GoviEx Uranium Inc., a mineral resource company focused on exploration and development of uranium properties in Africa has announced up to 90% or better uranium recoveries at its main deposits of Muntanga and Dibbwi East, which account for 80% of the M&I resources.
According to the company, these are positive results from the Feasibility Study testwork undertaken in 2024 for its Muntanga Project.
This follows the completion of the firm’s extensive metallurgical test work program at Mintek, South Africa under the supervision of SGS Bateman Pty Limited and SRK Consulting (UK) Limited.
The work program was designed to demonstrate the viability of the heap leach process, and to validate the historical work that was completed by the previous owners of the Project, as well as ensuring the results were to a Feasibility Study level of confidence.
Other key highlights from the study include:
- Results improve confidence on recovery rates and further validate the efficiency of the heap leach process
- Very short uranium recovery timeframes with high uranium recoveries occurring within only 20 days.
- Project benefits from low acid consumption
- Results support the potential for small on-off leach pads to be considered for the Muntanga Project
Commenting on the results, Daniel Major, CEO of GoviEx Uranium, said: “These positive test work results confirm the straightforward metallurgy at the Muntanga Project, improving the accuracy of results which will be used in our Feasibility study, due before year end. With high uranium recoveries of 90% or better for the Muntanga and Dibbwi East deposits and overall low acid consumption, the data provides further confidence in the project’s processing design, helping to refine key assumptions and parameters for the upcoming Feasibility Study.”
Previous column test work
The discovery of Dibbwi East occurred after the previous column test work was completed in 2013. Drilling conducted between 2021 and 2023 increased the total resource of the Dibbwi East deposit by 60% in contained tons.
This not only expanded the deposit but also extended it into primary mineralization, in addition to the secondary (oxidized) mineralization that had been the focus of earlier test work.
Test work completed by Mintek included comminution, agglomeration, six-metre sulfuric acid column leaching, ion exchange and uranium elution and precipitation for each of the six mineralization zones across the Muntanga Project, based on fresh material derived from the 2023 diamond drilling program.
This test work was considerably more extensive than the previous work undertaken, which was predominantly limited to two-metre leach columns.
The results highlight the high uranium recoveries, low acid consumption and very fast kinetic rates of the mineralized material at the Muntanga Project, with the high reported uranium recoveries occurring within 20 days. These results support the potential for small on-off leach pads to be considered for the Muntanga Project.
