Mining Magazine October 2017 | Page 13

AURA ENERGY - PETER REEVE basis might not make money at the moment but on a contract basis it will . We ’ re able to present to the market that we ’ re quite viable . The Haggan project has extremely low cash costs at $ 13.50 per pound because of the base metal credits we can get . You ’ ve got to work your portfolio and not scare the market with capital that ’ s too large , particularly during the time it will take for uranium prices to recover over the next two years .”
Aura Energy listed in 2006 , with Reeve originally coming on board as Chairman in early 2015 before moving into his Executive Chairman role when the CEO retired . With 35 years of experience in the mining industry he has worked for Rio Tinto , Shell , Billiton , and also spent time in corporate finance as a Fund Manager working with the likes of Newcrest Mining , before founding Ivanhoe Australia .
It was his former colleagues from Shell who attracted him to the Aura Energy project following their virgin discoveries in Africa and Sweden . With a feasibility study laying the groundwork for imminent government approval of the Tiris project and a 10-year plan in place for community engagement and development at Haggan , Aura is making inroads to uptake with a strategy built on eastern promise .
“ We will make U308 ( a popular form of yellowcake ) for processing into fuel rod stock ,” maintains Reeve . “ There ’ s a likelihood that some of that could go into Europe and the Middle East , but more likely China . We ’ ve signed an MOU ( memorandum of understanding ) with a Chinese engineering firm and we ’ re progressing on uptake arrangements with Chinese nuclear utilities who will need a good deal of this material going forward . You ’ ve really got to be in China if you want to make sure you ’ ve got those uptake contracts over a period of one to two decades .”

$ 66mn

– value of uranium deposit at Aura Energy ’ s Tiris mine
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