Häggån Scoping Study

Aura Energy Limited

05 September 2023

 

 

Häggån Scoping Study Confirms the Scale and Optionality of Aura's Critical Minerals Project in Sweden

·     Scoping Study reveals extraordinary Häggån scale and optionality o  Vanadium, potash, nickel, molybdenum, zinc and uranium[1] among a diversified suite of future-facing commodities o  Swedish location positive in light of leadership in the European resource industry   o  65MT Scoping Study covers less than 3% of Haggan's known 2.0Bn tonne Mineral Resource Estimate. ·    Scoping Study delivers strong project sample for re-engagement with potential strategic partners ·    Scoping Study underpins application for a 25-year Exploitation Permit ·    Sweden is Europe's leading mining and mineral nation, and its minerals strategy and anticipated legislative changes will strengthen that position Processing Rate Mtpa V2O5 ktpa SOP ktpa Capital US$ million NPV Base Case US$ million NPV (incl U3O8)1 US$ million IRR % Payback years 3.5 10.4 217 $592M $380 - $1,231[2] $756 - $1,606[3] 26-47%2 1.5 to 2.0 ·

Aura Energy Limited (ASX: AEE, AIM: AURA) ("Aura" or "the Company") is pleased to release its Scoping Study for the Häggån Project ("Häggån" or "the Project") in Sweden.

To view the full Scoping Study for the Häggån Project, please click here
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4123L_1-2023-9-5.pdf

Aura Chairman Philip Mitchell said, "The Scoping Study underpins our 25-year Exploitation Permit Application and addressed <3% of the Haggan resource whilst confirming Haggan's scale and optionality.  Haggan's products are crucial to Battery Technology, Agriculture and potentially with legislative change low carbon, secure and affordable electricity.

The Swedish Government acknowledges that for Sweden's clean power system to function, a large part must be readily dispatchable, and nuclear power is the only non-fossil option. I noted Sweden's Minister of the Environment's comments to the Times of London on 18 August 2023 "There was a parliamentary majority behind lifting Sweden's ban on uranium extraction and opening up by far the largest deposits in the European Union.

She noted that "Nearly 40 years after the completion of the country's last new nuclear power plant, Minister Pourmokhtari has announced plans to build at least ten large reactors to meet an anticipated surge in demand for zero-carbon power".

She said that while wind and solar power would be important, the country also needed massive volumes of nuclear-generated electricity because output can be reliably dialled up or down to keep the power supply steady through the peaks and troughs of renewable generation."

"The government is aiming at doubling electricity production in 20 years," Minister Pourmokhtari said. "For our clean power system to function, a large part of this has to be dispatchable where nuclear power is the only non-fossil option.  Nuclear power also has a reduced environmental footprint and requires limited

resources in comparison with most energy sources."^[4]

The 65MT Haggan Scoping Study covers <3% of Haggan's known 2.0Bn tonne Mineral Resource Estimate.  The Study portends a Tier 1 polymetallic mineral resource providing key minerals for a transitioning world.  The remaining 97% of the resource will be further studied and offers exciting future prospects including further study of the potential of rare earth minerals known to occur in the Alum shales.   The Scoping Study  will support the  engagement with potential strategic partners in the project."

Aura Managing Director Dave Woodall said  "The Häggån ore body is massive with a richly endowed polymetallic orebody that contains significant quantities of critical metals that are essential to the rapidly growing energy transition and agricultural supply chains including significant quantities of vanadium, potash, uranium, and base metals.  Our project can be integral to the Swedish and European supply of these critical metals that can significantly de-risk the energy transition while providing benefits to all stakeholders.

Our next steps in the Prefeasibility Study will be to further infill drilling that aims to increase mine life and further enhance the project economics. "

Figure 1 - Haggan Scoping Study Resource with less than 3% of the total Mineral Resource Estimate currently included in the mining plan

The Häggån Project is based on a substantial discovery in the Jämtland province in central Sweden, with a polymetallic global Mineral Resource Estimate of ~2 billion tonnes at a 0.2% V₂O₅ cutoff[5]. While vanadium is a significant driver of Häggån's value, it contains economically significant volumes of other strategic metals and minerals including potassium, nickel, zinc, molybdenum, and uranium.  A significant benefit of the polymetallic deposit is the potential for economically extractable sulphate of potash (SOP) as a byproduct in the processing.

The Häggån Project is a significant polymetallic deposit that provides a key growth opportunity for Aura, with the scoping study using the Indicated Mineral Resource shown in Figure 2, a small percentage of the global resource.  The Scoping Study is the culmination of a significant package of work, including the 2019 resource upgrade[6], and provides the Company with a solid foundation for future growth and to undertake additional work to assess the path forward in Sweden.

V2O5 Cut-Off	Class	Mt Ore	V2O5	Mo	Ni	Zn	K2O	Million lbs	Mt
%			%	ppm	ppm	ppm	%	V2O5	K2O
0.20	Indicated	42	0.35	217	375	512	4.13	320	1.74
	Inferred	1,963	0.30	212	337	463	3.80	13,010	127.6

Figure 2 -2019 Häggån Mineral Resource Statement[7]

There is a low level of geological confidence with Inferred Mineral Resources and there is no certainty that further exploration work will result in the determination of Indicated Mineral Resources or that the production target itself will be realised.

Included in the global resource published on 22 August 2012, "Outstanding Häggån uranium resource expands to 800 million pounds" is an Inferred Mineral Resource of 2.35 billion tonnes with U₃O₈ grade of 155 ppm at a cut-off of 100 ppm U₃O₈, for contained U₃O₈ of 800 Mlbs.  This information was prepared and first disclosed under the JORC Code 2004. It has not been updated since to comply with the JORC Code 2012 on the basis that the information has not materially changed since it was last reported.

The Project's major value drivers are vanadium and the key agricultural by-product sulphate of potash (SOP), with a mixed sulphide precipitate of nickel, zinc, and molybdenum proposed to be produced. Uranium is present in the polymetallic resource, like many deposits in Sweden, and while it can add to the Project's economic value there exists at present a ban on the mining of uranium in Sweden. The Scoping Study outlines an option for a treatment and stabilisation plan that would treat the uranium into an inert safe waste product for long-term disposal or with approval from the government and community recover it in the processing circuit for sale into the domestic and or European markets.

Figure 3 - Distribution of Revenue² by product inclusive of U₃O₈

Cautionary Statement

The Scoping Study has been undertaken to ascertain whether a business case can be made to proceed to more definitive studies on the viability of the Häggån Project, which is based on the extraction of vanadium and by-products from the Alum Shale within the Häggån permits.  It is a preliminary technical and economic study of the potential viability of the Häggån Project and is based on low-level technical and economic assessments, generally to a level of +/- 35% accuracy, that is not sufficient to support the estimation of Ore Reserves or to support any financial investment or development decision.

Further exploration and evaluation work, test work and studies are required before the Company will be in a position to estimate any Ore Reserves, to provide any assurance of an economic development case, or to provide certainty that the conclusions of the Scoping Study will be realised.

Prefeasibility and Feasibility studies will be required to confirm the project viability including drilling to expand the Indicated Mineral Resource and to establish a Measured Resource, metallurgical test work and process optimisation, detailed mine design, mine planning, evaluation of mining methods, engineering, updated and more accurate capital and operating cost estimates, environmental studies and permitting, community engagement and the establishment of ore reserves. 

The Company believes it has reasonable grounds to report the results of the Scoping Study including the forward-looking statements and the forecast financial information that are based on the material assumptions outlined in the Scoping Study.

The mine plan on which this Scoping Study is based contains 77% Indicated Mineral Resources and 23% Inferred Mineral Resources over the life of the Project. The first 5 years of mining are based on 88% Indicated Mineral Resources, the first 11 years of production based on 95% Indicated Mineral Resources and thereafter the mine plan includes increasing amounts of Inferred Mineral Resources. The Inferred Mineral Resources are not a determining factor in estimating the viability of the Häggån Project.

The Project is viable on the basis of the Indicated Mineral Resources and the payback period of the Project of between 1.5 and 2.0 years is also based purely on the Indicated Mineral Resources.

There is a low level of geological confidence with Inferred Mineral Resources and there is no certainty that further exploration work will result in the determination of Indicated Mineral Resources or that the production target itself will be realised.

Metallurgical recoveries used in this Scoping Study are based on test work results for the key stages of the process flowsheet.

The Scoping Study is based on the material assumptions outlined in the Scoping Study. These include assumptions about the availability of funding. While the Company considers all the material assumptions to be based on reasonable grounds, there is no certainty that they will prove to be correct or that the outcomes anticipated by the Scoping Study will be achieved.

To achieve the outcomes of the Scoping Study, funding in the order of US$592 million is estimated to be required for the Project development capital with an expected construction period of 3 years, in addition to pre-development funding of approximately US$15 million to convert the Mineral Resources to an Ore Reserve and to complete a Prefeasibility and a Feasibility Study. Investors should note that there is no certainty that the Company will be able to raise that amount of funding when needed. It is also possible that such funding may only be available on terms that may be dilutive to or otherwise affect the value of the Company's existing shares.  It is also possible that Aura could pursue other 'value realisation' strategies, such as direct financing into the Häggån Project via a joint venture or partial sale. If it does, this could materially reduce Aura's proportionate ownership of the Project.

Given the uncertainties involved, investors should not make investment decisions based solely on the results of this Scoping Study

 

 

Scoping Study highlights:

·    A projected post-tax net present value ('NPV') ranging from US$380 - $ 1,231 million[8], depending on final plant configuration and forward price assumptions.

·    A post-tax Internal Rate of Return of 26% to 47% and a payback period of 1.5 to 2.0 yrs.

·    Initial capital cost of US$592M would aim to generate an operating cash flow of between US$140M to US$270M per annum.

·    Häggån currently has defined a global Mineral Resource Estimate of ~2 billion tonnes at an average grade of 0.3% V₂O₅, containing 13.3 billion lbs V₂O₅, at a 0.2% V₂O₅ cutoff[9].

·    The Base Case scenario proposes mining the high-grade zone at ~5.9Mtpa producing approximately:

o  10,400 tpa V₂O₅ high-quality vanadium flake.

o  ~217,000 tpa sulphate of potash (SOP) by-product for sale as fertiliser.

o  3,000 tpa Mixed sulphide product.

The Scoping Study is based on the material assumptions outlined in the Scoping Study.

Aura recognises the potential value that could be unlocked from Häggån's should uranium be recovered in an alternative configuration to the planned processing path. The Scoping Study analyses the potential value that could be unlocked should Häggån's uranium be extracted and sold, subject to changes in Swedish legislation and demonstration that the proposed operation will not impact the water quality or the environment. Aura continues to work with the Swedish Government, local community and relevant authorities and notes recent Swedish Government support for the removal of the uranium mining ban. The Swedish parliament also recently adopted a new energy target, changing from a "100% renewable" target to a "100% fossil-free" electricity target, which opened the door for increasing electricity generation from nuclear power.[10]

This shift in government tone has been a consistent narrative since the election of the coalition of government in September 2022.  The new government came to power with a policy proposal to lift the uranium mining ban.

Formal implementation of the legislation to change the policy is progressing through the normal parliamentary process, with appropriate drafting and review underway[11].

The release of this Scoping Study provides a critical part of the information that is required for the application of an exploitation concession for the development of the Project and expanding consultation with all stakeholders at the national, regional, and community levels, critically with traditional inhabitants, the Sami people.

 

Next Steps

Following the positive outcome of this Scoping Study, Aura plans to progress the Häggån Project with the application for an exploitation concession.  This work will include:

§ The commencement of baseline flora, fauna and water studies.  These will be done using independent consultants and will be shared with the community to ensure transparency and collaboration with the project,

§ Undertake a Pre-Feasibility Study ('PFS') including further resource and infill drilling, geotechnical and hydrogeological investigations, preliminary pit design scheduling options, and more detailed metallurgical test work, to further assess options, reduce risk and better define the Project, and

§ Commence discussions with preferred strategic partners with financial capability to advance this world-class project.

This announcement has been authorised by the Board of Aura Energy Limited.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute

inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms

part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ('MAR'). Upon the

publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information

is now considered to be in the public domain.

For further information, please contact:

David Woodall Managing Director and CEO Aura Energy Limited [e-mail]	Paul Ryan Citadel-MAGNUS Investor & Media Relations [e-mail] [phone]
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker) David Hignell Kasia Brzozowska [phone]	WH Ireland Limited (Joint Broker) James Bavister Andrew de Andrade [phone]

About Aura Energy (ASX: AEE, AIM: AURA)  

Aura Energy is an Australian-based minerals company that has major uranium and battery metals projects with large resources in both Africa and Europe. The Company is primarily focused on progressing the development to commence uranium production from the Tiris Project, a major greenfield uranium discovery in Mauritania.

A recent Enhanced Feasibility Study at Tiris has increased the project NPV significantly reconfirming the project as one of the lowest capex, lowest operating cost uranium projects that remain undeveloped in the world.

A Scoping Study into the Häggån Project in Sweden has outlined compelling economic value. Aura plans to follow up this study with further exploration to lift the Resource categorisation alongside close collaboration with the community surrounding the project to foster support to proceed.

Aura will continue to transition from a uranium explorer to a uranium producer, to capitalise on the rapidly growing demand for nuclear power as the world continues to shift towards a decarbonised energy sector.

Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 

This ASX announcement (including the Scoping Study) contains various forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements concerning Aura Energy Limited's planned activities and other statements that are not historical facts. When used in this report, words such as "could", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "potential", "should" and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. In addition, summaries of Exploration Results and estimates of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves could also be forward-looking statements. Although Aura Energy Limited believes that its expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The entity confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in this announcement and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning this announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. Nothing in this report should be construed as either an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell Aura Energy Limited securities. For more information of specific risks associated with forward looking statements refer to the Key Risks section of the Scoping Study.

Competent Person Statements

Resource Modelling

The Competent Person for the 2012 Häggån Mineral Resource Estimate and classification, updated in 2019, is Mr Arnold van der Heyden of H&S Consultants Pty Ltd.  The information in the report to which this statement is attached that relates to the 2019 Resource Estimate is based on information compiled under the supervision of Mr Arnold van der Heyden, who has sufficient experience that is relevant to the resource estimation.  This qualifies Mr van der Heyden as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'.  Mr van der Heyden is a consultant and director of H&S Consultants Pty Ltd, a Sydney-based geological consulting firm.  Mr van der Heyden is a Member and Chartered Professional of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.  

The information in this announcement that relates to estimated Mineral Resources underpinning the production targets and the forecast financial information derived from the production targets for Häggån Project were initially reported by the Company in the announcement entitled "Häggån Battery Metal Project Resource Upgrade Estimate Successfully Completed" dated 10 October 2019. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resources Estimates in the market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person's findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement.

The Competent Person for drill hole data, cut-off grade and prospects for eventual economic extraction is Mr Neil Clifford.  The information in the Scoping Study to which this statement is attached that relates to drill hole data, cut-off grade and prospects for eventual economic extraction is based on information compiled by Mr Neil Clifford.  Mr Clifford has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking.  This qualifies Mr Clifford as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr Clifford is an independent consultant to Aura Energy.   Mr Clifford is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Mr Clifford consents to the inclusion in the Scoping Study of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Metallurgical Test Work Outcomes

The Competent Person for the Häggån Metallurgical Test Work is Dr Will Goodall. Dr Goodall is Chief Development Officer with Aura Energy Ltd.  The information in the report to which this statement is attached that relates to the test work is based on information compiled by Dr Will Goodall. Dr Goodall has sufficient experience that is relevant to the test work program and to the activity which he is undertaking. This qualifies Dr Goodall as a Competent Personas defined in the 2012 edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Dr Goodall is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Dr Goodall consents to the inclusion in the Scoping Study of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Reasonable Basis for Forward-Looking Statements

No Ore Reserve has been declared in the Scoping Study. This ASX release has been prepared in compliance with the JORC Code (2012) and the ASX Listing Rules. All material assumptions on which the Scoping Study production target and projected financial information are based have been included in this release (including the attached Scoping Study). Consideration of Modifying Factors in the format specified by JORC Code (2012) Table 1, Section 4 is attached to the Scoping Study.

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[1] This recognises the uranium ban is still in place, with the present government's stated aim to remove the ban.

[2]  V₂O₅ price of between US$7.0/lb and $13/lb, SOP price of US$650/t K₂O, a Nickel price of US$20,000/t, Mo price of US$51,000/t and Zn price of US$2,500/t, with 70% payability for base metal units.

[3] V₂O₅ price of between US$7.0/lb and $13/lb, SOP price of US$650/t K₂O, U₃O₈ price of US$65/lb, a Nickel price of US$20,000/t, Mo price of US$51,000/t and Zn price of US$2,500/t, with 70% payability for base metal units. Subject to anticipated Swedish legislative change

[4] The Times - Sweden to return to uranium mining 2023-08-18

[5] ASX Release: Häggån Battery Metal Project Resource Upgrade Estimate Successfully Completed, 10 October 2019

[6] ASX Release: Häggån Battery Metal Project Resource Upgrade Estimate Successfully Completed, 10 October 2019

[7] ASX Release: Häggån Battery Metal Project Resource Upgrade Estimate Successfully Completed, 10 October 2019

[8] 2 V₂O₅ price of between US$7.0/lb and $13/lb, SOP price of US$650/t K₂O, U₃O₈ price of US$65/lb, a Nickel price of US$20,000/t, Mo price of US$51,000/t and Zn price of US$2,500/t, with 70% payability for base metal units.

[9] ASX Release: Häggån Battery Metal Project Resource Upgrade Estimate Successfully Completed, 10 October 2019

[10] https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/sweden-adopts-100-fossil-free-energy-target-easing-way-for-nuclear/

[11] The Times - Sweden to return to uranium mining 2023-08-18

 

END