Atomic Eagle builds uranium scale across Zambia and Niger

Madaouela becomes Atomic Eagle’s second development platform

Atomic Eagle Limited (ASX:AEU) has moved its Niger uranium project from negotiated return to active technical work, formally securing a 60% interest and operational control of Madaouela under a Mining Convention executed with the Republic of Niger in late September. The company says the agreement provides the framework for financing and development, while the project’s permit is held by a newly incorporated Nigerien subsidiary in which the State retains a 40% interest.

The agreement brings back an asset with a reported 116.5 million pounds of U₃O₈ at 1,282 parts per million, supported by about 600,000 metres of historical drilling and approximately US$160 million of previous project expenditure. That figure is a foreign estimate prepared under Canada’s NI 43-101 framework, not a JORC Mineral Resource. Its conversion into a JORC-compliant estimate is now targeted for the first quarter of 2027, after the company revises the underlying mining assumptions.

The formal agreement follows Atomic Eagle’s Madaouela Mining Convention, which was reported in September as providing the legal, fiscal and operational framework for the project. Atomic Eagle has paid the initial US$5 million required under the convention in October. It has also agreed that a US$40 million credit will be applied against the Niger Government’s future equity contributions to project development; the company says this is not an additional upfront cash payment.

Optimisation work sets up two 2027 milestones

Atomic Eagle has started a value optimisation and technical review at Madaouela, examining alternative mining methods, additional mineralisation, revised open-pit and underground designs, mine sequencing and the possibility of bringing higher-value material forward in the production schedule. A review of historical metallurgical work and the existing process flowsheet will also assess whether contemporary processing approaches could improve recoveries, operability, capital intensity or operating costs.

The first stated output is a Scoping Study targeted for the first quarter of 2027, alongside the converted JORC resource. The timing matters because the project’s headline scale currently rests on a non-JORC historical estimate and feasibility-level work completed by its previous owner. The planned studies are therefore expected to determine how much of that historical foundation can be carried into a current development case.

Zambia drilling finds scale, but not yet a resource

At the 100%-owned Muntanga Project in Zambia, 64 wide-spaced holes totalling 5,995 metres across Muntanga North Targets 1 to 5 identified an interpreted uranium-mineralised zone of about 600 metres by 200 metres at Target 5. The zone remains open along strike and down dip to the east, with follow-up drilling planned. Targets 1 to 3 produced no anomalous uranium mineralisation, while Target 4 returned a discrete anomalous intercept that did not warrant immediate follow-up.

First-pass drilling at Namakande also outlined a broad interpreted zone of approximately 1,000 metres by 400 metres at Target 2. The company cautions that intercepts there have generally been thin, mostly less than two metres, although some returned grades above 500 parts per million. Atomic Eagle says both areas require further drilling and geological interpretation before their scale, continuity and significance can be established. Drilling at Muntanga North Targets 6 to 8 is still ahead, with work across the current targets expected to finish in the fourth quarter of 2026. These results extend the thread covered in the Muntanga North drilling update, which reported the same early-stage interpreted zones and the need for follow-up work.

Heap-leach results support Muntanga processing case

Metallurgical testing on two Muntanga East diamond-core composites returned bottle-roll uranium recoveries of about 86% and 82%, with column testing producing recoveries of about 81% for both samples. Bottle-roll acid consumption was approximately 3 kilograms per tonne, while column testing reached 7.0 to 7.6 kilograms per tonne after 62 days, with most uranium recovery achieved during the earlier stages of leaching.

The samples averaged about 167 parts per million U₃O₈ and came from lower-grade mineralisation than some earlier Muntanga test work. The company says the material also showed low fines generation and hydraulic conductivity above its stated heap-leach design threshold. Atomic Eagle will feed the results into technical studies, although the testing itself does not establish project economics or a development decision.

Funding improves, while cash remains tied to execution

Atomic Eagle held $11.5 million in cash at 30 September, after spending approximately $2.0 million on exploration during the quarter and recording net operating cash outflows of $2.54 million. On the company’s Appendix 5B calculation, that quarter-end balance represented an estimated 4.5 quarters of funding at the reported operating outflow rate, before considering the post-quarter Niger payment and option proceeds.

Since quarter end, largest shareholder Menel Energy and Resources has exercised 35,149,113 options at $0.31 each, providing approximately $10.9 million in proceeds. About 16.8 million options in the same class remain unexercised and could provide a further approximately $5.2 million if exercised before their 5 May 2027 expiry. The funding update follows the earlier $10.9 million option commitment, but the next test is how efficiently the enlarged capital base is converted into a JORC resource, a Scoping Study and more definitive exploration results.