Elevate Uranium Ltd (ASX: EL8 | OTC: ELVUF) has reported encouraging results from its U-pgrade™ Pilot Plant in Namibia, demonstrating significant uranium concentration and waste rejection from ore sourced from the Marenica Uranium Project.
Results from the first four stages of the five-stage process showed:
- 88% of original ore mass rejected
- 79% uranium recovery
- 7x upgrade ratio
- Ore upgraded from 89ppm uranium to 590ppm uranium
The company noted that the performance is consistent with historical bench-scale testwork and supports the scalability of the U-pgrade™ beneficiation process.
A key outcome of the programme was the successful removal of calcite during Stage 4, which allows for a simpler and lower-cost acid leaching process. According to Elevate, this could significantly reduce the size, energy requirements and operating costs of a future processing plant.
Results from the final stage of the process, uranium flotation, are expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. Historical testwork achieved concentrate grades of approximately 4,240ppm uranium, equivalent to 5,000ppm U₃O₈, following completion of Stage 5.
Data generated from the pilot plant programme will be incorporated into a planned Marenica Scoping Study and future feasibility work.
Murray Hill, managing director of Elevate Uranium, commented, “All five stages of the pilot plant are now operating on ore from Elevate’s Marenica Uranium Project (“Marenica”). The Pilot Plant is rejecting 88% of the ore mass and thereby upgrading the ore from 89 ppm to 590 ppm, before it reaches the final concentration stage which is in line with historical bench scale results. The results above were achieved through an upgrade ratio of 7 times using Stages 1 to 4, which is in line with the ratio achieved at the equivalent point in historical bench-scale test work. An additional 6-8 times increase in grade uplift was achieved by Stage 5 in the historical bench-scale testing.
The answer to the question – ‘does U-pgrade™ work?’ was never a binary answer. We knew that U-pgrade™ would work, we just weren’t certain how the results from the bench scale testwork would translate to a Pilot Plant. The low volumetric flows of a Pilot Plant produce operating challenges that aren’t evident in a full-scale operating plant. This has resulted in several challenges which the team in Namibia has now resolved.
Importantly, Stage 4 calcite flotation has also removed the primary acid consumer from the leach feed. By removing the calcite, U-pgrade™ produces a feed that can be simply leached in acid at ambient temperature in 4 to 6 hours. That single outcome fundamentally changes the size, energy demands, operability and operating costs of a leach plant utilising the U-pgrade™ process – which is a major structural advantage we have regardless of the final concentrate grade.
Our team remains focused on continued circuit optimisation across all five stages, including uranium flotation, and we will report improvements as they are confirmed. The data generated from this program will be used to support a Marenica Scoping Study.”
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