Forsys Metals has begun repositioning the Norasa uranium project for the next phase of development, completing a comprehensive re-interpretation of its Mineral Resource Estimate and launching one of the most extensive drilling and optimisation programs the project has seen in more than a decade.
The new work combines recent drilling with historical datasets from 2005–2011, supported by modern surveying techniques and updated modelling approaches, thereby sharpening the geological picture across the Valencia and Namibplaas deposits.
At the heart of the resource update was a complete re-examination of the database using topographic surveys, down-the-hole optical televiewer imaging, trajectory surveys and gamma probe data.
The MSA Group prepared the new NI 43-101-compliant technical report, filed in June 2024, underlining the improved confidence in the resource geometry and estimation parameters.
The updated MRE, announced on 14 May 2024, reflects both the remodelling of the earlier drill campaign and new results from 2023 drilling.
It forms the foundation for a substantial work program now underway to expand, refine and eventually convert parts of the resource to higher classification categories.
Across the broader Norasa project, the conceptual open-pit constrained MRE totals 151.9 million tonnes at 136 ppm eU₃O₈ in the Measured and Indicated categories at Valencia Main, containing 45.4 million pounds of uranium oxide.
Inferred Resources amount to 224.5 million tonnes at 86 ppm, containing 42.6 million pounds, mainly attributable to Namibplaas.
Additional inferred material lies at Valencia East and smaller zones north and south of the central pit.
The estimate is reported inside US$120/lb pit shells using a 40-ppm cut-off grade, reflecting updated mining, processing and recovery assumptions.
Forsys notes that the model is conceptual and has not yet been converted into mineral reserves, but demonstrates reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.
Much of the company’s current work is aimed at expanding, upgrading and eventually tightening the confidence of these resources.
Forsys has laid out 196 percussion drillholes—representing roughly 13,700 metres—to quadruple the amount of Measured Resource at Valencia Main.
These holes target the 1,660-metre elevation and extend down to 100 metres depth on a grid comparable to earlier measured blocks.
A further 10,800 metres of drilling is planned in a phased approach within ML 149 to pursue extensions to the west, south, and north, including the Jolie, Bundu, and Valencia North zones.
These areas have already yielded intersections confirming potential beyond the known pit shell, including thick alaskite intrusions and encouraging grades correlated with both historic results and new gamma surveys.
The company’s updated block model is feeding directly into open-pit design work. Pit slope parameters are under review, with fresh geotechnical drilling and geomechanical testing to tighten assumptions on wall angles and material behaviour.
Column leach tests are also underway at SGS South Africa, assessing sulphuric acid leaching performance across different grind sizes, irrigation rates and binder additions.
Early results show uranium extraction of up to 87% with acid consumption of 17–38 kg/t, depending on operational conditions.
Follow-up test work will incorporate material crushed by high-pressure grinding rolls, a step that could increase recoveries by four to six per cent based on industry benchmarks.
To advance its process design, Forsys has appointed DRA Global to evaluate heap leaching versus the previously assumed tank leach flowsheet.
The combination of lower acid costs, improved HPGR performance and encouraging column leach kinetics suggests that heap leaching could deliver superior economics.
DRA is preparing the engineering basis for preliminary cost estimates alongside comminution, leaching, tailings and dewatering reviews.
Bulk sampling plans have also been finalised. Forsys intends to excavate a box cut to retrieve roughly 20,000 tonnes of representative fresh run-of-mine material from Valencia.
This sample will underpin further metallurgical work and provide large-scale validation of process options.
Valencia itself lies on Farm Valencia 122, about 75 kilometres northeast of Swakopmund.
The operation is governed by Mining Licence ML 149, granted in 2008 for a 25-year term and renewable thereafter.
The company secured agreements with local landowners in 2009 under Namibia’s Minerals Act, granting unrestricted access to more than 3,300 hectares for mining, waste storage, roads, pipelines, power lines and other infrastructure.
A similar agreement with the neighbouring Bloemhof 109 property allows for access routes and the placement of additional facilities.
Norasa’s Environmental Clearance Certificate was renewed in June 2023 following a full audit, Environmental Impact Assessment, and review of the Environmental Management Plan, covering waste management, emissions, biodiversity, hydrology, archaeology, and community engagement.
Namibplaas, located 7.5 kilometres northeast, remains under EPL 3638, which was renewed until February 2026, with environmental baseline work advancing under an approved amendment to the Valencia EIA.
The updated resource model at Norasa is backed by extensive new drilling.
Through 2023 and 2024, Forsys drilled more than 20,000 metres across 211 boreholes, generating fresh material for assay, metallurgical sampling and geotechnical analysis.
Assays confirm broad intervals of mineralisation, including 77 metres at 439 ppm U₃O₈ in hole PQ-5 and 41.9 metres at 683 ppm within the same interval.
Drilling inside the Valencia Main pit shell continues to identify higher-grade zones and new mineralised steps, while work at Valencia West, East, and Jolie is expanding the system’s footprint.
In the northern targets, two parallel mineralised alaskite intrusions at Jolie strike northeast–southwest and remain open along strike and at depth.
Results such as 166 ppm over 74 metres and 623 ppm over 11 metres highlight the potential to add substantial resources outside the existing pit shell.
Further drilling at Namibplaas is also underway. In August 2025, the company began a 64-hole, 12,500-metre program to upgrade the Namibplaas resource to the Measured and Indicated categories and test down-dip potential.
Reconnaissance drilling across EPL 3638 is exploring new structural targets to grow the overall Norasa inventory.
Infrastructure planning has been revived as part of the development pathway. The nearest bulk water sources include the NamWater pipeline from the Orano desalination plant at Wlotzkasbaken, groundwater from the paleochannel southeast of the site, and alluvial aquifers in the Khan River system.
Hydrological assessments are used to determine the viability of these options.
Power will be supplied from the upgraded Khan substation 26 kilometres away, with NamPower already having invested in the facility; Forsys will fund transmission to the mine.
A 27-kilometre industrial-grade access road, completed in 2010, links Valencia to the Trans-Kalahari Highway and the port of Walvis Bay.
Although Norasa holds significant long-term optionality, progressing to construction will require substantial funding.
Capital work completed before the 2017 uranium downturn included the access road and a crusher now in storage.
Further capital deployment remains on hold until financing arrangements are secured and the board makes a formal development decision. The company continues evaluating off-take and strategic partnership options.
As of September 2025, Forsys held working capital of $3.1 million, including $2.8 million in cash. Its projected working capital needs for 2025 are approximately $2.34 million, broadly covering corporate costs and payables. Additional financing will be required for full development.
Despite financial discipline, the company’s long-term view remains anchored in a uranium market experiencing renewed global focus.
Nuclear power has re-emerged as a central pillar of decarbonisation agendas, with world leaders at COP28 committing to triple global atomic capacity by 2050. Reactor construction is accelerating in China, India, Eastern Europe and parts of Africa, and new technologies such as small modular reactors are entering the market with strong support from tech companies and financial institutions.
At the same time, primary uranium supply remains insufficient to meet projected future demand, with the World Nuclear Association estimating significant supply shortfalls through 2040.
These dynamics, alongside persistent long-term contracting and rising investment in physical uranium funds, underpin Forsys’s optimism about Norasa’s future.
Valencia stands out as one of the few uranium deposits globally that already holds a mining licence and a current environmental clearance.
The combination of a refreshed and expanding MRE, new geological targets, heap-leach optimisation, structural infrastructure planning, and rising global demand positions Norasa to attract strategic partners and, ultimately, move toward development when market conditions and financing align.
