Adelaide, South Australia-Uranium Equities Ltd. (UEL) has announced that it has secured funding of up to US$16.5 million from Saskatchewan-based uranium giant Cameco. The funding is for the continued development of UEL’s new technology for the extraction of uranium from phosphoric acid. UEL says the development of the technology has progressed through a pilot plant scale at a significant rate at an unnamed U.S.-based phosphoric acid facility. UEL says the process is capable of producing uranium at operating costs in the order of U.S.$25-$30/lb, with over 90 percent uranium recovery. It notes that historically, production from phos acid peaked in 1978-1983, and that worldwide production from those sources ceased in the early 1980s as a consequence of high operating costs and falling uranium prices. UEL said estimated low operating costs under the new technology indicates commercially robust production is achievable. It said that agreements have been reached with two phosphate producers to carry out laboratory test work to establish the commercial applicability of the process, with negotiations at advanced levels with two other producers for preliminary screenings. Utilizing current phos acid production, UEL estimates some 20 million pounds of uranium is recoverable from the process, with approximately $1 billion in revenues.
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