Australian-based mineral company Aura Energy has finalized a mining convention with the Government of Mauritania for the Tiris Uranium Project – a major greenfield mine located approximately 680km from the town of Zouerat.
With the agreement, Aura Energy is set to develop the prospect over a 30-year period, with the requisite economic and fiscal security put in place to allow operations to commence.
The terms of the agreement include a 25% tax rate, a 3.5% royalty rate with free-on-board value, and an exemption for value-added tax covering the importation of necessary goods for mining operations, including movable goods, materials, equipment, vehicles and more. Additionally, the agreement stipulates 20% state participation, as well as an accelerated depreciation for the first three years after production.
Notably, the agreement demonstrates the company’s commitment to Mauritania’s promising mining industry. With the potential to produce up to 12.4 million pounds of uranium oxide over a 15-year mine life period at the Tiris prospect, opportunities to produce high-grade uranium resources are abounding. As such, the finalized mining convention aims to build on Aura Energy’s strong track record as a mineral developer, as well as the potential of the prospect itself to establish Mauritania as a regional mineral hub.
Aura Energy has also signed a shareholder agreement with Agence Nationale de Recherches Géologiques et du Patrimoine Minier (ANARPAM), the entity responsible for geological research and mining promotion in Mauritania. The agreement will see the parties co-develop and operate the Tiris Uranium mine, with ANARPAM holding a 15% free participating interest – a share which cannot be diluted – as well as the right to an option to acquire an additional five percent.
“With the formalization of our mining convention and our partnership with ANARPAM [state agency in charge of geological research and mineral resources], we are keen to work with the Government of Mauritania to develop the Tiris resource. Our increased knowledge and our belief in the quality of the resource gained from the drilling program and the expansion studies, to be released imminently, we believe will allow us to develop a world-class uranium operation,” stated Phil Mitchell, Chairman of Aura Energy.
