Aura Energy restructures board ahead of starting uranium production

Aura Energy confirmed a “strategic transformational” board restructure in its update for the December quarter on Friday, in preparation for production at the low capital expenditure, low operating cost Tiris uranium project.

The AIM-traded firm signed the $10m offtake financing agreement with Curzon in October, with up to $20m available to be used for mining working capital and the start of production, complementing the offtake agreement with Curzon executed in January 2019.

It said Peter Reeve had now transitioned to become managing director and chief executive officer of Aura's gold subsidiary Archaean Greenstone Gold, and focus on advancing the “highly prospective” Tasiast South gold project, 30 kilometres south of Kinross' 20 million ounce Tasiast South gold mine.

The company also reported the completion and successful results from the water drilling programme, with “strong flows” encountered at Tiris reconfirming results from the 2019 programme.

Aura also completed a loyalty options entitlement offer during the period with “strong support” reported from eligible shareholders, who applied for 68,029,541 new options, raising $1.02m for the company.

Since the quarter ended, Will Goodall was appointed as acting chief executive in January to drive Aura towards expanding the Tiris uranium resource, with the company having started the recruitment process to appoint a managing director and CEO with “significant” production experience.

“The December quarter was an important period as Aura underwent a strategic board restructure to position the company for transition to uranium producer,” Will Goodall said.

“This was an important step in preparation for production at the low capex, low operating cost Tiris uranium project.

“During the quarter the uranium market maintained the strong gains from the September quarter, supporting the high growth demand for nuclear power and carbon free energy.”

Dr Goodall said the company was preparing to finance the Tiris Project, having entered into a $10m offtake financing agreement with Curzon in October, with up to $20m available under the facility to be used for mining working capital and the start of production.

“This complements the uranium offtake agreement executed with Curzon in January 2019, and Aura will continue to pursue further offtake financing agreements and debt and equity finance to complete the financing of Tiris to bring it into production.

“As part of the strategic board restructure, Peter Reeve transitioned to managing director and CEO of Aura's gold subsidiary and is now focussed on advancing the highly-prospective Tasiast South gold project.”

Will Goodall said Aura was aiming to start exploration there in 2022, thus creating further value for shareholders.

“The company would like to sincerely thank Peter for his contributions in setting the groundwork for Aura and the Tiris project to be in the strong position it is to capitalise on the rising uranium market.

“During the quarter, Aura also completed and announced successful results from the water drilling programme, with strong flows encountered at the Tiris Uranium Project, reconfirming results from the 2019 water drilling programme, with sufficient water located in the Oued el Foule Depression at the project.

“This is a major milestone for progression of Tiris, confirming assumptions from the definitive feasibility study.”

Production could be expedited, with capital expenditure and operating costs also likely to remain low in comparison to peer uranium projects, Dr Goodall added.

“In January I was appointed as acting CEO to continue to drive towards expanding the Tiris uranium resource and preparing the company for uranium production and expansion of resources at Tiris in Mauritania.

“Having worked with the company for over a decade and bringing an intimate knowledge of the project, I look forward to leading the company through one of the most exciting phases in our history.

“We look forward to an exciting 2022 for Aura, as we expand our resources and rapidly bring the project into production.”

At 1215 GMT, shares in Aura Energy were down 0.65% at 15.4p.