Atomic Eagle Limited has reported strong uranium recovery rates and exceptionally low acid consumption from metallurgical testing at its Muntanga East uranium deposit in Zambia, strengthening the company’s confidence in the project’s development potential.
The Australian-listed uranium developer said test work on diamond drill core from the newly discovered Muntanga East deposit achieved uranium recoveries of about 81% to 86% through bottle roll and column leach testing.
The results also showed that much of the uranium could be extracted using low levels of acid, supporting the suitability of conventional heap leach processing.
The Muntanga East deposit forms part of Atomic Eagle’s 100%-owned Muntanga Uranium Project in Zambia. The company said the test work was undertaken by Mintek in South Africa using two representative composite samples with an average uranium head grade of approximately 167 parts per million U3O8.
“One of the defining strengths of the Muntanga Project is its ability to achieve high uranium recoveries through simple heap leach processing with low reagent consumption. This allows lower grade uranium mineralisation to be mined and recovered economically,” Atomic Eagle Chief Executive Officer Phil Hoskins said.
Hoskins added that the strong metallurgical performance had been replicated at Muntanga East, including on lower-grade mineralisation than had historically been evaluated elsewhere across the project.
“The combination of Muntanga East’s shallow mineralisation, close proximity to the central resource area and favourable metallurgy provides confidence it will contribute towards enhancing the scale and economics of the Muntanga Project,” he said.
According to the company, bottle roll testing produced uranium recoveries of 85.9% and 81.9% for the two samples after 25 days, while acid consumption remained at about 3 kilograms per tonne.
Uranium dissolution was effectively complete after about seven days, indicating rapid leaching of the mineralisation.
Column tests, designed to replicate conditions expected in heap leach operations, achieved recoveries of 81% and 80.8%.
Atomic Eagle said most uranium recovery was achieved within the first 15 to 20 days, when acid consumption remained at about 3 kilograms per tonne.
The company said the ore also demonstrated physical characteristics favourable for heap leaching. Testing found low fines content and limited fines generation during leaching, reducing the risk of reduced permeability.
Simulated six-metre heap stacking produced hydraulic conductivity of about 4,396 to 4,537 litres per square metre per hour, more than four times the design threshold typically required for heap leaching.
Atomic Eagle said the findings demonstrate that the favourable heap leach characteristics previously identified at historical deposits extend to the newly discovered Muntanga East mineralisation.
The results will now be incorporated into ongoing technical studies as the company assesses the potential integration of Muntanga East into future mine development planning.
Atomic Eagle said its Muntanga Project has a JORC Mineral Resource of 58.8 million pounds of U3O8 at 309 parts per million.
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