Elevate Uranium has pushed back the closing date for acquiring an additional 5% of Marenica Minerals, aiming to raise its ownership in the Marenica Uranium Project to 90%. This move follows a prior 10% acquisition, consolidating the company's control over a key Namibian asset.
- Closing date extended to 30 September 2026
- Ownership in Marenica to increase from 85% to 90%
- Marenica Uranium Project holds 47.5 Mlb U3O8 (company share)
- U-pgradeTM beneficiation process targets cost and grade improvements
- Namibian and Australian uranium resources total 181 Mlb U3O8
Closing Date Extended for Marenica Stake Acquisition
Elevate Uranium Ltd (ASX:EL8) has extended the deadline to complete the purchase of an additional 5% interest in Marenica Minerals, the owner of the Marenica Uranium Project in Namibia, moving the closing date from 7 August to 30 September 2026. This transaction, once finalised, will lift Elevate Uranium's ownership in Marenica to 90%, building on a prior acquisition that brought its stake to 85%.
Strategic Importance of Marenica Project
The Marenica Uranium Project represents a significant portion of Elevate Uranium's resource base, with a company share of 47.5 million pounds of U3O8, situated within Namibia's Erongo uranium province. Alongside the Koppies Uranium Project, which holds 76.2 million pounds of U3O8, Marenica forms a core part of the company's Namibian portfolio. Combined with Australian tenements and joint ventures, Elevate controls a total resource base of 181 million pounds of U3O8.
U-pgradeTM Process Underpins Project Economics
Elevate Uranium's proprietary U-pgradeTM beneficiation technology is central to unlocking value from these deposits. Bench-scale tests on Marenica samples have demonstrated the process can concentrate uranium grades by approximately 50 times, from around 93 ppm to 5,000 ppm U3O8, while rejecting nearly 98% of waste material and reducing both capital and operating costs by about half compared to conventional methods. This technology has potential applications beyond Marenica, targeting secondary uranium deposits in both Namibia and Australia.
Next Steps and Investor Considerations
The extension to 30 September provides additional time to finalise the acquisition, but the announcement does not disclose financial terms or detail how the increased ownership will affect project development timelines. Market participants will likely watch for completion of the transaction and subsequent updates on how the U-pgradeTM process scales in pilot and feasibility studies, especially given the recent resource upgrades and pilot plant progress across the Namibian portfolio.
Bottom Line?
The extended deadline signals cautious progress in consolidating control over Marenica, with Elevate Uranium's proprietary processing technology remaining a key variable in unlocking the project's value.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the acquisition close by the new 30 September deadline?
- How will 90% ownership influence Elevate's development and financing plans for Marenica?
- What impact will U-pgradeTM pilot plant results have on project economics and timelines?