Marenica Energy metallurgical evaluation shows potential for improved uranium grades in Namibia

Marenica Energy (ASX: MEY) will exit a trading halt this morning after announcing the completion of an independent metallurgical evaluation of the Marenica Uranium Project in Namibia that shows high potential to upgrade the uranium plant feed grades by sizing and separation using tank leaching.

The company will now undertake a program of in-country metallurgical test work during 2012 to further test and try to improve the upgrade potential.

Importantly, if Marenica is successful, an increase in plant feed grades and a reduction in plant feed tonnes would lower capital and operating costs, and potentially result in lower cut-off grades being applicable, further enhancing the resource.

Meanwhile, in the latest update on the Marenica Uranium Project, the company also revealed an update to the Resource for the project and a maiden Resource for the MA7 prospect, located 6 kilometres southeast of the Marenica Resource.

The updated Resource at Marenica now stands at 276 million tonnes at 94 parts per million uranium oxide, of which 26.5 million tonnes at 110 parts per million is in the higher confidence Inferred category and 249.6 million tonnes at 92 parts per million is in the Inferred category, for a combined total of 57 million pounds of contained uranium oxide.

This compares to the previous Resource estimate of 648 million tonnes at 97 parts per million for 138 million pounds of uranium oxide completed by SRK Consulting as part of a Scoping Study conducted in October 2010.

The Scoping Study found that the Marenica Project in Namibia could deliver 3.5 million pounds of uranium per annum at the highly competitive operating cost of US$38 a pound from a heap leaching operation.

Marenica said as a result of the metallurgical evaluation and updated Resource estimate and the likely change to a tank leaching operation, the economic estimates for the heap leach option from the SRK Scoping Study are no longer considered applicable.

The updated Resource estimate is part of an ongoing study of the project economics, in conjunction with the revision of the metallurgical and engineering scoping parameters, due for completion during 2012.

The company has also defined a maiden Resource of 23 million tonnes at 81 parts per million for a total of 4 million pounds of contained uranium oxide for the MA7 prospect.

Earlier this year, the company completed a drilling program of 88 holes for 2,525 metres at the prospect.

Originally published at: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/23435/marenica-energy-metallurgical-evaluation-shows-potential-for-improved-uranium-grades-in-namibia-23435.html