Following a series of exploration which lasted 9 years, the Australian company Aura Energy discovered, in 2019, an enormous potential of uranium in the north of Mauritania, particularly in the area of ​​Oued El Foule and Ain Sder which are located in the Wilaya of Tiris Zemmour.

The company has just announced that the mineral resources of its project reach 65 million pounds with a grade between 254 and 450 parts per million uranium oxide (U3O8), according to a recent study of the deposit by JORC.

Significant reserves

The newly confirmed potential would allow Mauritania to join Niger and Namibia as a leading African nuclear fuel producer, at least, for the next 3 decades.

This new development comes at a time when favorable winds are blowing on the uranium market: on the one hand, there are forecasts of an increase in global demand in the medium and long term and, on the other and consequently , a considerable increase in  prices.

In addition to the promising prospects, the deposits discovered in Mauritania also have several advantageus criteria which distinguished them in terms of competition in the international market and which make them highly preferred by investors.

These criteria are essentially characterized by the concentration of the ore in the deposits and by the superficiality of the reserves, as well as the availability of means of transport and hydraulic resources on site.

Considerable income

According to price forecasts in the coming years, the Mauritanian state could cash hundreds of millions of dollars from the exploitation of these mineral resources, not to mention the job opportunities, the income and the spinoffs on local content.

In addition, the exploitation of this deposit will attract more national and international investors in the field, and increase the proven potential of uranium in Mauritania.

A likely gigantic potential

In addition to the potential already proven, Mauritania has eighty known uranium occurrences, and is the subject of active uranium exploration by a number of private companies. Data from seventeen of these appearances resulted in the publication of resource estimates, and can be considered mineral deposits.

Among these occurrences, fourteen are calcrete-type deposits, easy to mine and shallow (6 to 8 m) with a total resource of 138.3 million tonnes, and an average grade of 331 ppm U3O8.