INTERVIEW

book of uranium and realise that ’ s not the case , they ’ ll go out into the market and purchase it very quickly , driving the price up ,” he explains .

“ I think the utilities have been playing a very cute game by utilising the stock spot price when they really need to fill their long-term contract books . It ’ s a dangerous game . Some will get caught out and some won ’ t . The winners will be sitting there with an operation close to ready to go and needing to fill off-tack contracts . Fortunately , we could be constructing our new plant in 2018 , commissioning in 2019 and then in a situation where we ’ re taking in off-tack contracts where hopefully the utilities are starting to panic and wanting to pay up .”

– cost of production at Aura Energy ’ s Haggan project

Reeve has said that with the world ’ s population growing by the equivalent of one Germany every year , standing still with water , food , energy and resources is not enough . And with the number of nuclear reactors worldwide predicted to double between now and 2030 , it ’ s a situation Aura Energy can capitalise on thanks to its two main projects in Africa and Sweden .

“ The Tiris mine is quite a unique project because of the way the uranium occurs ,” says Reeve of the company ’ s African project in Mauritania , which boasts a £ 50mn ($ 66mn ) uranium deposit . “ It will be quite a low capital project - just $ 45mn will produce a million pounds of Uranium per annum at a cash cost of around $ 30 per pound . We will ship out ‘ yellowcake ’ - there ’ s only uranium in that deposit .” Allied to tenements this , the company in Mauritania has , other not yet projects , which are set to yield gold and base metals and offer a perfect opportunity for Aura ’ s exploration team to get to work .

Superabundant Sweden Meanwhile , in Sweden , the company ’ s long-term Haggan

10 October 2017