ASX- and Aim-listed uranium developer Aura Energy is nearing a final investment decision (FID) on the Tiris project, in Mauritania, underpinned by a robust processing flowsheet, positive indicative economics and a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) that strengthens the funding pathway.

The group expects to make an announcement on the Tiris project by year-end, following a bankable feasibility study (BFS) that is due in September.

Tiris would be Mauritania’s first uranium mine and its first new mine in 20 years.

Aura signed an MoU with a major international nuclear power company covering potential investment, offtake and technical collaboration. The collaboration would support a pathway to a substantial, well-capitalised funding partner for Tiris, without derogating from other funding options.

Aura’s funding pathway for Tiris spans multiple complementary sources, including a potential cornerstone strategic equity investment from a strategic investor such as the MoU counterparty; senior project debt with the US International Development Finance Corporation together with new equity and quasi equity such as royalties; and a non-binding, fully funded proposal from a major US investment fund.

While early-stage analysis on the project indicates positive economic outcomes for a two-million-pound-a-year triuranium octoxide operation, the BFS is considering the economics for an expansion to a 3.5-million-pound plant.

Chairperson Phil Mitchell says it is a defining moment for Tiris, with the settled processing flowsheet having locked in a validated technical foundation for the project. The flowsheet is built entirely on commercially proven technologies and has been validated across the full range of Tiris ore types.

"With technical uncertainty having been cleared, Tiris has a clear run to a FID," Mitchell affirms.

The flowsheet pairs pre-leach centrifuge separation with post-leach polymer dewatering and horizontal vacuum belt filtration, which Mitchell explains is an efficient and cost-effective combination that is ready for deployment.

The polymer-based dewatering system, called ATA, is owned by ASX-listed Clean TeQ Water, which has also been awarded a design and construct contract for a full -scale ATA plant processing 750 000 t/y of tailings.