Qubeka Mining Consultants CC has completed a scoping study on extending (XT) and expanding (XP) the Bannerman Resources-owned Etango Uranium Project.
The Etango Uranium Project is currently in its front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase after the completion of a definitive feasibility study, which focused on the processing of 8 Mt/a of ore to produce uranium oxide (U3O8) in December 2022.
Bannerman initiated the process in late 2023 to evaluate the future development options for potential implementation post-construction and ramp-up of the Etango 8Mt/a project.
The scoping study is not intended to advance expansion and extension options for Etango to more advanced technical evaluation immediately but rather at an appropriate future.
The study investigated doubling the processing throughput rate to 16 million tonnes per annum (Mt/a) after running the initial 8 Mt/a operation for five years.
It also focused on extending the project’s life-of-mine past the current 15-year mine life while maintaining the processing throughput rate at 8 MT/a.
The study says the Etango expansion could be about 12 years based on the current pit design expansion, with a phased transition in mining operations from 8 MT/a to 16 MT/a.
According to the study, the life-of-mine extension for the Etango-XT business case, based on the equivalent Etango-XP pit design expansion, increases to a 27-year mine life.
The study adds that under the Etango-XT business case, the life of the mining operation increases to 26 years, and the processing operation has a life span of 27 years, with the final processing year dedicated to low-grade stockpile reclamation and treatment.
The average plant feed grade in the Etango-XP pit design expansion is reduced from 240 ppm U3O8 to 234 ppm U3O8.
Apart from the throughput and average grade, all other processing parameters remain as per the 8 Mt/a plant.
Open-pit mining
The Etango project deposit is a large, shallow uranium deposit amenable to open-pit mining.
The orebody will be mined as a conventional shovel and truck operation, with bulk mining augmented by more selective mining in areas with narrow ore zones.
Mining will apply conventional open pit methods, and the whole mining operation, except for the mine technical services function, will be outsourced to a reputable mining contractor (contractor), including drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling of ore and waste.
The Etango ultimate pit design has an average run-off mine (ROM) uranium (U3O8) head grade of 234 ppm at a U3O8 cut-off grade of 100 ppm.
A total of 670.3 Mt of waste must be stripped to expose the 210.2 Mt of ore material at an average stripping ratio of 3.2 over the LOM.
The total amount of U3O8 metal contained within the ultimate pit is 108.4 million pounds (Mlb), with a plant recovery of 87.80%; 95.2 million U3O8 product pounds will be produced over the LOM.
Bannerman CEO Gavin Chamberlain said developing the world-class Etango Project at an initial 8 Mtpa throughput scale is the company’s core focus.
Chamberlain said they undertook the Etango-XP / XT scoping study to demonstrate the ready technical and financial viability of expanding or extending our base case Etango operation following its successful construction and ramp-up.
“As evidenced by the announced outcomes, the Scoping Study has categorically demonstrated this further growth optionality.
“In short, the long-term scalability of the world-class Etango resource remains highly robust under the base case Etango-8 approach to initial project development,” Chamberlain said.
Bannerman executive chairman Brandon Munro said the company has more formally demonstrated the longer-term optionality delivered by the large-scale Etango uranium resource.
Munro added that while the XP and XT cases are readily viable at their base case Etango-8 DFS price assumption of US$65/lb, the economics are supercharged in higher price scenarios.
“As such, the Scoping Study emphatically evidences the significant underlying value in Etango’s huge in-ground leverage to, and scalability with, higher uranium price outlooks.
“The ability to enact either the XP or XT plans, post-delivery of the initial Etango-8 development, affords Bannerman substantial real option value across a range of long-term uranium price outcomes,” Munro said.
Qubeka’s director and principal mining engineer, Werner K. Moeller, conducted the study.
Moeller has experience in mine planning and study on many uranium projects, including the Rössing Uranium Mine, Husab Uranium Mine, and Forsys Metals Corp’s Norasa Project.
