- Fully mine permitted
- Feasibility study in progress
- Advantageous location: ~200 km south of Lusaka, north of Lake Kariba.
- Good Infrastructure including: road access ground water and available grid power (~60 km away).
Muntanga - Zambia
Summary
Project Description
The Muntanga Project currently comprises three mining licences and three exploration licences (Figure 1) with a total combined area of 1,225.9 km². The three mining licences – Muntanga, Dibbwi and Chirundu – encompass 720.5 km2. The mineral resources reported in the Project's Technical Report are contained within these licences.
The Muntanga and Dibbwi mining licences, which comprise the Muntanga, Dibbwi and Dibbwi East deposits, were acquired 100% by GoviEx in a share purchase agreement from Denison Mines Corporation, wholly owned subsidiary Rockgate Capital Corporation on June 2016. The Chirundu mining licence, which contains the Njame (north and south) and Gwabi uranium deposits, as well as the Kariba Valley (Chisebuka) exploration licence, were acquired 100% from AFR on October 31, 2017.
Figure 1: Location of Uranium Deposits in the GoviEx Muntanga Project
Mineral Resource Estimate
The current MRE update is the result of extensive infill drilling, including 5,980 m drilled in 2021 and a further 27,634 m of drilling in 2022 (total of 33,614 m in 262 holes). The drilling was focused predominately on the Dibbwi East deposit, to further delineate the deposit and convert Inferred resources to the Indicated category. The MRE update included a comprehensive reassessment of previous work and a revised correlation between down-hole radiometric probe data and chemical assays used to convert down-hole radiometric data into equivalent uranium grades (eU3O8) for mineral resource estimation.
The Muntanga Project contains Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources of 42.6 million tonnes at an average grade of 359 ppm U3O8, containing 33.7 million pounds of U3O8, and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 15.0 million tonnes at an average grade of 330 ppm U3O8, containing 10.9 million pounds of U3O8 in five deposits (Muntanga, Dibbwi East, Dibbwi, Gwabi, and Njame), located over 65 km strike.
PEA* 2017
SRK completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the project in 2017. The economic analysis results indicate an after-tax Net Profit Value ("NPV") of US$112 million at an 8% discount rate, with an Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 25%, based on long-term uranium price of US$58/lb U3O8.
The proposed base case envisions an average 2.4 Mlb per year U3O8 yellowcake production rate, and an 88% ultimate recovery, generating an eleven-year mine life and a total forecast production of 26.4 Mlb U3O8. The project economics are at a long-term uranium price of US$58/lb U3O8. Initial capital costs are estimated at US$123 million, with total LoM capital costs at US$183 million, cash operating costs of US$31.1 / lb U3O8 excluding royalties, and US$36.4/lb U3O8 including royalties.
* As a result of the completion of the technical report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report On the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for The Muntanga Uranium Project in Zambia" dated effective March 31, 2023, filed on August 31, 2023, under GoviEx’s profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and GoviEx’s website at www.goviex.com, the previous report titled, “NI 43-101 Technical Report on a Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Muntanga Uranium Project in Zambia”, dated November 30, 2017 (the “PEA”) no longer reflects the current economic potential of the project, should be seen as historical in nature and should not be relied upon. As the PEA is no longer current, information related to an “advanced property” as such term is defined in NI 43-101, is no longer relevant to this technical report.
The PEA is considered preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves have not yet demonstrated economic viability. Due to the uncertainty that may be attached to Inferred Mineral Resources, it cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will be upgraded to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource as a result of continued exploration or Mineral Reserves once economic considerations are applied; therefore, there is no certainty that the production profile concluded in the PEA will be realized.