Cash operating costs under the various scenarios in the study ranged from US$26.15-$29.65 per lb of U3O8 produced over the life of the project, including a very high standard of rehabilitation.

Capital costs to re-commission the Quercus plant - fully loaded with a 20% contingency and based on all new equipment - range from $51.3m for the heap leach scenarios, to $88.9m for the tank leach scenarios.

The study is based on mining a number of deposits within the ENUSA State Reserves, which collectively have exploration targets ranging from 28.0Mt-34.1Mt of ore at grades of 440-540 ppm of U3O8, as well as the company's JORC resources in the area of 15.9m lbs.

Drilling intended to bring the ENUSA deposits into accordance with the JORC Code is under way, with a revised JORC statement expected in the new year.

Mining is relatively simple, shallow open pit mining with drill, blast, load and haul undertaken by local contractors.

Story provided by Business Financial Newswire