TIDMAURA
RNS Number : 4135V
Aura Energy Limited
13 December 2021
13 December 2021
' Liquid Gold ' in the Sahara - Substantial Water Reconfirmed at
Tiris
KEY POINTS:
-- Aura has successfully completed the 2021 water drilling
campaign, with substantial water encountered in 8 holes,
reconfirming the results from water drilling undertaken in
2019.
-- The project requires approximately 0.5 giga-litres of water
with the Target C22 water occurrence likely to contain several
giga-litres of water, with potential for significantly more,
without allowing for recharge.
-- The presence of sufficient water is important to the mining
process, and represents another significant milestone as Aura
transforms from uranium explorer to a uranium producer.
Aura Energy Limited (ASX:AEE) ("Aura", the "Company") is pleased
to announce the completion and successful results from the
Company's 2021 water drilling program, with strong flows
encountered at the Tiris Uranium Project ("Tiris", "Project"),
reconfirming the results from the 2019 water drilling program
undertaken by the Company (ASX Release - 25 September 2019).
Aura completed 8 boreholes for 2021 water drilling program, 7 of
which are at Target C22, with all producing strong water flows,
including several with high yields as outlined in the table
below:
Target Borehole Water yield (l/hr) Water Table (m)
C22 19C22F2 20,000 30.0
C22 21C22F1 18,000 20.4
C22 21C22F2 20,000 19.2
C22 21C22F3 26,000 23.3
C22 21C22F5 3,000 30.0
C22 21C22F6 57,000 16.2
C22 21C22F7 54,000 15.2
C22 21C22F8 20,000 20
Table 1 - Results from the 2021 water drilling campaign
The location of the water targets and completed bores in
relation to project location is shown in Figure 2.
Aura Energy Managing Director, Peter Reeve, commented: "While
Aura has been confident in locating sufficient water for the
Project based on earlier work, locating substantial occurrences of
water within the Sahara Desert, and within Precambrian basement
rocks, was always going to be challenging. We are therefore
delighted to have located this large water accumulation so early in
our program and close to the proposed plant site."
"With sufficient water located in the Oued el Foule Depression
at the Project, production can be expedited with capital
expenditure and operating costs also likely to remain low in
comparison to peer uranium projects[1]. We look forward to
announcing further developments as we transform from a uranium
explorer to producer."
The Project has an initial water requirement of approximately
0.5 giga-litres. Based on the spacing of water bearing drillholes
to date, the C22 water occurrence is likely to contain several
giga-litres of water, and possibly significantly more, without
allowing for recharge. The C22 water field is therefore likely to
supply the water requirements of the Project, with long term pump
testing, drawdown and recharge observations in progress to confirm
this.
The C22 occurrence lies within a metasedimentary zone between 2
granite cupolas (refer Figure 3). It occurs in very flat desert
terrain, evident in the photographs below, but within a very
shallow, barely perceptible drainage system which is however
evident in an enhanced digital terrain model. (Refer Figure 4).
Aura commenced water search activities in the vicinity of its
Tiris Uranium deposit in 2018. The uranium deposits lie on
Precambrian granite and metamorphic rocks, generally regarded as
challenging geology for the location of substantial water
resources. For this reason, Aura focussed initially on the Taoudeni
Basin, a very large sedimentary basin, the basal members of which
supply water for the Zouerate iron-ore operation, some 600 km from
Tiris.
A program of geophysics was conducted at this location in
2018/19, with a number of targets identified. However, these are
located over 100 km from the project, hence it was decided to
attempt to locate a source of water closer to the proposed plant
site on the Precambrian shield rocks.
In 2019, 24 targets were identified by lineament analysis for
testing by ground geophysics, electro magnetics and resistivity.
From this work 9 targets were selected for drill testing.
A drilling program was commenced in 2019. Four holes were
completed before the program was suspended due, ironically, to very
heavy rain which caused local flooding. Two of the holes
intersected significant water flows, the better of which, in Target
C22 yielded 15,000 litres per hour.
The drilling program was resumed in August 2021.
Next Steps:
In light of the excellent results from Target C22 Aura has now
drawn a halt to the exploratory drilling program, and has drilled
five monitoring holes, to model aquifer permissivity, drawdown and
recharge characteristics.
To view Figure 1: Project Location, please click here:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4135V_1-2021-12-13.pdf
To view Figure 2: Location of C22 water occurrence in relation
to the Tiris Project, please click here
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4135V_2-2021-12-13.pdf
To view Figure 3: Target C22 on geology showing recorded water
flow rates in litres per hour, please click here
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4135V_3-2021-12-13.pdf
To view Figure 4: Target C22 on Digital Terrain Model - this DTM
image enhances the subtle topography and drainage, please click
here:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4135V_4-2021-12-13.pdf
To view Image 1, 2 & 3 - Water Drilling at the Tiris Uranium
Project, please click here:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4135V_5-2021-12-13.pdf
To view Table 1: 2021 Water Bores Details, please click here:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4135V_6-2021-12-13.pdf
This ASX Release was authorised by the Aura Energy Board of
Directors.
For Further Information, please contact:
Peter Reeve Jane Morgan
Managing Director & CEO JMM
Aura Energy Limited Investor & Media Relations
preeve@auraee.com jm@janemorganmanagement.com.au
+61 417 377 114 +61 405 555 618
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP WH Ireland Limited
(Nominated Advisor and Joint (Joint Broker)
Broker) Adrian Hadden
Ewan Leggat Andrew de Andrade
Caroline Rowe Telephone: +44 (0) 207 220 1666
Telephone: +44 (0) 203 470 0470
---------------------------------
Competent Person's Statement
Exploration information in this Announcement is based upon work
undertaken by Mr Neil Clifford who is a Member of the Australasian
Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) . 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 to qualify as a 'Competent Person' as defined in the
2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' (JORC Code). Mr
Clifford is an independent consultant to Aura Energy Limited and
consents to the inclusion in this Announcement of the matters based
on their information in the form and context in which it
appears.
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.
[1] See ' Competitive Advantage and Comparison Presentation '
released 7 October 2021
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END
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