Elevate Uranium has initiated the design and construction of its U-pgrade™ demonstration plant, a key step in the company’s efforts to advance its proprietary uranium beneficiation process.
The plant, to be constructed in Australia and shipped to Namibia, will operate continuously at scale using ore from the Koppies Uranium Project.
“The contract to design and construct the demonstration plant has been awarded, and the work program has commenced. The plant, which will be constructed in Perth, will be containerised and shipped to Namibia for operation,” said Elevate Uranium Managing Director Murray Hill.
The main goal of the demonstration plant is to validate the U-pgradeTM process on a continuous basis and at a scalable size.
“Successful operation of the U-pgradeTM demonstration plant will confirm U-pgradeTM on a continuous basis and at a size that is scalable to a fully operational U-pgradeTM plant,” Hill noted.
The demonstration plant is expected to be operational in Namibia by late CY2025.
Elevate Uranium has also commenced pre-development activities to showcase the value of its proprietary U-pgradeTM beneficiation process, with a focus on the Koppies resource.
As part of the pre-development process, the company is conducting metallurgical test work on uranium ore samples from the Koppies resource.
“These bulk samples, which are representative of the proposed mining method, were collected from eight locations throughout the Koppies resource, each of which have varying lithologies, uranium grades and gangue mineral concentrations,” Hill added.
This comes after the company was able to raise $25 million (N$473 million) through a two-tranche placement to institutional investors.
Paradice then joined Sprott Inc (8.49%) as a substantial shareholder of the Company after Australian fund manager Paradice Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a 9.9% stake in the company following the placement.
“The funds raised will be allocated to several key initiatives, including completing metallurgical test work on the Koppies Uranium Project ore and the construction of the U-pgradeTM demonstration plant,” Hill elaborated.
The funds will also support the operation of the demonstration plant to prove the scalability of the U-pgradeTM process.
“Construct and operate an U-pgrade™ demonstration plant to prove the process and validate the capital and operating costs of the Company’s patented U-pgradeTM disruptive beneficiation process on a continuous basis and at scale, on ore from the Koppies Uranium Project,” Hill said.
