Elevate Uranium expects to release the first results from its demonstration pilot plant in Namibia within the next few months as the company works to prove the commercial viability of its proprietary U-pgrade beneficiation technology.
Speaking during an investor discussion hosted by Smith Weekly, managing director Murray Hill said the pilot plant, commissioned late last year, is now operational and undergoing optimisation and testing.
The plant is being used to process ore samples from the company’s Namibian uranium deposits to determine how effectively the U-pgrade process can remove waste material and improve feed grades before conventional leaching.
Hill said the system is currently undergoing a fine-tuning process as engineers adjust procedures and make small modifications to improve performance.
“We are planning to have some results out in the next couple months,” Hill said.
The demonstration plant will continue operating for several months while different ore types from Elevate’s Namibian deposits are processed through the system.
“We know there are different ore types within each deposit at Marenica and Koppies and we want to run those through the pilot plant so we understand the different results coming out of those over time,” he said.
Elevate Uranium is focused primarily on Namibia, where it holds a portfolio of uranium projects in the Erongo region, one of the world’s most established uranium mining districts.
The company’s Koppies project hosts a resource of about 66 million pounds of uranium grading roughly 192 parts per million, while the Marenica project contains about 40.2 million pounds of uranium at a 100 ppm cut-off grade.
Both deposits are considered candidates for the U-pgrade process, which aims to concentrate uranium minerals by rejecting waste material before the ore is processed in a conventional plant.
Hill said the company decided to begin pilot testing with ore from the Marenica deposit because it has a deeper understanding of that deposit’s geology.
“Once we’ve completed that work we will run Koppies through the plant as well,” he said.
The technology could potentially allow the company to process lower-grade uranium deposits economically by significantly reducing the amount of material that needs to be leached.
Hill suggested that if the process proves successful, it could also attract interest from other uranium projects in Namibia.
Several major uranium operations already operate in the country, including Rössing, Husab and Langer Heinrich, while several new projects are advancing toward potential development.
Namibia has become one of the most important uranium jurisdictions globally, hosting multiple producing mines and a growing pipeline of development projects.
Hill said the company has already seen rising investor interest in uranium projects in Namibia, particularly during recent industry gatherings in Cape Town, where mining companies and investors met during the Mining Indaba events.
“It’s probably the best vibe I’ve seen in Cape Town for a very long time,” he said.
Elevate also used the period to host investor site visits in Namibia, during which groups toured the company’s pilot plant and uranium projects.
Hill said about 28 investors attended Elevate’s pilot plant visit following the conference, reflecting renewed interest in the uranium sector.
The company is also advancing exploration and development work at Marenica following completion of a major resource reassessment.
Elevate reviewed and validated more than 5,000 historical drill holes from earlier exploration campaigns conducted between 1978 and 2011, allowing the company to rebuild the geological database and re-estimate the Marenica resource under JORC 2012 reporting standards.
The updated resource now stands at about 40 million pounds of uranium at an average grade of roughly 185 ppm, almost double the grade of the previous estimate.
Hill said the higher grade and improved resource confidence could significantly increase the project’s value.
“We’ve effectively doubled the resource grade without losing many pounds,” he said.
The company plans to conduct infill drilling to tighten drill spacing in areas where mineralisation remains open and to convert more of the resource into higher-confidence categories.
At the same time, Elevate is expanding its uranium exploration portfolio in Australia, including the acquisition of several projects in the Northern Territory and South Australia.
Hill said the company’s strategy is to build critical mass around key uranium districts rather than holding scattered exploration licences.
Projects such as Napperby, Minerva, and Angela could be developed together as part of a combined operation if sufficient resources are available.
Despite expanding its Australian portfolio, Namibia remains the company’s core focus.
Hill said the country continues to attract strong interest from international investors and uranium developers, with growing geopolitical competition for supply.
China already holds major stakes in Namibian uranium projects, while interest from the United States and other Western countries is also increasing as governments seek secure supplies of nuclear fuel.
Looking ahead, Hill said the uranium market is likely to tighten further as global demand rises.
He pointed to forecasts from industry analysts suggesting uranium prices could reach US$200 per pound by 2028, driven by new reactor construction and growing electricity demand.
Utilities may eventually be forced to compete for a limited supply if new mines are not developed quickly enough.
“We’re not seeing the uranium coming into the market as some consumers expected,” Hill said.
“If utilities realise the uranium is not there, they are going to have to buy at whatever price they can get it.”
He added that nuclear energy is likely to play an increasing role in global electricity generation as countries expand nuclear power to meet rising demand from industries such as artificial intelligence and data centres.
Elevate Uranium believes the combination of improving uranium market conditions, expanding resources and successful testing of the U-pgrade technology could significantly increase the company’s value in the coming years.
