Modern Mining March 2024

OPENCAST MINING AND EQUIPMENT

Neo Energy core samples.

Drilling underway at Henkries project.

from $50 a pound in October to over $105 a pound currently. Expectations are that the uranium market will be in a structural deficit for the next 20 to 30 years.” Henkries Uranium Project Discovered by mining major, Anglo American, in the early 1970s, the Henkries project was taken up the value curve by the diversified miner, which drilled some 12 000 metres worth of holes, 211 test pits and undertook 6 months’ worth of pilot plant tests work on acid and alkali leaching. “Anglo American embarked on an extensive drill ing programme in the region – we estimate the value of work undertaken to be as much as $30 million. The feasibility study produced showed the project to be attractive enough for Anglo American to be on the verge of establishing a uranium processing plant when the Three Mile Island incident occurred and subsequently devastated the nuclear energy sector with investment in uranium also taking a dive.” The project was later acquired and upgraded by Niger Uranium, Namakwa Uranium and Desert Star respectively. Neo Energy acquired the Henkries project, a 742 km² prospecting right in October 2021, which it believes to be one of the most advanced uranium assets capable of near-term production. Since the acquisition, Neo Energy has raised sufficient funds to list on the LSE and advance the

project. Although the Henkries project is regarded as “small” by global uranium project standards with 4.7 million pounds of uranium in the ground, Heathcote argues that when coupled with surface samples of unanalysed material, the asset has a reserve base that is “probably closer to six million pounds in the ground”. The company is about to engage in drilling activities that are expected to lift the uranium reserve estimate to 10 million pounds. “The small-scale nature of the Henkries project translates to a low capex requirement and a small footprint, with a further project benefit being that the resource is close to surface – with the bulk of the deposit between five and eight metres from surface, which negates the need for drilling and blasting. Essentially, it’s a matter of removing the overburden using a bulldozer. The total length of the current resource is roughly seven kilometres, which is less than 10% of the total strike length, where we antici pate there’s likely to be more uranium.” Several prospective properties lie adjacent and around the Henkries project. “Although we have identified a number of prop erties of interest in the area, we remain focused on developing the Henkries project, after which we will embark on expanding our footprint to either increase our production profile or the life of mine.” Importantly, the Henkries project benefits from

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20  MODERN MINING  March 2024