Elevate targets lower uranium costs
Elevate Uranium is testing whether a proprietary processing technology can improve the economics of Namibia’s uranium deposits, as the company moves towards technical studies that could help determine which projects are suitable for development.
The Australian-listed explorer reported encouraging results from the first four stages of its U-pgrade™ beneficiation process, which is being tested at a pilot plant in Namibia.
The process rejected 88% of the original ore mass while recovering 79% of the uranium into the feed for the final flotation stage, according to results released on 31 August.
The results represent progress towards establishing whether the technology can reduce processing requirements and costs at the company’s Namibian projects.
Technology targets processing costs
U-pgrade™ is designed to separate uranium-bearing minerals from unwanted material before the ore undergoes chemical processing, a process known as leaching.
The technology is particularly relevant to calcrete-hosted uranium deposits, where carbonate minerals such as calcite can consume large quantities of acid during conventional processing.
By removing much of this material before leaching, Elevate aims to produce a smaller, more concentrated feed for the downstream plant.
The potential benefits include lower acid consumption, reduced energy requirements and smaller processing facilities and tailings storage requirements.
Elevate has previously estimated that the technology could reduce capital and operating costs by about 50% compared with conventional processing, based on earlier bench-scale testwork. The savings have yet to be demonstrated at commercial scale.
The pilot plant is intended to test the process under continuous operating conditions and at a scale more representative of a future operation.
Results from the first four stages showed that ore with an initial uranium grade of 89 parts per million was upgraded to about 590 parts per million.
However, the final uranium flotation stage remains critical to establishing the performance of the complete process, including the grade and recovery of the final concentrate.
Marenica and Koppies in focus
Elevate’s immediate development priorities centre on its Marenica and Koppies uranium projects in Namibia.
At Marenica, the company has reported a mineral resource of 52.8 million pounds of uranium oxide (U₃O₈), with an average grade of 180 parts per million. The resource evaluation effectively doubled the previously reported grade.
The company plans to use data from the pilot plant to inform a scoping study at Marenica. Such a study would provide an early assessment of the project’s potential technical configuration and economics.
Koppies, meanwhile, has a reported mineral resource of 76.2 million pounds of U₃O₈ at an average grade of 186 parts per million.
Elevate intends to test Koppies ore through the pilot plant to establish how the technology performs on material from another major Namibian deposit.
The results could help determine whether the processing approach can be applied across a broader portion of the company’s portfolio.
The company is also continuing targeted drilling and resource evaluation in Namibia, with the aim of improving confidence in existing resources and identifying opportunities for further growth.
Resource growth and funding
Elevate’s annual review for the year ended June 2026 highlighted the expansion of its uranium portfolio, alongside progress with the pilot plant.
The company reported a total mineral resource inventory of 181 million pounds of U₃O₈ across Namibia and Australia.
In October 2025, Elevate raised US$25 million through a placement supported by domestic and international institutional investors, including specialist uranium and natural resources funds.
The company also acquired the Napperby Uranium Project in Australia in December 2025. The project contains a reported 8 million pounds of U₃O₈ at an average grade of 382 parts per million.
The expanded portfolio provides the company with several exploration and development options, although a large mineral resource does not, on its own, establish that a deposit can be mined profitably.
Elevate’s priorities for the 2027 financial year include completing and optimising the integrated operation of all five U-pgrade™ stages, commencing the Marenica scoping study and testing Koppies ore through the pilot plant.
