It will be Mauritania's first uranium mine and opens a new uranium province," said Aura Energy Executive Chair Philip Mitchell, adding that the company aims to select its financing partner and structure by the end of 2026.
Aura President John Carr said engineering is complete and key permits are in place, with the pilot plant's results to "feed directly into detailed design and provide our financing partners with further confidence in the flowsheet and development plans."
The project carries 30-year exploitation permits, executed Mining Conventions and environmental approvals, with Mauritania holding a 15% state interest.
The company continues to target board and regulatory approvals by 30 June 2027 and a final investment decision by year-end 2027, pending conclusion of its financing discussions and the pilot plant's results due in early December.
